Health and education expenditure in the United Kingdom: What priority?

Public expenditure on goods and services per head of population on the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom has risen less rapidly than some other forms of public expenditure such as education. Revenue expenditure at 1970 market prices on goods and services in the NHS per head of population rose by 38% during the period 1951 to 1968. During the same time interval, expenditure at 1970 market prices on goods and services in education per head of population rose by 84%. Health, as measured by standardised mortality ratios (SMRs), improved over a similar period. This paper argues that, in the long term, the priority given to education expenditure may not necessarily be detrimental to further improvements in community health.