Editorial
Inequality, inequity and fairness
We hear a lot about fairness and inequality these days, whether in relation to salaries, pensions or the welfare benefits system. And the concepts are certainly exercising the minds of a range of organisations – the Reform publication The Fairness Test and the Will Hutton book Them and Us are just a couple of examples. The previous administration of the Welsh Assembly Government’s Fairer Health Outcomes For All uses the concept of health inequities rather than inequalities. It notes that ‘health inequities focuses on the moral aspect – where such differences could be avoided, it is unfair and immoral that we tolerate them.’
A really helpful recent Wales-specific publication is the Equality and Human Rights Commission publication How Fair is Wales? This provides a baseline for measuring whether the decisions taken in Wales help move towards a fairer society. The findings should not be a surprise to WHQ readers. The evidence contained in the document paints a picture of a Wales with deeply entrenched inequalities where advantage, power and resources are not distributed evenly. Some headlines are that:
- people from lower socio-economic groups do not, on average, enjoy the same quality of life as people from higher socio-economic groups
- gender inequality remains despite many changes in gender roles, with women disadvantaged in key areas of employment and income
- inequality associated with disability is striking, affecting employment, education and earnings
- ethnicity is complex: although on the whole ethnic minority groups have less favourable outcomes on key measures of well-being
- age, too, presents a complex picture: whilst being young brings with it lower pay and a higher risk of being a victim of violent crime, being older has risks for some of lack of employment, ill health and lack of dignity in care
So the report concludes ‘not only must efforts to tackle socio-economic inequalities be at the centre of Welsh Assembly and UK government policies, they must be effectively integrated with efforts to promote equality between the protected groups and the rest of society.’
Fairness will always be a contested concept – what is fair to one person may not be to another. And views differ as to whether inequality is inevitable or whether attempts should be made to reduce it. Despite these difficulties, it is still useful to think about how we consider the available evidence about Wales’ inequalities, inequities and lack of fairness as part of our decision making.
Tamsin Stirling