In their article Evidence on the Relationship between Low Income and Poor Health: Is the Government Doing Enough? Benzeval et al. (2000) of the Institute for Fiscal studies, they describe their findings of research they found doing a study conducted in “two British longitudinal datasets to examine the longer-term influences of income on health within a life-course perspective”. They dive into the findings of questions such as “what roles does childhood poverty play in…acquisition of health capital?” In their findings they discuss that childhood poverty is strongly related to both educational and health attainment (389). While their article does go on to explain the longitudinal studies conducted, they found that none of the studies deals with the issue of indirect selection, i.e. “the fact that income and health might be jointly determined by the same prior experiences or characteristics”. Which to be able to understand any correlation it is necessary to know the individual’s circumstances in childhood and not just their adult life. Their findings focus on the role of health status and educational attainments which they claim are key determinants of later adult health. Does attainment or not attaining (i.e. poverty) really have that big of an effect on health? In Patti Neighmond’s (NPR) article People With Low Incomes Say They Pay A Price In Poor Health she states that it all comes down to money. People whose household income is more than $75,000 a year have very
Poverty is not simply a deficiency in material resources, it is the complex situation of low income that limits ones access to many of the social determinants of health such as safe and suitable housing, food, child care, education, and can lead to social exclusion (Séguin et al, 2012). The experience of poverty in childhood, particularly early childhood, has been linked to many adverse health effects such as low birth weight, increased incidence of asthma, injuries, mental health issues and obesity (Sharma & Ford-Jones, 2015). The impact of childhood poverty continues into adulthood, increasing the risk of many chronic diseases. Perhaps even
Money plays a huge role in access, therefore it is a vital issue to discuss. Within the current system, lack of money results in lack of health care, which leaves thousands of people without any health care coverage. Between 2001 and 2005, the number of people paying for health insurance increased 30%, however income only raised 3% (Health Care Problems). Adequate income is a necessity and unfortunately that is not present. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the average annual premium across the country is $16,000. Currently, the average annual income in the United States is $51,107. Mint Money Management suggests that about 4-6% of one’s total income should be spent on insurance, including life, disability, and health insurance. However, the averages in the United States show that the average person spends about 31% of their income on health insurance, which is not financially beneficial. When this rise in health insurance is not parallel to the inflation of income, innocent people are left without a method to achieve health care. There is a program for those who can’t afford health insurance out of pocket nor have access to it, and that is called Medicaid. Issues still exist with the program. There is only so much funding, which leaves many still uninsured. Additionally, people with Medicaid have difficulty
Poverty is the single largest determinant of health. It has a widespread range of negative effects, both on the physical and the mental level, making it a significant public health concern in many countries. Poorer people tend to live shorter lives because there’s a clear correlation between income and access to healthcare. This disparity draws special attention to the significant sensitivity of health and the social environment.
The Health and Wealth connection distilled is our health will most commonly reflect from our amount of wealth. The wealthy can afford the cost of quality care and the time to take care of themselves. Within the textbook, Dimensions of Human Behavior Hutchison writes. Public health experts have long noted the association of poor clinical outcomes, in all body systems, with low income, low education, unsanitary housing, poor healthcare, on stable employment, and uncertain physical environment (Hutchison, 2015). Easily demonstrated throughout American society the rather dubious and is a somewhat perplexing phenomenon of the Health-and-Wealth connection theory. The gap between the haves and have-nots are ever expanding. Those who have the funding to pay for resources will pay to get those resources. And those who do not have sufficient funds to pay for said resources will, unfortunately, have to stand in the long lines to receive seemingly, deceptively, scarce resources.
Being poor is hazardous to one's health. As seen in class, the conditions that are found in poor neighborhoods cause the poor to die earlier and have much less healthy lives than their more wealthy counterparts in better neighborhoods and the suburbs. The poor who are mostly of color are segregated by income into these areas where poverty, toxic waste, pollution and crime make their lives miserable indeed.
