The Glasgow Effect - Do Poverty, Inequality or Crime Explain the High Mortality Rate?

What is it about living in Glasgow that means people there die significantly younger than elsewhere in the UK?

This feature in the Economist - “No City for Old Men” - explores the fact that Glaswegians die younger than other Britons, but nobody seems to really understand why.

The rate of mortality in a given population will reflect a complex range of factors - age, gender mix, poverty. lifestyle (e.g. health) But there seems to be something different about Glasgow that defies obvious explanations.

One possible explanation might lie in Glasgow’s higher number (relative to the size and age of the population) of deaths from cancer and heart disease. Could it be lifestyle-related? But then other factors have been identified: deaths from suicide, violence, drug abuse, alcohol and traffic accidents.

Might the underlying cause be intangible - the overall effects of a city that has been ravaged by the process of deindustrialisation. Is Glasgow simply a city that has been left with a society over-burdened with inequality and poverty - with all the possible implications that might bring in terms of poor health outcomes and high crime & social unrest?

A fascinating read - well worth showing to students.

This video from Andrew Marr examines the Glasgow Effect and provides an excellent background resource to the Economist article;

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