The article is only about one study. Unfortunately, it doesn’t contextualise it within the larger body of literature on the social determinants of health in which epidemiologists, like Michael Marmot, have repeatedly demonstrated that wealth (and more importantly the social status created by wealth) drive longevity and good health. However, more important than individual wealth is an individual’s relative wealth in a society. That is, health reflects ‘the social gradient’ and is worse in societies which have higher levels of inequality (such as America), compared with other more equal societies such as Scandinavia. While poor health may prevent a person from climbing the social ladder, it also works the other way. It’s not just about access to healthcare, although that is important. Power and having control over one’s own life (not living with anxiety of being at the whims of others) are very important. A monk, while poor, is outside the broader toxic social hierarchy and is less likely to be subject to its adverse effects. Inequality can kill.
21
No probm with Science Section but how about Health and The New old Age Section as well.
5
Wealthier people also less likely to smoke, abuse drugs, and make bad choices.
Wealthier more likely to regularly exercise, live in safe neighborhoods, and self educate.
49
Here's a radical thought:
How about the same bundle of attributes that allow you to become rich will also serve to make you more healthy?
Like delaying gratification, like being intelligent, like not deceiving yourself, like recognizing that daily activities have long term consequences...
Just a theory mind you.
62
What an expensive way to demonstrate confirmation bias!
It’s not as simple as rich or poor.
Buddhist monks are known for their longevity.
Retired, career (wealthy) professional athletes seldom enjoy similar longevity.
It’s about choice. What you do with the time and money you do have.
What problems you create for yourself and how you weather the ones you didn’t create.
Can I have the same budget to confirm that?
18
Well, that settles it, I choose wealth.
27
@Blue in Green If its between Buddhist Monk or wealth, yep, wealth any day.
2
If you are seriously ill, you cannot work. No surprise that you are then poor.
Unless the results are corrected for this obvious bias, they do not mean anything.
16
Here's my secret belief: People with high libido strive both to earn more and to stay in better shape. Most rich people I know have a high libido. Same with the fittest people I know. Everything is about s-x.
Try asking health and unhealthy, rich and poor people how much they think about s-x.
I don't go to pole dancing clubs, but I would.
4
Wow, more super-surprising news that having more money makes life easier.
Sometimes it seems like the campaign for redistribution of wealth is determined to find, say, at least 1 million ways that being poor is awful.
It is awful -- quite obviously. But maybe the way to make things better is to focus on effective and politically viable solutions, rather than just piling on more evidence that being poor is bad.
12
It’s permissible to consider this, because it fits nicely with accepted narratives. Here is more evidence of the Privilege that privilege begets, extra years of life itself!
Yet it’s to be understood that, on the other hand, the fact that females consistently outlive males across all groupings is certainly not to be taken as evidence of anything at all, and certainly, definitely not, evidence of some sort of “female privilege”. In fact, shame on me for even mentioning data that is so unhelpful.
6
I belong to Equinox in Manhattan. Most members are high earners. Many seem like former college athletes (now working in finance). These people seem very driven to be/stay fit. They're very competitive people, or seem so. I see guys in their 40's, 50',s and 60's doing deadlifts with lots of grunting. The older men seem to want to compete with the younger men. Also, it seems like half the men are gay. Are gay men more likely to be affluent (no children?)? They seem to work hard to remain somewhat attractive to younger men.
2
Not enough money to pay for food, clothing or shelter and watch a person’s stress level go sky high.
Stress hormones that stay elevated will negatively affect every cell in your body, placing you in an early grave.
12
Access to unprocessed food and good healthcare makes you live longer. Thing a many Americans can’t afford.
5
@David
Rice and dry beans are poor people's food, and unprocessed. For about $2 a day you can get more than a full day's meals. Not a balanced diet, but a good start.
11
Boy do I disagree. While it is true that having virtually no money is nearly a free ticket to the grave, personally, I know many in the one percent periphery not the 242 families with all the wealth, but those with at least 3 to 10 million, some 100 million, and in one case a billionaire, who died, got cancers at the same time (couples), suffered from Parkinson's disease while living in the most exclusive area of California, neighbors and partners, and died with the dementia and many disabilities of Parkinson's disease, and or committed suicide.
The disease states of the above mentioned has impressed me SO much that I have written that very little medicine focuses on the extremely wealthy. They have disease TOO!
But medical science discounts them, in part, I guess because they insist on privacy. A world business leader in global shipping cannot have it made public that he has cancer. A CEO of a major energy innovator whose energy saving and computing hardware and computers (together) has cancer and is dying as the stock of his company soars.
Robin Williams had a specific form of dementia. He did not wait for it the hallucinations to begin, that Lewy Body's Dementia causes. He was quite a millionaire if NOT a billionaire.
I know a man and his wife who were renown on Wall Street, as a huge investor who made it, and then transitioned into philanthropy. They died relatively young. They traveled a great deal
4
What about life expectancy among the most impoverished people in the world, say in Bangladesh, Central America, Africa? Does our humanity stop at our human borders? How long do the poorest Americans live compared to the poorest in the rest of the world? Are they blessed by comparison?
4
Have you seen a 93 year old person lately? If so, would you care to explain why you want to live to be ninety?
Eat, drink and be merry.
11
@Skiplusse
Actually, I do know a 93-year-old. I just edited and published his first book, a memoir about his WWII experiences, which include receiving the Bronze Star Medal and the Silver Star, as well being one of the first American troops inside the newly concentration camp Dachau. I nominated his book for The Florida Book Awards—it's terrific. An active Realtor, he currently has $27 million in listings. He's smart, articulate, and kind; just a wonderful person. I'm sure he has health challenges, but, so far, he's a heck of a role model. Long may he live!
21
And, the 1 % pocketing most of the increases in productivity are the great killers of the American poor... and that applies practically to the G-20... as Germany does not go scot free.
Capitalism has limited benefit for the poor: they go to an early grave.
14
Live longer in Cuba!
1
They do.
5
Good article. Great opening sentence.
1
My father was born into a wealthy family, a child of privilege with homes and family in Berlin and Amsterdam, when Hitler came along and the bottom dropped out. He and his parents came to this country with most of their riches and most of their relatives literally and figuratively up in smoke. He used to say “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; and this much I know: it’s good to have money.”
Dad was spot on. After nearly 70 years on the planet, I didn’t really need an epidemiological study to tell me that.
11
Seriously.
Did somebody get money to `research' this?
Is the Pope Catholic!!
2
People who have more wealth have certain traits that other people don't have. They manage their affairs better! Education by itself doesn't mean that you manage your affairs very well. There are a lot of well educated people that accomplish very little in life. They just don't manage well. Class has the same problem. You may be born into a "high class" family but if you mess up a lot it won't help you. You may be born poor or not be a great student, but if you manage your life well you are likely to accumulate money. It is not surprising that you are likely to live longer and be in better health than people who don't manage their lives very well.
4
Healthy people are those who are most active, exercise, eat with some discretion, avoid stress, sleep well and work, often for more years. That active life helps build wealth which adds to the length of life. So it is a more complex picture, life style helps build wealth and wealth increase odds for longer life.
This isn't so simple as a one on one correlation only going one way.
7
Scientific studies show that the more animal protein a population eats, the more heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity that population has. Read "The China Study", watch "Game Changers", "What the Health", and "Forks over Knives" on Netflix. Become acquainted with Dr. Greger and his web site "Nutritionfacts.org". There are no mysteries on why Americans are sick; all evidence points to the Standard American Diet. It's just something most don't want to hear. They enjoy their animal carcass too much.
2
Lots of folk medicine and classist speculation here, trying to cast wealth as the cause of longevity while the article describes a simple correlation.
Perhaps other personality qualities that some people have lead them to attain both wealth and health.
9
Throughout history common folk tended to live longer healthier lives because they ate simply and worked close to the earth. Royalty and noblemen were more sickly and didn't live as long because they ate rich food and didn't do a lot of physical activity.
In this era things seemed to have reversed itself. The lower economic folk are more likely to have unhealthy habits and eat more unhealthy foods and the more wealthy have less unhealthy habits and are more conscious of the foods they consume.
Wealthier people tend to have better support systems around them when they do become ill and the reverse is true for the economically disadvantaged. And I haven't even mentioned the part education plays in all this.
10
@Glengarry
Royalty and noblemen were more sickly and didn't live as long because they ate rich food and didn't do a lot of physical activity.
They also suffered the deleterious effects of inbreeding. If Shakespeare's plays are accurate, the nobility engaged in a lot of horseback riding, archery, fencing, and outdoor activity. I don't think the nobility were as inactive as you want to believe. Farm folk are routinely depicted as overweight and alcoholic. In Tolstoy, farmers might be presented as godlike workers, but Tolstoy was Soviet Realism avant la lettre.
2
Too many unexplored variables to draw more fine-grained conclusions. Wealth equals longer and better health. Yes. Conclusions beyond this, not so much.
5
Exercise. Eat a lean and leafy diet. Reject a consumer driven existence. Highly scrutinize the medical system, especially pharma cure alls. Enjoy your fellow humans. These things are free and they lead to a longer, healthier and happier life.
22
@A Centrist right on, Centrist, this is it. stay fit, eat plant-based fresh food diet, love well, sleep well, roll back stress.
3
I am disgusted by reading the majority of comments here, who blame the poor for their premature deaths.
Econ9mic inequality literally kills thousands of people every year - I think the estimate is that 45,000 people die due to lack of health insurance.
The cause is obvious. Rich people not only have much less deadly stress, they have gold plated insurance and enjoy preventative care and screening.
Example: During regular checkup, doctor finds high blood pressure or obesity, and recommends diet, exercise, counseling, and prescription medications.
Example: During regular checkup, doctor suggests colonoscopy or mammogram. Screenings discover problems, which are surgically removed.
In both cases, rich patient lives longer. Poor patient is uninsured or underinsured and can't afford regular checkups, preventative care, or screenings. They die prematurely.
