Being poor is bad for your health
It’s no secret that smoking and obesity can lead to a stack of life-threatening conditions, but poverty may be even worse for your health, new research suggests.
According to a group of Columbia University researchers, Americans whose household income is in the bottom one-third of the population, or up to twice the national poverty level, lost more than eight years of otherwise good health.
Dropping out of high school was also a marker for poorer health. High school dropouts had 5.1 fewer years of good health, the researchers suggest. In comparison, obesity only trimmed 4.2 years off health scores, while smokers lost 6.6 years.
Are things any better here in Canada? Apparently not.According to Statistics Canada, which uses a quality of life measurement called HALE (Health Adjusted Life Expectancy), being well-to-do translates into roughly 11.4 more years of healthy living for men, and 9.7 more healthy years for women.
Even making a comparison with those who have average incomes versus those at the highest level, the wealthy man has six more years of good health, and the wealthy women, 4.2 years, Stats Can reports.
Not surprisingly, the numbers vary by region.
People live longest and have better health in British Columbia. Then, as you make your way east, these numbers are slightly reduced, until they begin to drop sharply in the Atlantic region.
What do you think? Do money and health go hand in hand?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Helen | Jan 13, 2022 7:29:29 AM
Yes I do. When you have money you can afford to get the care and things that you need to keep healthy.
Posted by: Helen | Jan 13, 2022 7:30:52 AM
Yes I believe money does help. You can afford to get the care and the things you need to keep healthy.
Posted by: Nancy | Jan 13, 2022 9:37:09 AM
They say money is not everything. But where would you be without it? Having little or no money will put a lot of stress and pressure on each individual and any couple's relationship. You worry day to day, how will you be able to provide for your children, put food in their mouth; how are you going to pay for those bills that keep pilling up?? etc.....so yes, I agree "money and health go hand in hand", you need money to survive, keep healthy and maintain a healthy relationship with the ones you love.
Posted by: Dorothy | Jan 13, 2022 10:53:01 AM
That statement is so true. I live it daily, monthly, yearly. My husband and I both have always worked full time. If you can't save or get money inherited or whatever life will always be like this. Money attracts money so if you don't have it well lets just say life is going to be a lot tougher...
Posted by: beth | Jan 13, 2022 11:32:04 AM
i think having money is a good thing but how yu look at life is very important to,i mean if yu cry because yu don,t have this or that .most people don,t want to work for a living and they are the ones ,most of the time who has bad health because they are sitting back hoping for handouts from other sources.. all i can say is do the best yu can for yu and yur family and strive to be happy because its all in how yu put out in life its all about attiude/ how yu look at life in general///
Posted by: Frank Sapp | Jan 13, 2022 9:36:54 PM
As heard in a song awhile back, "so you call this your free country, tell me why it costs so much to live?"
Thats exactly how it is. Nobody wants to be poor. Every parent wants to provide the very best they can for their family. The only person you can rely on is ultimately YOU.
What options do people have to make this happen?
Well, we can all put in more hours at work.
OR
Consider learning how to work for yourself. There are many home based businesses that can easily generate enough income to supplement your needs or completely replace your current job.
It all depends on what you want.
To recieve free information and learn how to successfully start a business from home, contact Frank.
My email is fwsapp@hotmail.com
Posted by: Jean-Claude | Jan 14, 2022 9:08:13 AM
It is with amazement that we are looking at this now... what arrogance I see from some of the comments above. Number 1 I'm a Producer/Director of a television series that helps people who hit miss fortune. It is unbelievable to think that we are protected from our government. The true fact is that 45% of Canadians live pay cheque to pay cheque.... it is a true fact that 4% of the population of the earth own 96% of the profits. It is also true that our government subsidy meets the cost of living from 1992 and does not reflect the cost of living from 2010. And seriously no one wants to be poor... and the percentage that do is .5% and it's due to mental illness. No one grows up in the world and says I want to be poor.... no one grows up in the world and say I want to be a crack addict... no one grows up in the world and says I want to be an alcoholic.... no one does... I grew up as a foster kid with no parents ... I worked three jobs to stay in school did not have mommy and daddy to help out. I wasn't privileged with affluence... thus I've experienced poverty... a man who has 7 years of schooling with an I.Q. of 152... and can't get into law school because I don't have enough money in the bank and my parents are not rich...
What's happening ladies and gentlemen is the arrogance of society thinking that poverty is self induced and in fact the majority of poverty is created by our own communities who turn a blind eye to the situation. Also, poverty is bad for your health because to eat healthy it's more expensive... if you go to the grocery store... check it out carefully... what's on sale is junk food and processed food... all the good food is rarely on sale... I know I'm a body builder and I avoid all the middle iles in the grocery store...
Let's be honest we live in 21st Century of our civilization and we are still racist of class... how sad... the last frontier for our civilization... to eliminate the classes... That 4% of the population is going to try make sure that it doesn't happen.... fat chance.... things are changing and our community is now global... THINGS ARE GOING TO CHANGE....
Peace
Jean-Claude
Posted by: Lisa | Jan 14, 2022 9:42:34 AM
Yes, Helen, well said. The best things for our bodies ARE more expensive. It is also true, that as a society, even though most SPEAK politically correctly, we still DO have "classes" in society, and I believe, always will.
What helps a person get out of the "lower" class in today's society?? You need a good education and alot of AMBITION. You need to know what type of education to get to get a high paying job. Then you need to work like there's no tomorrow. (Not many have enough ambition, when born into poverty.) However, I HAVE seen someone move from poverty to much wealth, so I know it's possible.
Anyway, definitely true..."money and wealth go hand in hand." No question.
