Poverty and Health

Poverty is strongly associated with worse health across countries and across individuals within countries. However, not all poor individuals suffer from poor health: The effects of poverty on health vary across place and time. In this review, we discuss the evidence documenting these patterns and the reasons for the associations. We then provide an overview of what is known about policies that may improve the health of the poor. We focus primarily on the modern-day United States, but we also discuss evidence from historical experiences and low- and middle-income countries. Throughout the article we discuss areas in need of future research.