What you will get from this briefing

• Actions that can be taken to prevent and mitigate the impact of poverty on physical and mental health.
• Recommendations for policy makers as well as ways for doctors to advocate for patients facing the harmful effects of poverty.
• Case studies from doctors who treat patients  impacted by poverty.

Key findings

• Poverty has been estimated to cost the healthcare system in the UK £29 billion a year.
• In Wales, men living in the least deprived areas can expect to live nine years longer, and women seven years longer, than those in the most deprived. Similar trends exist across the UK.
• Children living in cold homes are more than twice as likely to suffer from a range of respiratory problems as those living in warm homes.
• Two-fifths of adults in England aged 45 to 64 with below-average incomes have a limiting
  long-term illness, more than twice the rate of adults of the same age with above-average incomes.
• Data indicates that older people who have experienced disadvantage throughout their adult lives are at greater risk of reporting ill health and long-term illness.