Summary

Poverty and Health
• The link between poverty and health is strong and well established in Ireland and
other countries.
• Poverty contributes to poor health directly through, for example, inadequate housing or dangerous environments and indirectly, for example, through poor diet.
• Being poor or socially excluded makes it more difficult to access or afford health services.
• In Ireland, the gap in health between rich and poor is substantial. Mortality rates in the lowest socio-economic groups are over 100% higher than in the highest socioeconomic groups for all the major causes of death.
• As well as the huge gap in mortality between poorest and richest, the risk of poor health increases as one goes down the socio-economic scale. This gradient has been demonstrated in Ireland.