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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Economic Stability

Goal: Help people earn steady incomes that allow them to meet their health needs.

A dollar sign icon overlays three houses on a neighborhood street.

In the United States, 1 in 10 people live in poverty,1 and many people can’t afford things like healthy foods, health care, and housing. Healthy People 2030 focuses on helping more people achieve economic stability.

People with steady employment are less likely to live in poverty and more likely to be healthy, but many people have trouble finding and keeping a job. People with disabilities, injuries, or conditions like arthritis may be especially limited in their ability to work. In addition, many people with steady work still don’t earn enough to afford the things they need to stay healthy.

Employment programs, career counseling, and high-quality child care opportunities can help more people find and keep jobs. In addition, policies to help people pay for food, housing, health care, and education can reduce poverty and improve health and well-being.

Objective Status

  • 1 Target met or exceeded
  • 3 Improving
  • 3 Little or no detectable change
  • 2 Getting worse
  • 0 Baseline only
  • 0 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Economic Stability — General

Increase employment in working-age people — SDOH‑02
LHI label
Improving
Increase the proportion of children living with at least 1 parent who works full time — SDOH‑03
Improving
Reduce the proportion of people living in poverty — SDOH‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of adolescents and young adults who aren't in school or working — AH‑09
Target met or exceeded

Arthritis

Reduce the proportion of adults with arthritis whose arthritis limits their work — A‑03
Little or no detectable change

Housing and Homes

Reduce the proportion of families that spend more than 30 percent of income on housing — SDOH‑04
Little or no detectable change

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

Reduce household food insecurity and hunger  — NWS‑01
LHI label
Getting worse
Eliminate very low food security in children — NWS‑02
Getting worse

Workplace

Reduce work-related injuries resulting in missed work days — OSH‑02
Improving

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References

1.

Semega, J., Kollar, M., Creamer, J., Mohanty, A. (2019). Income and Poverty in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2019/demo/p60-266.pdf [PDF - 2.7 MB]