/ Economic inequality

Wealth and health: A review of interventions addressing wealth inequality 

• Sarah Sanford and Rishika Wadehra
flip wooden cube with word wealth to health for investment in health rather than wealth

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Overview   

Economic inequality is on the rise.  

In many countries, including Canada, low- and moderate-income individuals have seen their relative wealth decline, while assets (such as property and investments) have become increasingly concentrated amongst a small segment of the population. Policy choices over the past 40 years, including those that have maintained low real wages and prioritized necessities such as housing as financial assets, as well as a surge in private profits from capital, have contributed to these trends. 

This paper uses a scoping review methodology to discuss what interventions currently exist to address wealth inequality in high income countries and how they have been studied in relation to health outcomes.  

Key findings 

  • Weakened worker protections, declining power of unions, inadequate wages and the rise of precarious work have contributed to increasing income and wealth inequality while negatively impacting health and health equity. 
  • Social stability and health are increasingly undermined for low and moderate-income groups as renting and home ownership become less unaffordable. This is driven by policy changes such as the financialization of the housing market and a reduction of investment in social housing. 
  • Integrating typically distinct areas related to health and the social determinants of health in research – such housing and work conditions – is important to understanding wealth distribution in a meaningful way.  

Key message

Reducing health and social inequities requires moving beyond income support toward wealth-focused and redistributive interventions. These must address structural and historical inequities, enable asset building, and shift ownership and control of resources to communities, particularly those long excluded from wealth building.  

Wealth and health - A scoping review of interventions addressing wealth inequality and their impact on health outcomesDownload the research report
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Sarah Sanford

Sarah Sanford

Dr. Sarah Sanford (she/her) is a qualitative researcher with a background in critical social sciences, global health governance and public health. She has worked across numerous applied health research and policy settings over the past 15 years, and most of this work has centred lived expertise in developing solutions to promote health and health equity. She has recently cultivated her thinking about the economic determinants of health and is currently researching wealth inequality and health equity in Toronto. Sarah holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree from York University.

Rishika Wadehra

Rishika Wadehra

Rishika Wadehra was a Policy Officer at Wellesley Institute from 2023 to 2025. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining Wellesley Institute, she completed a fellowship at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and worked as a research assistant at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Global Social Policy, where she researched how different regions have responded to the growing demands for care work and its implications on gender inequality, racialization, the labour market and population health.