Poor people age quicker than the rich
A study involving 32,000 people in the UK and Canada suggests that lower socioeconomic status is linked to faster physical aging. Researchers found that poorer individuals often experience earlier declines in mobility, grip strength, and lung capacity compared to their wealthier counterparts.
Why it matters
This research highlights the persistent impact of wealth inequality on public health outcomes and long-term physical well-being.
A team of Canadian and Swiss researchers has added to a growing body of evidence that low earners are more likely to be in worse health and age sooner than their more financially secure peers.
“People with less wealth tended to have lower levels of function and suffered larger declines in mobility and ability to perform daily activities as they aged,” publisher PLOS Medicine said, following an analysis of health data for almost 32,000 people between the ages of 50 and 85 in United Kingdom and Canada.
Carried out by doctors at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and the University of British Columbia (UBC), the research showed that the poorest 60-year-old in England can have the walking speed of the wealthiest 75-year-old.
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