SupportersofabilltoraiseCalifornia'sminimumwagecelebrateoutsidethestateSenateChamberafterthemeasurewasapprovedbytheSenate,March31,2016,inSacramento,California.(APPhoto/RichPedroncelli)
AsAmericansdiscusstheissueofincomeinequalityinanelectionyear,anewstudysaysrichpeoplewillliveupto15yearslongerthanpoorones.
Arich40-year-oldmanintheUnitedStatescanexpecttoliveuntilabout87.Apoor40-year-oldmanmightonlyliveuntil73.
ThedifferenceinlengthoflifeasitrelatestoincomeispartofanewstudypublishedintheJournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation.
TheHealthInequalityProjectstudiedabout1.4billionincometaxrecordsfroma15-yearperiodendingin2014.Whilepeoplemighthaveguessedthatwealthallowsforalongerlife,thestudyreviewedmoredatathananysimilarstudiesinthepast.
VermontSenatorBernieSandersisrunningfortheDemocraticPartynomination.HeoftentalksofthegapbetweenrichandpoorintheUnitedStates.Richpeoplehavebetteraccesshealthcarethanpoorpeople,andthatcanincreasetheirlifespan.
Sanderslaunchedhiscampaignalmostayearago.Inhisspeech,hesaid,“theissueofwealthandincomeinequalityisthegreatmoralissueofourtime,itisthegreateconomicissueofourtimeanditisthegreatpoliticalissueofourtime.”
AngusDeatonwroteacolumnaboutthestudyonthemedicalassociation’swebsite.HesaysastudyliketheHealthInequalityProjectisimportantbecauseitwillhelppeopleunderstandwhether“taxanddistributionpoliciescouldbeeffectivetoolsofpublichealthandpotentiallyextendlifeexpectancy.”
Thestudybackeduptheassumptionthatwealthypeoplelivelongerthanpoorpeople.Butitalsorevealedsomethingnew.
Theresearcherssayitisnotonlybadtobepoor.TheysayitisworsetobepoorincertainpartsoftheUnitedStatesthanothers.
PoorpeopleindepressedcitieslikeDetroit,Michigan;Toledo,Ohio;andGary,IndianaareworseoffthanpoorpeopleinplaceslikeSanFrancisco,CaliforniaandNewYorkCity.
Recently,thegovernorofMichigandeclaredastateofemergencyinthecityofFlint.Thewatersupplyforits100,000residentsbecamecontaminatedwithlead.
Drinkingwatercontaminatedwithleadisharmfultopeople’shealth,accordingtotheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency.
TheNationalAssociationfortheAdvancementofColoredPeople(orNAACP)isanorganizationthatfightsagainstdiscrimination.Itsaysmorewouldhavebeendone“ifnearly40percentofFlintresidentswerenotlivingbelowthepovertyline.”
Theoppositeisalsotrue.Theresearcherssaypoorpeoplewholivenearrichpeoplemaybehealthierbecausetheyseebetterexamplesofhowtolive.Theyalsomaybehealthierbecausewealthierplacesusuallyhavebetterpublichealthservices.
Atthesametime,poorpeoplewillstruggleevenmoreindepressedcities.
Theauthorsofthestudysaytheyareawareofsomeoftheproblemswiththeirreport.Forexample,thestudymeasureslifeexpectancystartingatage40.Thatdoesnotfullyconsidercausesofdeaththataffectyoungerpeopleandchildren.
Theyalsosaythereisnotagoodwaytounderstandsomeofthecoincidentalbenefitsofhavingahigherincome.
DeatonwritesthewealthiestpeopleintheUnitedStatesgainanextra10-15yearstoenjoytheir“richlyfundedlives.”Andthereisnowaytoputavalueon10-15yearsofgoodliving.
incometax–n.ataxpaidonthemoneythatapersonorbusinessearns
guess–v.toformanopinionorgiveanansweraboutsomethingwhenyoudonotknowmuchoranythingaboutit
trail–n.aroutethatsomeonefollowstogosomewhereorachievesomething
gap–n.aspacebetweentwopeopleorthings
inequality–n.anunfairsituationinwhichsomepeoplehavemorerightsorbetterchancesthanotherpeople
column–n.anopinionpiecethatoftenappearsinanewspaperormagazine
assumption–n.somethingthatisbelievedtobetrueorprobablytruebutthatisnotknowntobetrue
coincidence–n.asituationinwhicheventshappenatthesametimeinawaythatisnotplannedorexpected
fund-v.toprovidemoneyfor(something)
