- Welfare cuts put added health strain on population, June 25, 2010, BBC News: “Analysis of European data showed that a £70 reduction in welfare spending per person is associated with a 2.8% rise in alcohol-related deaths and 1.2% rise in deaths from heart disease. Writing in the British Medical Journal, the UK research team said ordinary people may be paying the ultimate price for budget cuts. One expert added that social support was vital for health. The study comes after the government announced sweeping budget cuts, including reductions in tax credits for families, housing benefit and maternity grants. To pick out the effects of welfare funding on health, researchers looked at government spending in 15 European countries, including the UK, from 1980 to 2005…”
- Budget cuts will affect death rate, says report, By Aditya Chakrabortty, June 25, 2010, The Guardian: “The spending cuts made by the chancellor, George Osborne, in this week’s budget could cause up to 38,000 extra deaths over the next decade, according to academic research published tomorrow. Reductions in welfare payments and the 25% cut in spending across many government departments could lead to an increase in heart attacks and alcohol-related illnesses, according to analysis produced exclusively for the Guardian by an epidemiologist at Oxford University. David Stuckler warns that the announced reduction in overall support for the long-term unemployed, disabled people and families and children, might severely impact people’s health, or even cost them their lives…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty