Equity of access to health care is a key component of national and international health policy. The Irish health-care system is unusual in requiring the majority of the population to pay the full cost of GP care at the point of use. In contrast, all Scottish residents are entitled to free GP...

There is extensive empirical evidence on the link between socio-economic status (SES) and child health outcomes. However, there is some international evidence that the SES gradient in child health is weaker for objective indicators of child health (e.g., anthropometric measures such as height)...