21
@Bill Wolfe
But rich people don't have obesity or high blood pressure or colon cancer. Or they do less frequently. That's what this inquiry is about. The basic question is why are rich people thinner than poor people.
Rich people already know about fitness and diet. they don't need doctors to tell them about it.
Rich people don't NEED preventative care. Their lifestyle is preventative care.
I'm affluent. I haven't had pizza is 25 years (maybe twice in 25 years). I don't eat white flour, refined sugar, or deep friend foods (not much). I try to eat kale four times a week, beets, whole grains, and lean meat.
Poor people look to medicine for their health. Rich people look to fitness and diet. By the time you have to consult a doctor, you're basically already dead.
13
@Bill Wolfe you give everyone the wrong impression when you attribute good health to doctors. much is individual habits and even the poor can do much to help themselves. Much is not the fault of the poor or poorly noursihed with manufactured foods, but individuals do have agency in many things that make for good health.
4
@Anti-Marx thanks for taking the time for this excellent comment. it is your choice to make, and for the most part, everyone with or without riches can make these choices.
2
I was told all my life that "early to bed, early to rise" would result in this data set . Perhaps a sleep study would be a better use of resources ,
or could it just be possible that wealth and health are both the results you would expect to see of people who are smarter than others and likely to make better choices all around. Heaven forbid that I should suggest that any personal responsibility is involved in human outcomes.
10
@Tucker , as I look around and read the news, I'm amazed at the apparently large number of rich people who are as dumb as a rock. Character and good choices do not guarantee lots of money nor does lots of money mean good choices or character. But money will buy you better healthcare, better food, and better neighborhood.
Why we equate wealth with a person's intrinsic worth just doesn't make sense to me. Personal responsibility is not always rewarded, circumstances are part of everyone's journey.
14
@Nancy G
Really. I know a lot of rich republicans, but they all scored very well on the SAT/GRE and went Ivy.
plenty of rich people are venal and selfish, but that doesn't mean they dumb. intelligence is not a moral faculty.
3
I'm not certain that I fully agree with the conclusions of the writer. I live in Florida in a senior retirement community called The Villages. Most of the population here is retired, middle to upper middle class seniors. Many are retired professionals in health care, law, computers, the sciences, engineering, education and other fields. The one statistic that is most disturbing is the number of minorities that comprise the population. Only 1.8% is African American. There aren't even enough hispanic or other minorities to be counted. Wealth is easily tabulated though. A base line home costs about $240,000. The most popular model home sells for just above $200,000. Many more sell above $350,000 to $500,000 and more. Our home is about $920,000 at current market prices. If there is a good measurable reason for better health here in The Villages I would suggest that it is the amount of physical and social activities available to all the residents. Health care is readily available and the community is extremely safe and everything is available by golf cart. Yes, wealth helps, but most are not wealthy. The lifestyle in my view is the strongest factor in healthy living. You do need to be financially secure to live here but not wealthy. In my view it is the active people who are healthy. Bike, swim, walk, socialize, golf, dance, yoga, playing pickle ball, tennis, gardening and a host of other activities keep us healthy. It's more than wealth. We have an active social network.
26
@Jack Frost
Yeah, your "active social network" results in the highest rate of STDs in Florida. Everyone in Florida knows about The Villages.
3
Some of the past comments appear (to me at least) to be extremely elitist. I believe that the stresses of poverty cause a huge amount of illnesses and a tendency towards damaging "fixes" such as smoking, alcoholism, poor eating habits, etc. If you are constantly on the verge of eviction, under or unemployment, hunger, and other stressors, have a huge impact on your life. Sadly, the USA seems to choose cruelty for the poor.
48
There is a culture of defiance within the high needs group. If you are living in the high needs area and working out or eating healthy, people are quite scornful of you. The discourse is that they don’t need anyone to tell them what to do or what is healthy. They seem to see rebelling against good health practices as a virtue. It is very much of a piece in their support of Trump.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s a feeling of being overwhelmed by life and using anger and defiance to fuel some kind of motivation. Still I don’t approve of the financial hardship that they have to endure. It’s completely unnecessary.
9
@Morgan
I so agree!
2
Yet one more correlational finding that is interpreted as cause and effect.
And because of this, everyone's biases will be reflected in understanding and interpreting the correlation.
None of these biased interpretations have any validity, although each person offering them sincerely believes they do.
7
Health are doesn't keep people healthy. Fitness keeps people healthy. People seek out health care, once they are unhealthy. Doctors don't keep people from seeing doctors.
I attended private school. We had soccer fields and after school sports. We ran windsprints daily. We were very physically active. My friends all went skiing all winter.
When I ski, I see people in their 80's and even 90's on the lifts. Most of the elderly people I know ski, sail, swim, play tennis.
Do poor people swim? That's an honest question. In Greece, they probably do. My bet is that poor coastal people live longer than poor inland people.
