Health Based on Wealth

A high percentage of babies DIE within their first year of life

There are 47 MILLION people without health coverage in America. 

The US is 30th in life expectancy 

yet.... 

We spend 2 TRILLION dollars per year on medical care 

 

What's wrong here? SO much is wrong. 

         The episode "In Sickness and in Wealth" dives into the issues of these statements and why America is failing in terms of health. In short, your wealth depicts your health. More money= better health and less money=poor health. More money= longer life expectancy and less money=shorter life expectancy. Economic stresses make people fall ill which means that those who do not worry about their economic status are less likely to become sick. Low rate Americans have twice the amount of disease as the affluent. The video states that social conditions make bad health and such examples of this are neighborhoods and that social determinants shape the health outcomes. The higher up on the ladder you are, the less likely you are to have health problems and your life expectancy is greater. Those at the bottom of the ladder struggle the most with health and their life expectancy is four years less than those at the top. In Kentucky, traveling to different districts gives a view of how health is different depending on the wealth of the location. Those in wealthy areas are healthy and feel good for their age. Those in low income areas suffer from health issues such as diabetes and some of their health issues may be from financial stress.

           In Flint Michigan we see how those on the lower part of the ladder are unfairly affected by the quality of water in their town. Their health is compromised because of the led and unfortunately, the residents do not have the money to up and move out of town. They are stuck there but not by their own fault, the state is failing them by not stepping up and helping solve the crisis. There are long term health issues associated with this crisis that those that live in other towns do not suffer from because of their economic status.

 

Capitalism creates injustice in many different ways. As we saw in the video, your wealth depicts your health which means that those who are unfairly treated due to capitalism suffer financially. Due to the fact that they suffer financially, they likely suffer by not having healthcare and poor health.

                                

Capitalism creates unequal health outcomes due to lack of healthcare and due to employees being overworked and underpaid. The company gets bigger and the employee puts in more hours but does not see a pay raise. The employer (capitalist) has more power than their employees which means that they call the rules and the employee must obey in order to keep the job. Vivek Chibber states, “But in fact, the worker will always be more desperate than the employer. She typically has very little savings to tide her over, is living hand to mouth…” (8). Due to capitalism, the worker is stuck obeying the unequal rules because the employer will quickly replace them if they refuse to obey.

Unfortunately for the employee, long work days are not good for their health. The financial, mental, and physical stress does damage to a body. This only increases when the company grows bigger and the employer wants their employees to work faster doing twice the amount of work because hiring more workers is more money out of their pocket.

As ELA educators, it is crucial that we are aware of the different types of situations that our students come from. During the pandemic, stress is high for the students and their families. The stress from parents/guardians may be affecting the student and as educators, we must how to support them through these trying times. 

It is also likely that parents are working still because they need to provide for the family which means that during the day when school is in session, the student does not have help at home like they would in the physical classroom.

Depending on the economic status of the family, students may not have all the resources they need which requires the teacher to be flexible. The student or someone in their family may become ill and it is important that the teacher understands that time off may be required in order to restore good health. Unprecedented times call for flexibility and understanding!

                  

 

Check out this website for ways to support students during the pandemic! Teaching tolerance has some great resources for educators.