Repository logo
 

Wealth, health and inequality in Agta foragers.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Ruiz, Milagros 
Major-Smith, Daniel 
Migliano, Andrea B 

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is significant evidence from large-scale, industrial and post-industrial societies that greater income and wealth inequality is negatively associated with both population health and increasing health inequalities. However, whether such relationships are inevitable and should be expected to impact the health of small-scale societies as they become more market-integrated is less clear. METHODOLOGY: Here, using mixed-effect models, we explore the relationship between health, wealth, wealth inequality and health inequalities in a small-scale foraging population from the Philippines, the Agta. RESULTS: Across 11 camps, we find small to moderate degrees of wealth inequality (maximal Gini Coefficient 0.44) which is highest in the most permanent camps, where individuals engage more heavily in the formal market. However, in both adults (n = 161) and children (n = 215), we find little evidence that either wealth or wealth inequality associates with ill health, except for one measure of nutritional condition-red blood cell count. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: We interpret these results in the light of high levels of cooperation among the Agta which may buffer against the detrimental effects of wealth inequality documented in industrial and post-industrial societies. We observe little intergenerational wealth transmission, highlighting the fluid nature of wealth, and thus wealth inequality, particularly in mobile communities. The deterioration of nutritional status, as indicated by red blood cell counts, requires further investigation before concluding the Agta's extensive cooperation networks may be beginning to breakdown in the face of increasing inequality.

Description

Keywords

Agta, Philippines, health, hunter-gatherers, livelihood transition, small-scale society, wealth inequality

Journal Title

Evol Med Public Health

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2050-6201
2050-6201

Volume Title

11

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)