Posted by: Rose | Jan 14, 2022 10:15:42 AM
Yes that is very true, enough $$$ better health. People say money is not everything in life but certainly having it helps to have a better healthy life. And yes money counts anywhere and everywhere in our society; life is easier if you have it and a lot tougher if you don't it, so the question I would like to leave with is: Why still now in the 21st Century, is it such a bad distribution of it, why only few have so much and so many have so little, does it have to be this way?
Go green as much as you can, the children of your children will appreciated…
Posted by: Lisa | Jan 14, 2022 11:00:27 AM
Rose, to answer that question...money gives more money. If you have money in whatever sort of savings account you choose, YOU are the one making the interest, right? It's not a company, etc., it's you. Basically, interest works in the favour of whoever is "holding the money bag."
And yes...go green!! :)
Posted by: Neil | Jan 14, 2022 11:48:48 AM
Lisa,I would like to remind you that if you keep the money in the bank,the only people that will make real money are the bankers,yes by the time you pay taxes and add inflation there not much left for you.So try to be creative with your money and make them real work for you.Watch how the bankers and others get rich,for sure not by keeping their money in the bank.
Posted by: Neil | Jan 14, 2022 12:05:52 PM
Lisa,I would like to remind you that by keeping your money in the bank and relying on that little
interest that they give you,by the time you pay taxes on it and adjust for inflation ,there would not be much left for you,the only people that makes real money on your money is the banker.
Please be more creative with your money if you real want it to make money for you,watch what the bankers and other rich people do to make their money work for them,surely they got rich not by keeping the money in the bank and collect interest.
Posted by: Lisa | Jan 14, 2022 2:13:40 PM
Neil, I completely agree with you that a "savings account" is definitely not the best option for making money on money. It was just a small example, is all.
I was just trying to answer Rose's question, yet trying to make things short and simple, under the circumstances.
The bottom line is, as adults, we should all be trying to learn, through correct sources, how to make money through our money, keeping in mind still, that everyone makes mistakes.
(I hope I have covered those issues/people that possibly will want to jump on me.)
Thanks Neil for helping me clarify what I was trying to say. :)
Posted by: Travis Stobo | Jan 14, 2022 3:11:09 PM
Yes I do belive that being poor is bad for your health.If you don't have the money to buy the right food to eat you are subject to eating processed foods.Also with the bill's to keep up on that also adds stress.
The government says they care about what happens to the peoples but their actions prove different.
With the welfare system it is designed to keep you poor and to keep you in that povershed mantality.
The money they give you barly pays the rent let alone any extra for food or other bills.If you own a car they expect you to sell it and any other assets you may have.
In my opinion the system is designed to make the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
People say get a better education and you will have a better job.Well if you don't have the money to get said education then you remain in a rut.It is one big circle that you never really get out of.
A person spends their whole life working and for what...Too get layed off all the time because of work shortage or to spend your time their till they don't need you any more cause you are now to old to do the job any more.So they give you a small retierment fund and say see ya.As you sit there and reflect your life you relise that you just spent your whole life as in prime of your life working for someone else and made them rich and you stay poor.Most people live paycheck to paycheck nowdays with no money to put away.The cost of living is soring higher and higher but the wages do not.So you look for other alternitives to bring in extra cash so you can live comfortably.
Not every one wants to be rich but we all do want to live comfortably.People say look for online ventures to get into but if you don't have a credit card you are not going to go anywhere.
If you do have a credit card well watch out because their is many many scams out their.
I myself have been looking to make money online because I am sick and tired of working for others to make them rich and nothing but a paycheck for me....I know there is others out there that feel the same way as I do.I have been searching for over three years now and still haven't found anything that wasen't a scam or needed a credit card to work it.I have found a few sites that are ligit but you need a credit card or some form of cash that you don't have in order to get in.
Commenting on Frank Sapp's blog if you know of a program that requires no credit card let me know.
You can contact me at .......tstobo@hotmail.com
There was a person that I was learning from on internet marketing and I must admit that I learned alot.Then I googled his name and found a bunch of bad reports on this person.How disapointed I was.But even with his programs you still needed a credit card.
Well I'm not giving up I do know it is possible to make it in cyberspace it is just the matter of finding the niche.
Poverty won't go away by just putting a band aid on it like the system does.
However the only way its going to change is if the world economy completely crashes.Only then can we eliminate poverty.
Travis Stobo
Calgary Alberta
Posted by: Jason Chabot | Feb 2, 2022 6:52:51 PM
"it is a true fact that 4% of the population of the earth own 96% of the profits. It is also true that our government subsidy meets the cost of living from 1992 and does not reflect the cost of living from 2010. And seriously no one wants to be poor... and the percentage that do is .5% and it's due to mental illness. No one grows up in the world and says I want to be poor.... no one grows up in the world and say I want to be a crack addict... no one grows up in the world and says I want to be an alcoholic...."
With response to Jean Claude, I commend you for your successes even though you have experienced a history full of challenges. I enjoy success stories like that. I agree that some people with disabilities etc are an exception to the rules, but I do feel that for the rest of the population we do have choices. People dont grow up saying they want to be poor, alcoholics and crack addicts but they do choose that for themselves if they end up that way. We live in a world of mediocrity and very few people choose to not settle for that. Hence why 4% are wealthy and 96% are average. A persons ambitions, desires, and actions are what determines success in life. Too many people have the desires but are lacking the ambitions and actions to get there.
There is no fence around the money pile so take what you think you deserve.
For Travis Stobo's comments..........I have an option for you that doesn't need a credit card. My personal email is jrchabot_bdc@hotmail.com and I would be than happy to give the necessary information to make an informed decision.
Jason
Sask