Economic conditions

Social and economic conditions affect people’s health. These conditions (also called “social determinants of health”) are conditions that people may be born into or fall into over the course of their lives.

People tend to be healthier when they have access to:

• Economic and financial stability
• Higher education
• Adequate health care
• Healthy neighborhoods and safe, strong communities

Access to these are shaped by local, national and global distribution of resources and power. When people are deprived of the resources they need to maintain health, they experience worse health outcomes. Discrimination based on race, or limited access to resources because of their cost, often results in health inequity – avoidable and unfair health outcomes.