Public perceptions of the relationship between poverty and health

The public's view on how poverty and health are related will influence supp ort for different policies and programs. The purpose of this study was to e xamine public perceptions of the relationship between poverty and health an d to identify demographic variables that predict support for the four expla nations of the relationship between poverty and health (artifact, drift, be havioural, and structural) first identified in the Black Report in the Unit ed Kingdom. A telephone survey of a representative sample of Albertans (N = 1,216) was conducted. The majority of respondents believed that poverty le ads to poor health. The explanation that health is influenced by the contex t in which individuals live (structural) received the most support. Demogra phic variables (sex, age, education, occupation, income, residence, conserv atism) explained less than 10% of the variance for each of the four explana tions, which conservatism the most consistent predictor.