clipped from: www.cnn.com Poverty in the United States increased 20 percent between 2000 and 2004, census numbers show. And although the trend stalled in 2005, researchers worry poverty will have profound effects on public health in this country.
New research indicates that it's not just the poor who are getting poorer. An analysis of poverty rates and health published in the September issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people living in extreme poverty tend to have more chronic illnesses, more frequent and severe disease complications and make greater demands on the health care system.
The modest salary increase is not enough to counter what Woolf's study calls a "sinkhole effect" on income, a disparity shifting middle- and upper-class families closer to the poverty level.
As financially strapped families struggle to cover basic needs such as food, shelter and the increasing cost of energy, health insurance often takes a back seat on the list of priorities. A National Health Survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 40 million people of all ages went without insurance at some point in 2005.
More than half remained uninsured specifically because they simply couldn't afford it, the CDC said. Research consistently highlights the negative link between reduced income and worsening health -- as salaries drop, individuals tend to be more stressed, and generally lead less-healthy lifestyles.
Poverty's impact is felt most by the nation's children. Children under the age of 5 are more likely to live in extreme poverty. Uninsured children are at greater risk of experiencing health problems such as obesity, heart disease and asthma that continue to affect them later in adulthood. The prevalence of these illnesses does not bode well for future generations, Woolf said.