6
Rich people have healthier diets. Poor people would rather spend 8 dollars at McDonald's than 8 dollars at Whole Foods. In my neighborhood, there's a Whole Foods two blocks from McDonald's. One can see Whole Foods from the doorway of McDonald's. A person can get a good meal at the WF salad bar for 8 dollars (kale, quinoa, roast chicken, beets). Poor people would rather spend 8 dollars on a Big Mac, fries, soda. Good luck trying to get poor people to eat quinoa and kale.
Poor people want flavor. Rich people want longevity.
Poor people smoke.
Poor people associate tasty food with the good life.
In NYC, rich people spend 200 dollars on tasting menus that feature such things as a dollop of scallop crudo. Rich people go to Nobu. The path to eternal life is raw fish. If poor people ate more sushi, they'd live longer.
5
@Anti-Marx Let's not entirely overlook the difference between the required calorie intake to sustain a blue collar worker and a white collar worker.
4
@Anti-Marx You'd be lucky to get a box of strawberries for $8 at Whole Foods.
5
@Colin
Huh? I lift weights. I eat 150 gms of protein per day. I'm a white collar worker. I eat a large amount of food, beacuse I'm always running, lifting, walking, or skiing.
Most of the blue collar workers I see around NYC have big guts. My abs are in my userphoto.
Smoking, drinking to excess, obesity, teenage pregnancy. These are the major factors contributing to shorter life span and increased medical expenses.
8
Maybe they’re rich because they have healthy habits?
7
Rich folks don’t often do physically difficult jobs either and they get more time to exercise, relax and go on vacations. Plus they’re not as worried about retirement. There’s also another issue. Rich people smoke less. Go to any ED. The working class guy, will have to go outside for a smoke at some point. That part is a choice. A bad one.
15
AJ from Idaho: You know nothing about the folks you’ve decided as having made bad choices, tough luck.
How good of you to a. Be delegated by god to judge humans on her/his behalf; b. To demonstrate how wonderful and compassionate you are.
1
This is not a surprise. Better healthcare, better diet, less financial worry, ability to take care of yourself and your loved ones makes for longer life, barring unforseen circumstances.
8
This week, Statistics Canada published a study showing (again) the life expectancy and disability free life expectancy are functions of education and income. We've known for some time that free healthcare and all of Canada's welfare programs make next to no difference to these facts. Income by far and away trumps diet, smoking, obesity etc. taken individually or collectively. And it isn't the poor v. the rich, but every level of income (or education) impacts on health, known as the "gradient in health". What's new is the study released this week shows the gradient is getting steeper -- i.e. socio-economic differences in health are getting worse over time. See: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2020001/article/00001-eng.htm
9
From a USA today story, Nov. 14, 2017:
"Sardinia is one of only five "Blue Zones" in the world identified as having residents who often reach age 90 or older. The other four are Okinawa (Japan), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria (Greece) and the Seventh-day Adventist community in Loma Linda, Calif."
Are these the wealthiest places on earth? In my experience, early death is a result of generational family dysfunction, which results in millions of people who feel undeserving and less-than and never meet their full potential because of self sabotage, substance addiction, etc.
Parental abusers create new generations of abusers and victims of abuse. Many who are poor have suffered emotional damage, often through caretaker abuse coupled with institutional racism.
The U.S. is emotionally sick. We are a value-free society with an empathy deficit. We are the United States of Narcissism. I meet few people who are focused on anything other than themselves.
In the U.S., wealth is a marker for parents who cared. And for those of us whose parents didn't care, we lived amongst educated acquaintances who taught us that every last dollar should be used on psychotherapy or addiction counseling or to seek out 12-step groups.
The media has been a large part of the problem, focusing on the most superficial explanations for problems that most third graders could solve. I was taught as a journalist to quote sources who could speak to solutions. That was before the age of clicks.
9
"Evertything paled in comparison with wealth." I wonder if "everything" included body mass index. I'd love to see a study that says that rich obese people live longer than healthy-weight poor people.
9
@Herr Andersson
James Gandolfini was rich.
@Herr Andersson
exactly.
Interestingly, in the United States one group seems to contradict the conclusions in this story.
Hispanics.
On average, they are substantially less wealthy than whites, and yet they live 4.5 years longer. That's a big difference.
Maybe genetics plays a pretty big role too?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_health_in_the_United_States
2
@Diogenes
is it about longevity or about healthy longevity? I think it's about health after age 50. so, I don't think it's about sheer longevity.
@Diogenes
I know many Hispanics. The men are healthier than the women in general. Those who come from Mexico or Central America and work laboring jobs have often been supporting their families with work from childhood. Everyone works. For men from that culture - " on the business end of a shovel or a hammer all day " -sometimes 7 days a week- it is not necessary to go to the gym for health. But women suffer the health consequences of child bearing. The indigenous diet is pretty healthy and few overeat in the small villages. Once people move here the junk food binge begins. And genetically indigenous people including American Indians are prone to diabetes- which can be severe. I think it is more cultural-a habit of uncomplaining hard physical work.
2
They take care of themselves, so they can stick around and enjoy their money!
1
Re: "A new study published on Wednesday found that while education and social class had some effect on health in old age, neither was nearly as significant a factor as a person’s wealth..."
