Strong Ties to
Social Welfare Policies
Social welfare policies and health care go hand in hand, but many of the ties are often overlooked. “Being poor in this country is virtually synonymous with being less healthy. Individuals of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to suffer from almost every illness, including a higher burden of infant mortality, more chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, and increased cancer rates. (hhpronline)” Not only are low income families subject to a higher chance and number of illnesses, but they aren’t always able to access or pay for healthcare. Research shows that such policies improving low income families situations, do indeed have positive impacts on health. However, it’s necessary that we continue and expand this research as well as take it seriously. Policy makers have to realize that social policy is indeed health policy so that these policies are well thought out and intentionally improve the U.S population health. In fact there are some policies that unintentionally improved health care stats. "studies demonstrate that the growth of compulsory schooling across the U.S. during the 20th century increased educational attainment, which led to lower mortality rates and improvements in cognitive outcomes in old age. Community development has also been identified as a major contributor to health outcomes, and collaborative organizations such as the Build Healthy Places Network have begun to promote creative policies and programs that address health by tackling issues such as housing, neighborhood quality, transportation, and schools.”