Abstract

Poverty at an individual level is experienced when individuals or households cannot access sufficient resources to meet their needs and participate in wider society. At a societal level, poverty can be understood as either absolute on a global scale, or relative to the society or country. Countries with higher levels of relative poverty are more likely to have worse health outcomes than countries with better social equality. Those living in poverty are priced out of healthy living and face barriers to accessing healthcare, and exposures directly related to poverty work synergistically to change an individual's physiology. Respiratory health is particularly influenced by these mechanisms: living in poverty causes respiratory disease by limiting material and societal resources for good health, and through increased exposures to risk factors. These same risk factors that cause respiratory disease also cause worse respiratory disease outcomes including morbidity and mortality.

Cite as: Lee A, Hawcutt DB, Sinha IP. What causes poverty and how does this contribute to respiratory inequality? In: Sinha IP, Lee A, Katikireddi SV, et al., eds. Inequalities in Respiratory Health (ERS Monograph). Sheffield, European Respiratory Society, 2023; pp. 11–25 [https://doi.org/10.1183/2312508X.10003222].