Having a low income can lead to poor to health, because you won’t have access or opportunities for better health, such as safe homes, nutritious foods and good schools. “Income may not be the strongest risk factor for any particular disease or outcome, but it’s a risk factor for all of them.” (Krisberg, 2017)
Although the overall health of the United States population has improved, large disparities in terms of health outcome and access to healthcare exist between wealthier Americans and their “poorer counterparts primarily because of differences in education, behavior, and environment.” (Longest, 2015, p8). Access to health care and other services is associated with wealth, employment, education and power. Higher education, which translates to higher income, allows people to buy healthier food, live in safer, cleaner neighborhood and access the best healthcare possible. Power on the other hand permits people to secure health for themselves and their families, while others without power have limited or no access to the resources they need to be
Throughout the course we discussed the causes of health disparities which really impact me a lot, due to my directly work with minorities. I hear many times that stress can kill a person, and based The Death Gap stress it focus on structural violence throughout the book, it is the policies and laws that determines your access to a quality life. Minorities are segregated into certain communities where there is poverty, violence and less access to resources and that has a major impact in the quality of health and life that leads to premature death. African American are victims of discrimination when trying to buy a house on a more well off area, or rental discrimination. Income inequality affects minorities and access to health care. We need
Improving the health of the socially and economically disadvantaged is a major task. Many Americans are living with poor health because of their socioeconomic statuses and it has many negative effects on their long term health. Improving access to health care is not enough to help fix the lower death rates among low income families. Our social status in our economy has large effect on our lives including how we are able to live our lives and in tern it has large measurable effects on our health. San Antonio is no exception, in low income areas the mortality rates by diabetes are stunning and need to be changed in order to help improve the lives of so many people. In my essay I will be proposing a plan to help lower
The Health and wealth connection distilled is our health will most commonly reflect from our amount of wealth. The wealthy can afford the cost of quality care and the time to take care of them selves. Within the textbook, Dimensions of Human Behavior Hutchison writes. Public health experts have long noted the association of poor health outcomes, in all body systems, with low income, low education, unsanitary housing, in adequate healthcare, on stable employment, and unsafe physical environment (Hutchison, 2015). Easily demonstrated throughout American society the rather dubious and is somewhat perplexing phenomenon of the Health-and-Wealth connection theory. The gap between the haves and have-nots are ever expanding. Those who have the funding to pay for resources will pay to get those resources. And those who do not have adequate funding to pay for said resources will unfortunately have to stand in the long lines to receive seemingly, deceptively, scarce resources.
The article makes a claim that the circumstances in which children are born in have a determination on their health development as they grow from adolescence to adulthood. Children’s health can be affected by pre-and postnatal affects such as parents living in poverty, abuse and neglect, alcohol or drug abuse, and even homelessness during the pregnancy period (Moore, McDonald, Carlon, & O’Rourke, 2015). I believe this claim because many people who grow up in low income backgrounds cannot get the necessary education, insurance, or proper care due to their parents being unemployed, making minimum wage, or having to live from paycheck to paycheck.
This essay will discuss ways in which a person’s socioeconomic class and his/her social situation can have an impact on his/her health, using examples. We believe that there is a direct link between socioeconomic/social class and health (Adler et al. 1994). I will be defining the key terms: socioeconomic and health, social class then proceed to discuss about how poverty, income, employability, environment and housing can impact on a person’s social situation and their health.
Income inequality also causes obesity however; we mostly blame individuals for being obese. Being obese can have a serious impact on mental and physical health. it is an illness that is associated with stereotypes. The biggest one is “if poor people become obese they cannot be not poor”. People in this mentality also exclude the structural and social conditions that cause illnesses such as obesity. Social life affects the health of people, especially the socioeconomic level. How much you earn monthly is a factor how fit you are. The risk of being an obese is lower for the wealthy individuals. Poor people are obese because they have no money to buy healthy food, they have no time to exercise, they have stress that causes them to eat constantly, they lack education, they do not have access to the healthcare, they do not have social support and so on. It is mostly about the income inequality.
Rowlingson (2011) agrees with Wilkinson and Pickett that there is indeed a strong correlation between income and health and social problems. In her report she includes the ‘Marmot Review’ (Marmot, 2010) which shows evidence that people living in England in the poorest areas compared to those living in the richest will, on average, die 7 years earlier. This suggests a clear link between class and health. The report further notes other additional factors, such as infant mortality, and mental and physical well being go hand in hand with inequality.
Income can impact both your physical health and your mental health in a multitude of ways. Income plays a role in determining the level of health care you can afford, surgeries you can have done, and even the food you choose to eat. Stress from lack of income can have detrimental effects on your mental state as well.