HEALTH AND WEALTH

HEALTH AND WEALTH

The health wellness and one’s economic sustenance are of profound importance in human lives. Research has, for a prolonged period, argued that wealth has a close relationship with one’s health status (Semyonov, Lewin-Epstein & Maskileyson, 2013). This paper looks into three articles that relate wealth to human health.

Semyonov, M., Lewin-Epstein, N., & Maskileyson, D. (2013). Where wealth matters more for health: The wealth–health gradient in 16 countries. Social Science & Medicine, 81, 10-17.

This article contains information about the research carried out to reveal whether people’s health statuses are connected with their economic levels. Further, the study seeks to examine whether there exists a relationship between one’s health and wealth and their country’s financial status. From this source, one may extract the quote “in all countries, personal wealth is positively associated with health” (p 16). From the quote, one’s economic prosperity has a close proportionality with their health status. I selected this quote because it provides an answer to the connection between health and a person’s wealth status. This quote has a close relationship with the topic of discussion; it speaks about the social issue wealth and the implications it has on a person’s health wellness. From my perspective, health closely relates to one’s health. With adequate resources, one is able to fetch the best medical services to cater for their health problems.

Secondly, the quote “Social scientists agree that quality of life, in general, and health conditions, in particular, are positively associated with economic resources” (p 110) gives a deep insight to the case topic. From the quote, the author means that resources are a crucial determinant to one’s health condition. From my perspective, resources enable one to purchase healthy foods which go a long way in ensuring the maintenance of one’s health. Resources also allow one to afford the prescribed medical commodities when they get ill. Therefore, when one is wealthy, there is a high possibility for them to be healthy. Consequently, it is recommended that even as one works on living a healthy natural life, they also need to work on alleviating their economic level. The alleviation of economic levels gives facilitation for sustaining a healthy living and medical supplies once sick. Going with this quote, there are health difficulties for people of low economic levels.

Finkelstein, A., Luttmer, E. F., & Notowidigdo, M. J. (2013). What good is wealth without health? The effect of health on the marginal utility of consumption. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(suppl_1), 221-258.

This course material investigates and explains the relationship between a person’s consumption and their health. The article involves a study of the health and retirement study data for older people. From the article, one can extract the quote that “more wealth allows you to divert more second-period wealth to health consumption” (p 231). This quote seeks to inform that the more a person is well-off economically, the more they have the capability of eating healthy foods. From the quote, one gains the knowledge that one’s affordability level for healthy eating is proportional to their health wellness. From my perspective, I find this quote quite informative and offer an insight that one needs to strive and succeed economically as it has a say in their health status. I also find the idea that healthy eating goes a long way in improving one’s health and hence there is need for one to exercise a healthy diet.

Finkelstein, A., Luttmer, E. F., & Notowidigdo, M. J. (2013). What good is wealth without health? The effect of health on the marginal utility of consumption. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(suppl_1), 221-258.

This academic article seeks to offer a relationship between health problems and one’s wealth status. The study is embedded in this article involved the sex workers in the female gender who suffer sexually transmitted diseases and experience economic difficulties. From the study, the report reveals that good health is determined strictly by one’s level of wealth. It is owing to the level of dependence that these workers have from their families that they have little to cater for their health. From the article, the quote “One main theme ‘health is wealth and wealth is health’ emerged from the analysis” (p 4). Here the material means that the worker’s health is a determinant of their wealth since healthy ones attract more clients. On the other hand, it is from the wealth gained from serving the clients supports their health. In my perspective, I find the relationship between health and wealth close. There seems to be a recurring state between the two aspects as each leads to the success of the other.