Low-Income People

Many studies have found a relationship between poverty or low income and poor health outcomes. Although the definitions of poverty and low income may differ from one country to another, in the United States, the poverty level is defined by the federal government, and “low income” is defined as earning up to twice the poverty level. For instance, in 2013, for a household of four, with two children, the poverty level was $22,811, and the threshold for low income was twice that. In the 2010 census, 48 percent of U.S. citizens fell into the low-income category, or roughly 146.4 million people. The connection between lower income and worse health outcomes is clear. Almost one-third of the U.S. workforce can be considered low income. These low-income ...