Case Study : Policy Brief : Certificate Of Authorship

Poverty also influences our responses to health and illness. The level of income below that which people cannot afford a minimum, nutritionally adequate diet, suitable and secure housing, heating and hot water, and beds to sleep on.

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)

It is no coincidence that it is called poor health. What I mean is that the people who have it hardest in this country, those with the lowest incomes, have the worst health. It could just as easily be called minority health, rather than poor health, because the majority of the people living in poverty are racial or ethnic minorities. Many racial minorities in the US suffer from poor health, but not because they have worse genetics, rather from worse educational opportunities. This is a problem of all those in poverty, but since a disproportionate amount of those in poverty are minorities; I am focusing my paper on how to alleviate the educational disparities within the minority population. Studies have shown that education is the ticket

The cause of bad health for millions of underprivileged population is poverty, thus poverty and poor health worldwide are inextricably interconnected. The causes of poor health are rooted in political, social and economic injustices. Poverty is both a cause and a result of poor health therefore it increases the chances of poor health. Communities are enslaved in poverty hence poor health is the end results of poor nutrition because the community can’t afford a balanced diet. Infectious and neglected tropical diseases kill and weaken millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people each year, for example, in Zambia children die from a preventable disease called malaria due to poverty.

Poverty tends to impact society on several different levels, whether it may be through the impact of the economy, social effects, education, health, but most importantly malnutrition; which is said to be the most common effect of poverty. Poverty affects millions of Americans by limiting their choices to cheap and unhealthy foods. It also limits the physical access to healthy food choices as it relates to diet costs and reliable access to the proper resources, which in turn creates a direct correlation between poverty which leads to obesity, as well as other diseases.

The barriers that stand in the way of maintaining a good health vary from one country to another. Moreover, within the same country these barriers vary depending on the socio-economic status of the individual. For individuals living in Canada, the main barrier to maintaining a good health is poverty. Even though poverty does not cause a disease directly, people living in poverty are lacking the resources to mitigate it. Poverty is a significant issue because it affects the health indirectly through the individual’s access to healthcare, housing and nutrition.

As stated by Engels, 1892 & Speybroeck, 2010, poor health outcomes have been mainly correlated with low income, low education, unsanitary housing, inadequate health care, unstable employment and unsafe physical environments (p.111). Unfortunately, socioeconomic status is often used to determine the type of medical care someone gets. For instance, people living in low-income neighborhoods have limited access to 'adequate' medical care, which is the opposite experience for those residing in upper-class

The population of the poor in the United States represents roughly 15 percent of the total population (Macionis 2013:41). As of 2012, the poorest 20 percent of the United States only represents 3.8 percent of total income earned (Macionis 2013:35). People do not choose to be poor, and most of those who are impoverished try to overcome this challenge. However, there is a trend that is evident and is continuously noticed in society. Those who live in poverty experience worse health care, education, social status, and wages than the upper class. I believe socioeconomic status serves a large role in whether an individual is likely to experience poor health. Policies that increase unemployment insurance or allocate for equal distribution of wealth and opportunity are viable solutions to socioeconomic inequality (Babones 2010:141). The social conflict theory best explains the socioeconomic inequality in the United States and helps sociologists interpret how inequality causes increased health issues for the lower class.

There are more than 43 million people right now in the U.S. that live below the poverty line (Poverty Talk, 2016). There are 43 million Americans who struggle to make ends meet, provide for their families, and receive adequate health care. Those under the poverty line have a difficult time maintaining specific needs; I am especially interested in the effect that socioeconomic status has on the health of an individual, particularly those in a lower socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status focuses on either an individual or a group within a hierarchical social structure; it focuses on a combination of variables including occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence (Dictionary, 2005). The variables I will mainly be focusing on are income and wealth. While most working Americans have their healthcare paid for by employers, what about the 4.9% of unemployed Americans? The American health care system works on two different plans, Medicaid and Medicare, these plans were designed with the elderly, disabled, poor, and young in mind; I will be focusing specifically on factors of health for those with little to no income. Access to healthcare is another important factor that has a direct relationship to overall health of an individual. Research has shown that those with a lower socioeconomic status have a lower overall physical and mental health. The argument can be made that health is directly impacted by socioeconomic status with income being the biggest

Millions of people in the United States live in poverty today. Living in poverty indicates an individual has insufficient resources to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Not only are they poor and malnourished, but they are also discriminated against in the work place because of their economic status. Poverty affects racial minorities more than it affects white people. For example, employers are more likely to hire a white person than a black person with the same

One huge cause of illness is poverty. Poverty plays such a huge role in the health of individuals because to be healthy you must have the necessary resources available to maintain health, such as nutritious food and safe shelter. Not having healthy food directly impacts health by often causing malnourishment and obesity. Individuals in poverty often

This type of practice can lead to more and more chronic and debilitating diseases and conditions, that may have been avoided if they had the funds or access to health care. Living in poverty may also affect their living environment, for example, not have proper sanitation and living in deplorable conditions can exacerbate previous diagnosed illness or cause newly diagnosed conditions. Not having the money to buy food that are healthy can also cause unfavorable medical issues. If money is not available to meet some of the basic necessities of live, such as water, food and shelter, good health will surely suffer. Being at a social economic disadvantage places a lot of mental stress on an individual with can result in physical symptoms and conditions. According to (Pampel, Kreuger & Denney, n.d.) unhealthy behaviors result from the vast differences in the social circumstances of low- and

Income has a significant impact on a person’s health and well-being. According to an article titled “Where Health Disparities Begin: The Role of Social and Economic Determinants—And Why Current Policies May Make Matters Worse” by Steven H. Woolf and Paula Braveman, “US adults living in poverty are more than five times as likely to report being in fair or poor health as adults with incomes at least four times the federal poverty level” (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). Low-income people face many barriers to health care, which include lack of insurance coverage and unaffordable health care costs, resulting in poorer health and higher rates of death. Low-income people cannot afford the same health care as their wealthier counterparts, resulting in health

Poverty can lead to serious effects. Children who grow up in poverty are likely to have frequent health problems than the children who grow in better financial circumstances. For example, infants who are born into poverty have a low birth weight, and they grow up with mental or physical disabilities. Not only are they sick, but they are most likely to die before their first birthday. Children who are raised in poverty might miss school often because of their illnesses, and they have a much higher accident rate than the other children. Nearly a billion of the world’s population can’t read nor write. Poor families experience stress much more than a normal family does. They are more likely to be exposed to negative events such as illness, job loss, death of a family member, and depression. Homelessness is another effect of poverty. Homeless children are less likely to receive proper nutrition, protection and they experience more health problems. Around 1.4 million children die each year from lack of access to safe and clean water and proper nutrition. Homeless women experience a high rate of low birth weight infants as well as miscarriages. Families who do not have homes receive much more stress than other families. They also have disruption in school, work, friendships, and family relationships. There are other effects of poverty such as drug abuse and addiction, child and woman abuse, debts pressure, and increase in crimes.

Poverty is a massive issue today, it surrounds all of life’s experiences, and it impacts on the future for people everywhere, and on health everywhere in society. Poverty is not just related to unemployment or