Scotland has the poorest health (lowest life expectancy) of any Western European nation. Although there is an undisputed link between poverty – in Scotland’s case often related to deindustrialisation – and poor health, this does not explain all of Scotland’s higher mortality when compared to England, Wales and many other European countries. This paper suggests a number of possible explanations for this, many of which are the subject of ongoing research. This paper is part of a series of papers which have resulted from the Whose Economy? seminar series, held in Scotland in 2010 – 2011, whose purpose was to provide a space for researchers, representative organisations, policy-makers and people with experience of poverty to come together and explore the causes of poverty and inequality in today’s Scotland.