Reflections on the legacy of British health inequalities research

This chapter provides some personal reflections on the UK’s legacy in this field of research. Focusing on social class differences in mortality, the chapter draws on decennial supplement and Office of National Statistics Longitudinal Study findings to outline the extent of health inequalities in England and Wales. It also considers the historical context of health inequalities research, from early (seventeenth-century) observations, through to the Black Report (1980), Acheson Report (1998), and more recent Marmot Review (2010). It considers the opportunities and challenges for researchers posed by the fluctuating policy interest in health inequalities and potential changes to longitudinal datasets and, finally, summarizes the lessons that Bartley and Blane believe these experiences offer future health inequalities researchers.