Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Objective: We investigate how health status and the relationship between health status and income have changed over time.

Methodology: First, we document patterns of health status among children, prime-age adults, and adults over 65 using the National Health Interview Survey for selected years between 1978 and 2003. We measure income using three categories of poverty: poor for below 100% of poverty, near poor for between 100 and 200% of poverty, and non poor for above 200% of poverty. At the same time, we utilize three measures of health: self-reported fair or poor health, limitations in work, school, or home activities due to health problems, and a health-related quality of life index equal to one if individuals report both limitations and in fair or poor health. We track changes in health status by poverty status for all three age groups over the 25 year period. Next, we perform multivariate regression of the likelihood of having poor health for all three measures. Besides our investigation into the relationship between income and health, our probit model includes control variables for age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, and region.

Results: As expected, we find that poor health status and poverty are closely linked. For every age group and every heath indicator, the health of the poor is worse than that of the near poor or non poor. Adults show some slight improvement in health over time, using both measures. However, the gains appear greatest among the non poor, suggesting an increase in health disparities as income disparities increase. Health status as measured by health limitations has declined for all children from 1978 to 2003, though the greatest rate of increase was among the near poor children. In the probit estimates, we find poverty to have strong correlation with poorer health status and clear statistical evidence of the increasing association between income and health for nearly all age groups and all three measures of health.

Conclusions: The evidence suggests that poverty and near poverty play an increasingly important role in determining health status. The increase in income inequality when combined with the increase in reported disparities in limitations for children may have long run negative consequences for future earnings inequality and more fundamental measures of well-being. In conjunction with programs specifically directed to provide health insurance to the poor and near poor, public policies targeted at reducing poverty could have long term consequences on health.

Implications: We make a case that ill health is a separate and very important aspect of poverty that needs to be continuously monitored and reported in the same way that the number of uninsured are monitored and reported and the number of poor themselves are monitored and reported. Only when health status, SES, and access to care can be easily and systematically compared will we be in a position to say whether the poor and near poor are receiving adequate health care or are approaching the non poor in terms of access and health status.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: The link between poverty and poor health outcomes is well established in the medical and sociological literature. Researchers have documented the inverse correlation between socioeconomic status and poor health indicators, including patterns of specific diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Research focusing on rural communities, particularly persistently poor places where poverty becomes entrenched is noticeably lacking in the literature. This paper first reviews the literature looking at poverty and health outcomes, focusing in the main on poor communities with a high incidence of specific diseases and other indicators of poor health. The primary focus of the paper is to present a case study of a de-industrialized, persistently poor county in the southwestern region of Pennsylvania known as "Fayette" county in terms of health indicators collected for the region.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Researchers have found that people near the poverty line are more likely to take advantage of microfinance programs and are more likely to get bigger loans and ultimately build successful microenterprises. At the same time, those much further below the poverty line are more likely to drop out of microcredit programs. The United States Congress and a number of organizations are pushing for greater inclusion of the poorest people in these programs – yet this is likely a difficult task to achieve absent new methodologies. An additional problem raised is how to monitor the progress toward this objective. This paper will begin with a brief background of microfinance, including a general overview of its programs and the U.S. government’s involvement with this initiative. I will then analyze the growing concern over including the poorest of the poor in microfinance programs. Finally, I will propose a number of solutions for broadening the impact of microfinance including a lending program that would first alleviate the quality of life for the very poor and another program that would expand the membership of “solidarity groups” to include more who fall below the poverty line.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Ethiopia invading Somalia in late 2006 was one of the most audacious acts by one sovereign African nation against another. Somalia, ungovernable, and buffeted by fifteen years of civil war, epitomized anarchy and probably seemed ready to be fatally overwhelmed by an organized army. Ethiopia took the bait. Scarred but battle-tested from her internecine conflict with Eritrea, Ethiopia seemed ready to crush Somalia rag-tag, clan-based guerrilla insurgents in one swoop and shore because Ethiopia is hopelessly bogged down. This paper examines how Ethiopia's seemingly quick invasion of Somalia has turned into a nightmare with unimaginable consequences not only for the hapless Somalis but also for Ethiopians living far away from the battlefront. The study cautions other African countries to resist invading another African country at all cost, even if the reasons to invade seem compelling.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Low-income householders are especially at risk of contending not only with housing that is unaffordable but also the substandard living conditions and poor health outcomes that commonly coincide with poor housing options. A growing body of inter-disciplinary research has pointed to housing and neighborhood quality as significant culprits of health disparities that disproportionately impact low-income and minority populations. The existence of laws and codes established by local, state and federal entities and designed to protect the health and welfare of inhabitants greatly facilitate efforts to enforce the rights of housing residents and ensure a decent, healthy living environment. Nevertheless, legal approaches are not as widely used among the poor when addressing various housing hardships. The barriers to legal strategies, which include a lack of knowledge of or access to the legal system, leave poor families contending with common problems such as those in housing without legal recourse despite the fact that legal options exist to protect their rights. The goal of the present research is to examine how the law can be better used as an instrument in addressing housing and neighborhood conditions that pose health risks among poor householders. In treating the law as a pathway through which to mediate the negative health effects of housing, I argue that legal interventions may serve to intercept and alleviate the harmful links between poor housing and poor health. In depicting 12 (of 72) in depth case study reviews where there is a health-related risk and a justiciable claim in a housing case, I illustrate the outcomes of legal interventions among poor householders and show how legal framing serves in the interest of protecting health and advancing opportunities for rights claiming and the promotion social justice and equality in the civil justice system.