Health and social inequities in The Netherlands

Although there is some knowledge of inequity in mortality due to socioeconomic differences in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, we know very little about present mortality differentiated by socioeconomic status. However, at present there are signs that interest in this theme may be increasing, particularly among government authorities. An overview will be presented of the few, rather scattered, existing data on regional and socioeconomic differences, mortality and other indicators of ill-health. This includes results of a secondary analysis of mortality differences among middle-aged Dutch men in a rural town. In this analysis the central question was whether mortality differences related to socioeconomic status could be explained by different risk factors. Socioeconomic status and risk factors turned out to be independent predictors of mortality. Finally, a short description will be given of the awakening interest for such data among health policymakers.