Chapter 1. Critical Thinking Exercise: Poverty and Health Disparities

When systemic issues of health access and reform are investigated, many questions arise. Health disparities are based on a number of factors and contexts. Poverty, for example, has been directly related to both health and mental health outcomes. For instance, in the Healthy People 2020 report (https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/data-search/Search-the-Data#objid=5249), one specific study that addressed social determinants of identified poverty status in the United States utilized data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2014, almost 15% of the United States population met the necessary criteria for living in poverty. The United States Census Bureau recognizes “poverty status” based on money income, excluding any federal or state benefit (e.g., food stamps), and overall family size. In 2010, for a two-child family, with two parents living in the home, the poverty threshold was set at $22,113.

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