the quality of food a person eats, the type of housing they live in, and the type of access they have to employment and benefits. “Income comes to be especially important in societies which provide fewer important services” (ibid. 2010). Workers who are employed in precarious work often depend on social services that can help an individual with extra financial aid. For instance in Canada not a lot of services and benefits are covered. If a single working mother who works multiple jobs need child care or aid with post-secondary education, such worker has pay out of their pocket making living conditions more difficult and stressful. This can place more physical and psychological pressure on individual and can have a poor health. In contrast, in many wealthy developed nations these services are provided as citizen rights.
In the Scandinavian countries workers are protected by the union, mothers are provided maternity leave and post-secondary education is free. The vast promotion and protection of the welfare state in such countries provided workers with better living outcomes. Low income families are able to particularly benefit from such safety net it promotes the overall health of the society. A strong social welfare allows workers to participate in cultural, educational, and recreational activities. In the long run, social welfare affects one’s health and lessens the abilities to live a fulfilling day-to-day life. “Researchers have also found that men in the wealthiest 20% of neighbourhoods in Canada live on average more than four years longer than men in the poorest 20% of neighbourhoods”(Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010). Compare to Canadian living in the poorest neighbourhoods the death rate were 28% higher (ibid. 2010). Workers living in low-level neighbourhoods and are deprived from social welfare the suicide rates were found to be almost twice those seen in the wealthiest neighbourhoods. The increase in wealth inequality in Canada is posing to be an issue for the overall health of the
society.