Your editorial (Inequalities are a matter of life and death – but exist as they do by political choice, 25 February) and various letter writers (27 February) have rightly focused on evidence from Sir Michael Marmot’s review that life expectancy has stalled or declined for the poorest.
But Marmot also shows that this has been accompanied by the persistence of discrimination, concluding that “on the whole” outcomes are worse for minority ethnic groups and people with disabilities. Looking at employment, often seen by policymakers as a key to addressing health inequalities, the report shows that minority ethnic women continue to have the lowest employment rates. At the same time, ethnic minorities as a whole are more likely to experience poor-quality work.
If action is taken as a result of the Marmot report, we need to ensure we deal with discrimination too.
Jabeer Butt
Race Equality Foundation; member of Marmot advisory group
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