Income levels and health are closely linked, and people living in poverty are far more likely to have poor health than people with higher incomes. Social assistance programs should be helping to close this gap, but a study recently submitted to the Ontario government shows that support programs in Canada, the US and the UK are falling short.

Arjumand Siddiqi joined the podcast to discuss social determinants of health, the results of her study, and why we need more effective strategies to address income-based health inequities.

Arjumand Siddiqi is an expert adviser with EvidenceNetwork.ca, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Canada Research Chair in Population Health Equity.

Read the Policy Options article she co-authored: Social assistance is not improving health.

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