I feel like...'Well, Dah!!' is an appropriate response.
To paraphrase one of my heroines, (Greta ):
"...How DARE, you?!!"
{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Thunberg#Activism}
2
I want to be rich.
3
(The voice of Gomer Pyle)
Surprise! Surprise!
3
None of the comments so far have mentioned what I know from personal experience is the #1 factor contributing to my good health: a lack of stress. Stress is a major killer, but because it attacks each victim in his/her weakest organ, it masquerades on death certificates as heart disease or cancer or whatever. Money takes the pressure off, thus helping to relieve stress. QED.
35
This is a surprize to who? Money provides resources, not the least of which is high quality health care with the ability to shop around to obtain the best care possible.
7
Obviously.
2
Inspirational article.
All I can say is...
Well, duh.
3
That explains Queen Elizabeth...and her husband, too.
7
But does it explain the five people I know who lived to be 101 years old?
None of them was rich.
1
@B. Life often seems random. My father, long gone now, was the oldest of five siblings. He outlived them all, well into his 90's. He never exercised, ate meat and potatoes and loved desert
and he wasn't overweight. His siblings died of heart
disease, and one of cancer.
1
Although one of their sons has unhealthy habits.
1
Healthy people are able to work effectively at higher paying jobs, have fewer medical bills, than sick people. Being rich one indicator of inherited financial or biological vigor. Rich people inherit wealth or inherit health, neither of which depend on the actions of the people in the study. If you want to be wealthy choose your parents wisely. There is no mystery here. We are prisoners of our genes. as Lady Day said;
"Them that's got, shall get
Them that's not, shall lose
So the Bible said, and it still is news
Mama may have, and papa may have
God bless' the child,
That's got his own"
5
The obvious conclusion to be drawn from this article is that money should be taken from wealthy people and given to poor people so poor people can live longer and have healthier lives.
As Margaret Thatcher noted, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money to give away.
Even Bernie Sanders admits that Medicare for All will raise taxes on the middle class, not just the 1%.
2
@Mon Ray : The tax argument is a boogeyman. Sure, you'll give more money to the government but you'll give less to the insurance company. It redirects money. It doesn't take money that you would otherwise get to keep.
Whether that's a good deal or not is a valid matter for discussion.
I personally favor a vigorous public option. Watch the insurance industry squirm when they have low-cost competition.
12
It will raise taxes but since they don’t have to pay for healthcare the overall cost is lower. Only working class conservatives think working class people don’t deserve healthcare. Not even affordable healthcare.
5
@Mon Ray not an obvious conclusion to me. Maybe paying people a livable wage and providing Medicare for All might help. With Medicare for All even rich people would pay less for their health care. Since their rich they can choose to buy supplemental insurance but the rest of us could finally have access and not have to worry about losing everything we own to medical bankruptcy.
6
Traumatic stress (“adverse childhood experiences”) impacts a child’s brain development and also negatively impacts other physiology, leading to negative health impacts as an adult. If you’ve known anyone that’s endured traumatic stress, you’ll know that they spend so much of their energy trying to cope that they are often unable to become financially successful. The health impacts of the trauma, coupled with the lack of money mean they’re sicker and poorer. Could this study therefore be showing that traumatic stress causes some people to have poorer heath and wealth outcomes? While those that don’t face traumatic stress are healthier and wealthier? See “The Deepest Well” and “When the Body Says No” for more.
12
It is true re wealth for at least two reasons.
1-Wealthy people are more educated and are more well read on how to lead a healthy life.
2-Wealthy people can afford good insurance while poorer people either are underinsured or not insured with our de facto criminal health care system and cannot get good health care.
7
@Paul
how does insurance coverage affect fitness and good eating habits? People talk about insurance and education, as if they are magic bullets. People utilize health insurance only once they are ill. I don't think health care keeps people healthy. It might help make sick people healthy again. The goal is never to need to see a doctor. I have good insurance, but I never use it. To me, it's a total waste of money.
3
@Anti-Marx Have you never heard of preventative care and screening?
Example: During regular checkup, doctor finds high blood pressure or obesity, and recommends diet, expertise and prescription medications.
Example: During regular checkup, doctor suggests colonoscopy or mammogram. Screenings discover problems, which are surgically removed.
In both cases, rich patient lives longer. Poor patient can't afford regular checkups, preventative care, or screenings. They die prematurely.
3
@Bill Wolfe
I just replied to this same comment, above.
Rich people don't need preventative care. Why is that?
I have six-pack abs, run fast, have perfect blood pressure, and still wear 30 jeans. I bench 235 (I weigh 160lbs and am age 50) and squat almost 300lbs. I look like Mark Whalberg.
My preventative care is called fitness and leafy greens. No excuses.
Screenings and such can detect cancer, but they can't do much else. Everybody knows they should eat well and exercise, but nobody does.
The secret to being healthy is to be healthy, by which I mean don't smoke, drink, or eat bad food, and exercise a lot. Barring cancer, you should be healthy.
