The Social Origins of Health and Well-Being

This book covers the differential health impacts of family and early development, changes in work and work conditions, health systems, the physical environment of cities, indigenous peoples, rural populations, social capital, culture, and global economic and environmental changes. It contains material that explains how inequality gets "under the skin", through describing the physiological changes caused by stress and behavior. Particularly important is the "natural experiment"--representing the different political and economic paths taken by Australia and New Zealand over the past two decades, and the opportunity it provides to assess its impact on health.