Earlier this year, I looked at a study that showed that life expectancy is lower in places where there is a big gap between rich and poor. Mental illness, obesity and drug and alcohol abuse are also more common where there is a big gap, and the richest country in the world is ranked behind places like Japan and Sweden.
It seems that public health in the USA is going to get a lot worse with reports from the Washington Independent showing that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has found that the income gap between rich and poor in that country is now at an 80 year high.
Much of this would have occurred with the recession but other forces are at work too. Technology has made low-skill manufacturing jobs redundant, globalization has seen companies moving their production facilities offshore to take advantage of lower labor costs and the shift from a manufacturing to a service economy has weakened the collective bargaining power of unions,
This means the trend will continue when the US economy finally starts to recover. The gap between rich and poor in the US will grow. The future is here.
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