1
The results of this study unfortunately didn’t surprise me. A large part of the reason why rich people live both healthier and longer lives than their more poverty-affected counterparts are because of the breadth of resources and opportunities that they have. Combing information from this article, information I learned from the book Evicted by Matthew Desmond, and my prior knowledge, I have found that this discrepancy can be mostly explained by a few factors:
1. Rich people have more access to resources to upkeep a healthy lifestyle. They have the money to buy higher priced food, which is often healthier and of higher quality. In addition, they can also afford to put themselves in gyms or fitness programs that ensure they remain healthy.
2. Rich people have more access to resources to track their health. They can afford to go to yearly doctor checkups or see a specialist, when they’re worried about something. Their priority then is ensuring their health, not worrying about whether they have the money to pay for this doctor visit.
3. Finally, rich people have more access to resources should they fall ill. They can afford to go to the best doctors regardless of their location, pay for whatever cure is available, hear multiple opinions, and get put in the best treatment facilities.
In summary, while education and class do have an impact on how long people are “disability-free”, the main factor is the amount of money that they have access to.
5
@Sylvia
Do you truly believe all this?
Imagine a person who eats clean and works out a ton. Does that person really derive significant benefit from visiting the doctor? I think poor people can be just as healthy as rich people. It's about lifestyle and not about medical care.
Gyms are not necessary. Go watch some youtube videos about Russian guys working out in playgrounds. They don't have money. They have pull up bars. They look like action figures.
4
Drawing a conclusion from the negative association of wealth and health issues in late adulthood in a retrospective, observational study may be spurious.
It is unclear from the article whether prior health status in youth and adulthood was taken into account in prediction of health status at age 50; this omission could have contributed to a spurious conclusion.
Young individuals with ongoing health challenges are much less likely to acquire wealth, due to both added financial strains of paying for care (in some cases leading to bankruptcy), and impaired employment and educational opportunities as a result of poor functional status.
Individuals with ongoing health challenges early in life are also much more likely to continue to have health issues later in life.
12
@Meem
I think the point is that if you've made it past 50 and are still very healthy, chances are you're rich. It's your wealth that contributed greatly to your health status pre-50.
3
@Viv
Correlation is not in question. My point is that health issues in early life may very well affect both financial well being and health status in later life; thus the association of the latter two may be incidental to early health, rather than causal.
5
Easy solutions, hard to enact with a completely corrupt GOP:
1. Tax the rich. A lot.
and
2. Universal health coverage with tiny or no copays. Public option would be fine; Warren & Biden & Buttigieg & Bernie, any of those plans are fine.
49
It’s not just the evil rich that are the problem. Poor people have more kids, smoke more, drink more, do more drugs, eat worse diets, don’t get an education and then end up in hard physical jobs. If you’re going to penalize people for making more money, shouldn’t you include taxing bad personal decisions as well, or do the less affluent not have to take any responsibility for what happens to them?
12
The important question is ‘why.’ Why do poor people make the choices they do?
5
Access to medical care and a healthy diet would allow all Americans to live longer. However, the lack of health care is causing early deaths for many. Why are we not taking care of our fellow citizens? Food stamps are now being cut, many cannot afford their medicines and die, rents are so high people end up living in tents on the street, and our food continues to be soaked in pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
Living to a rich old age will be a thing of the past for Americans if we continue down this path.
22
Another probably salient factor that's been barely touched on here is the economic level of the subjects' families in the subjects' first 3 or 5 years. Did any of the wealthy / long-lived start out poor? How many who started poor ended up wealthy or long-lived?
11
An important component of the wealth calculation is whether the value includes the present value of things like Social Security, pensions, and retirement medical coverage.
The present value of a COLA protected defined benefit pension and retirement medical subsidization is quite large, in America this can dwarf 980K dollars.
An additional comparison maybe of interest then: how does the accumulated wealth indicate the person's lifestyle leading up to retirement? It would seem that years preceding retirement are indicative of how worn out a person is by the time they retire.
5
Also consider than people living in poorer areas (Flint for example) are much less likely to get the environmental help they need. Which in the long run affects their health.
Conversely, richer areas are much more likely to either get the help they need or never even need it at all.
14
The same researchers also found that the same group of wealthier people drove nicer cars and lived in more expensive homes. It all makes sense as medical care, cars, homes, clothes, dental care, etc. are all things people purchase. I would liked to have seen the exact correlations for other factors such as education, as I am guessing it is not too far behind wealth as a predictor.
2
And who have the benefits of good education?
"For Americans, the average wealth — not to be confused with income — was $29,000 for the poorest group, $180,000 for the middle group and $980,000 for the richest group"
How did the middle group do? Is $180,000 enough to get you into the longer living group or do you need almost a million? Does the 180k get you more years than the 29k?
Truly wealthy people have considerably more than a million in assets. How do people with 10 million in financial assets compare with everyone else?
25
They will all live on Mars forever with Elon Musk and never grow old or die as they burn out the resources of every planet they touch, watching them explode from a safe remove, and sighing over a plasma placenta cocktail.
9
Dick Cheney, with 5 serious heart attacks and a transplant at age 71.
