Economic Disadvantage

Start with economic disadvantage. If resources permit a community to address only one at-risk population characteristic, using poverty as a criteria may help reach a large number of people.

Economic disadvantage does not necessarily impair the ability of an individual to receive information, but it can significantly affect his/her ability to follow a public health directive if the individual does not have the resources or means to do what is being asked (e.g., stockpile food, stay home from work and lose a day’s pay, evacuate and leave their home, or go to a point of dispensing).

Economic disadvantage is so broad because many people that fall into other categories also live at or below the federal poverty level. When individuals are placed at risk because of both limited language or literacy and economic disadvantage, their risk is compounded, and planning efforts should reflect that.