Living in Poverty and its Effects on Health

home > archives > 22/1 > Living in Poverty and its Effects on Hea

Sally Swinnerton
Undergraduate Student, Charles Sturt University, Albury NSW

PP: 75

Abstract

Poverty has been identified as the greatest threat to health. Generally speaking, poor people are sick more often than wealthier people, and poor people die younger due to poorer economic, social, political and physical conditions.

The article explains the difference between relative poverty and absolute poverty, before going on to explore various reasons why people living in relative poverty are more susceptible to ill health than their wealthier counterparts. The article delves into how poverty contributes to ill health by the effects of low income and poor health behaviours, with cigarette smoking being identified as the health behaviour with the largest negative impact on people living in relative poverty.

| More

Keywords

poverty, health, health behaviour, smoking, primary health care, socio-economic status

View references

References

Beck U (1992) The Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, Sage, London. In Hardey M (1998) The Social Context of Health, Open University Press, Buckingham UK.

Brotherhood of St Laurence (2002) Poverty - facts, figures and suggestions for the future. In Healey J (ed) Poverty p.1, The Spinney Press, Rozelle NSW.

Burdess N (2004) Class and health. In Grbich C (ed) Health in Australia: Sociological Concepts and Issues 3^rd edn, pp.173-98, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest NSW.

Dowler EA and Dobson BM (1997) Symposium on 'Nutrition and poverty in industrialized countries', Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 56: 51-62. In Robertson A, Brunner E and Sheiham A (1999) Food is a practical issue. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp.179-210. Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Fincher R and Nieuwenhuysen J (1998) Australian Poverty: Then and Now, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.

Graham H (1987a) Being poor: perceptions and coping strategies of lone mothers. In Brannen J and Wilson G (eds) Give and Take in Families, Allen & Unwin, London. In Hardey M (1998) The Social Context of Health, Open University Press, Buckingham UK.

Graham H (1987b) Women's smoking and family health, Social Science and Medicine 25 (1): 47-56. In Jarvis MJ and Wardle J (1999) Social patterning of individual health behaviours: the case of cigarette smoking. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp.240-55, Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Hardey M (1998) The Social Context of Health, Open University Press, Buckingham UK.

Holman R (1978) Poverty: Explanations of Social Deprivation, Martin Robertson and Company Ltd, Oxford UK.

Ineichen B (1993) Homes and health: how housing and health interact, Chapman and Hall, London. In Shaw M, Dorling D and Davey Smith G (1999) Poverty, social exclusion, and minorities. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (Eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp. 211-39. Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Jarvis MJ and Wardle J (1999) Social patterning of individual health behaviours: the case of cigarette smoking. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp.240-55, Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Marmot M (2001) Inequalities in Health, The New England Journal of Medicine 345(2): 134-36.

National Health Strategy (1992) Enough to Make you Sick: How Income and Environment Affect Health, Treble Press, Canberra.

Ogden J (2001) Health psychology. In Naidoo J and Wills J (eds) Health Studies: An Introduction pp.69-100, Palgrave, London.

Peden A, Rayens M, Hall L and Grant E (2004) Negative Thinking and the Mental Health of Low-Income Single Mothers. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 36(4): 337-44.

Queensland Government Public Health Services Branch (nd) Social Determinants of Health: Income Fact Sheet. Available at http://www.health.qld.gov.au/phs/Documents/sphun/20399.pdf [accessed 1 April 2005].

Robertson A, Brunner E and Sheiham A (1999) Food is a practical issue. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp.179-210. Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Schrader T (2004) Poverty and Health in Australia, New Doctor 80: 17-19.

Shaw M, Dorling D and Davey Smith G (1999) Poverty, social exclusion, and minorities. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp.211-39. Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Short S, Sharman E and Speedy S (1998) Sociology for Nurses: An Australian Introduction 2^nd edn. Macmillan Publishers Australia Pty Ltd, Melbourne.

Smith GD and Morris J (1994) Increasing inequalities in the health of the nation, BMJ 309 (6967): 1453-4. In Jarvis MJ and Wardle J (1999) Social patterning of individual health behaviours: the case of cigarette smoking. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp.240-55, Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Stansfeld SA (1999) Social support and social cohesion. In Marmot M and Wilkinson R (eds) Social Determinants of Health, pp.155-178. Oxford University Press, Oxford UK.

Taylor J and McClelland A (1994) 'Poverty and Inequality: A Welfare Organisation's Perspective', presentation to the Australian Council of Social Service Congress, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Brisbane.

Wass A (2000) Promoting Health: The Primary Health Care Approach 2^nd edn. Elsevier Australia, Marrickville NSW.

White K (2002) An Introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness, Sage Publications Ltd, London.

Navigate: Archives | Contents | Top of page