BTW, Cheney smoked 3 packs/day for 20 years.
4
"$980,000 for the rich"—Does that mean at the age of 50?
I'm confused by "For Americans, the average wealth...was...". Are the "Americans" referenced here only those in the study? If so, at what age was that "average wealth"?
5
How about more statistics on all groups not just X get nine more years?
Is that a spurious correlation? Perhaps, wealthy people tend to be more educated. Educated people may just be more aware of healthy habits and choices?
9
But that’s the idea. Wealthier people have more—including more education
1
I assume that these studies adjusted for the health of the individuals at the beginning of the study period, correct? Did people who were healthier at the start of the study live longer disability-free lives than those who already had impairments? And was there a correlation between wealth at 50 and health at 50?
2
I believe that the correlation between wealth and education has been established (i.e., the economic mobility of people with or without college educations). I wonder if, similarly, one could use education attainment as a variable in this analysis rather than just wealth. I would presume that those with higher education attainment are inclined to make better decisions about self-care, lifestyle choices and occupations (more options) than the less educated.
4
But who has the means to acquire higher education? In my Bronx neighborhood young people can’t afford college.
1
Moderately healthy living and money, plus some luck, and above-all Social Security and Medicare.
Example: I am near 75, now retired after gradually cutting down my work hours over the past 6 years. I smoked for 30 years until 48 and still drink too much, but otherwise have avoided bad habits. That and work life discipline got me to my 60s when Social Security, my wife's pension and a business buy-out gave us the means to retire. And a recent inheritance gave us the extra to live very well. But it is Medicare that has maintained us in good health. We regularly see excellent doctors in various specialties and without delays, with numerous CT scans and MRIs. They have caught many threats before they became serious.
Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid are the best government programs ever to give seniors a decent shot at old age dignity and health.
So why the statistical divide? Because 1) reactionary ideologues despise them and 2) the residents of the usually-less-well-off red states vote have poor health habits and 3) they vote for the leaders who refuse them the Medicaid they need.
79
If you don't eat well and exercise, you only have yourself to blame.
Further, it would be wrong to claim that most of these individuals work back-breaking jobs that prevent them from healthy diets and exercise. There are plenty of "not wealthy" individuals who work regular old 9-5 desk jobs.
4
Really? Do you think eating well & exercising protects you in a car crash?
3
That’s what people told me when I had cancer. I should have eaten better and exercised more.
6
I'd be interested to see if you see the same effect in countries like Denmark or Finland. I'd like to know if this really has to do with access to care later in life, or things like reduced stress and access to healthier foods/living conditions earlier in life.
24
@Kim
Excellent question!
2
Oh, the stress of having less money to pay for necessary items... I guess that wasn't a big enough factor to evaluate. Poverty = stress, regardless how well one manages their money. Stress = contributes to health problems. Health problems require money to resolve. The lack of money = stress. All part of a vicious circle and not always dependent on one's personal abilities or capacities or drive, like those commenters who so often assert "discipline" as the salvation for the US's health problems. Consider stress and the current corporate health models, just once.
56
@MC
Pls re-read the article:
“Additionally, poverty has been linked to higher stress levels, which has implications for health, she added.”
1
Sounds like another excuse to point out the evils of income disparities.
You can't tell me that it didn't occur to these researchers and the writer of this article that another reason besides access to better health care for people with money for the difference are the factors and personality traits that led to some people being wealthy and others not.
How about discipline? The discipline to work hard, lead a good healthy life? Some people don't have that discipline -- in their careers and personal lives. So, they may smoke more, eat more, exercise less, do less to take care of themselves. And as they continue to experience life without enough money, things become worse.
No, I am not saying all wealthy people are disciplined;all poor people are not. Far from it. But, certainly this has to be considered a factor and should be pointed out.
12
@Rich brought up in the article: Beyond that, she said she was curious about the potential role of lifestyle and personality traits. People who were more inclined to save money, for example, might also be more likely to also engage in healthy activity, she said.
6
I assure you, people who work 2 and sometimes 3 low wage jobs have discipline. But they may not have time to go to the gym and they may find it easier to grab fast food while on their way to their 2nd job.
71
Of course, not all poor people work 2-3 jobs. At least some, undereducated, under-socialized, do not work at all.
1
As usual, if one can afford a basic human right; food, shelter, health care, etc., we tend to do well into our old age. The wealthy can afford assisted living or personal nursing care, or just about anything that most of the rest of us cannot. Unless and until America provides all her citizens universal health care, we will continue to see an increase in sucides, homelessness and a widening of the haves and have nots.
36
People in assisted living or getting nursing care at home are per se not healthy. Regardless of wealth, they would not be in the extra 9 years club. They may live longer, but won’t be healthy.
3
This is exactly why I want to be wealthy not for clothes, cars, and fame just so that I can afford good healthcare and dental care. I will get there someday soon.
17
That’s the one thing I worry most about at the age of 74. While my money (and my teeth and my hearing) last. What will happen to my savings if —when—I get sick.
3
Doing my best Gomer Pyle here....
"Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!"
NOT.
