The Logic of Policies to Address Income-Related Health Inequity: A Problem-Oriented Approach

Policy Points  Income is a fundamental cause of health across the life course. To address income-related health inequities, we need a set of overlapping and complementary policy approaches rather than focusing on a single policy.  During their lives, individuals inhabit different roles with regard to their ability to earn wages, and at any given time, only about 50% of the US population are expected to earn wages, while the rest (e.g., children, older adults, those who are disabled, unemployed, students, and/or caregivers) are not.  Three key "branch points" for designing policy approaches to address income-related health inequity are (1) should the needed good or service be obtained on the market? (2) do policy beneficiaries currently earn income? and (3) have policy beneficiaries earned income previously? The responses to these questions suggest one of four policy approaches: social services, social enfranchisement, social insurance, or social assistance.