The poorest Australians are twice as likely to die before age 75 as the richest – and the gap’s getting worse
People living in socially disadvantaged areas and outside major cities are much more likely to die prematurely, new research shows.
The study, published in the journal Australian Population Studies, reveals this gap has widened significantly in recent years, largely because rates of premature death among the least advantaged Australians have stopped improving.
These inequalities were already evident long before the enormous economic and social impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
While Australia (unlike the US and some European nations) has so far avoided widespread deaths due directly to COVID-19, there may well be longer-term health impacts of the pandemic caused by widespread job losses and societal disruption, particularly among the most vulnerable.