When you don't have money:
1. You and the kids need to eat cheap or processed high-carb food because you can't have quality food that needs to be cooked, because....
2) You have little time to shop or cook because you need two jobs just to survive and so
3) You have no time to go to the gym and...
4) Without saying, you don't have time nor money to go the gym, let alone the space and money to buy a Peleton or similar gym equipment, but we can't forget...
5) "Cadillac" health care plans that the wealthy can have while too many unwealthy people have to wait 3 months to get cleared by insurance for an MRI while their cancer goes from Stage 2 to Stage 4....
Then, no wonder you're going to get diabetes or arteriosclerosis or death early.
In short, having money enables you to have the time and resources to adequately maintain your health, otherwise you're just in line at the modern equivalent of a slaughterhouse....
Tax breaks for the wealthy ought to be called health breaks for the wealthy.
118
I'm 57. I lived the above and I am not even "poor", but I have to work 1200 miles from home living in a hotel for most of the past 15 years just to pay the mortgage.
But I know that I won't be able to afford to retire.
So, the day will come soon that, if I don't die of a heart attack or blown aorta (I already have an aneurysm there), that I won't be able to work.
Thus, in all honestly, I've already began research into buying a carbon monoxide canister for when the time comes.
5
@VJR
When I was poor I went to a new dentist twice a year because there was a price war/battle for new patients going on in my town, so everybody had a "new patient" special for cleaning and exam. Now I have incredible insurance and I go to the doctors/dentist on schedule with no problem. The company even pays me if I make all appointments for the year (wellness initiative).
Oh, yes, it is much better to have money and insurance.
25
@sjs Reminds me of something that I learned from Mad Magazine...
Alfred E. Neuman said:
"Whether you're rich or poor, it's nice to have money."
2
Now nearly 80, I have led what has been, by any measure, an unusually fortunate life.
Great parents, good wife, good kids, generally decent health, interesting work, always enough money to get by on.
The only thing spoiling it now is Trump.
I recently discussed this matter with my doctor.
He agreed with me that electing a Democrat in 2020 would significantly improve my chances of achieving a carefree old age.
253
Except for the few people just born into money, the same habits that would lead someone to gradually acquire higher net worth over decades could be same ones that lead to better long term health. The article does not describe what are the conditions that prevent bad health in the nine extra years. I would guess those conditions are most likely to be diabetes, obesity, lung cancer from smoking,alcoholism and heart conditions vs. various diseases not tied to lifestyle. While wealth might buy better treatment, a wealthy person with cancer or congested heart being treated is still not healthy. Are there really any serious diseases at age 59 that money can buy instant transformation from bad health to good health? Not too many come to mind.
36
They never checked obesity...no data, I assume.
I'd bet a lot that obesity is a greater determining factor, for longevity, than wealth.
30
@Raz Thanks for your comment. Rates of obesity and related issues of increased heart disease, diabetes, etc. would seem to be just a few of the drivers that this study doesn't seem to isolate or address. Another Times article fueling the culture of unexamined, incessant grievance.
6
Read the article—obesity is mentioned.
1
It all has to do with access to and quality of care. Wealthier people can afford to see a physician whenever they want and need to. Poor people must wrestle with cost and availability.
Knowing these disparities exist and to do nothing about it is stunning and unconscionable.
Wealth shouldn't equate to better health care. Everyone should have equal access to health care. It is a matter of life or death.
62
@Pamela L. It’s not possible for everyone to have equal access to health care. Even wealthy people must consider the costs of very expensive treatments. The question is what the baseline level of health care should be.
6
I have lived in Europe where everyone has access to quality health care—and longevity is increasing (decreasing in the USA).
52
Alternatively - healthy people make more money. Not discussed are genetics and childhood health care. Now, having commented - I'll read the study.
10
"...but it was most likely a function of “having access to funds when you have ill health.” This line pretty much sums up the obvious.
If you have about $1,000,000 you are going to be able to go for tests, consultations with specialists and get orthopedic surgeries and cardiac procedures, afford your medications , and drink orange juice in the morning and have salad at night. And you will have the option of joining a gym, taking up fun sports in the great outdoors and getting physical therapy tune ups all along.
You are nowhere near as likely to acquire diabetes and are better able to control it if you have it. Ditto with hypertension which is no big deal if properly treated and a careening disaster ending in strokes and heart attacks, kidney failure etc. if you do not get consistent treatment.
This is all sad but not a bit surprising. And it could be changed if we had a better functioning health care system. Although there might be longer wait times for orthopedic surgeries.
31
We grew up not rich and had orange juice in the morning and salad at night. All it takes is for one of the two working parents to stop at a grocery store on the way home.
Purchasing stuff to eat at home is a lot less expensive than sending everyone out to McDonald's or KFC.
82
Yes, great until you're in a car accident, or have a complicated pregnancy, or a cancer diagnosis. Salads don't cure everything.
20
@B. That presupposes that those parents aren't heading to their second job.
Have you checked the prices on various foods now? Especially in the cities where many of the poor live.
Not too many drive-thrus in Manhattan.
8