Evolution Series 

An inclusive local economy promotes everyone’s health by allowing households to meet basic needs and plan for a healthy future. Many working and middle-class residents have been left behind—facing low wages, spiraling debt, disinvested neighborhoods, and shrinking social supports. These preventable conditions are associated with preventable diseases, injury, and ultimately lower life expectancy. This brief explores the impacts of Economic Opportunity on Individual and Community Health as well as concrete strategies to bolster health through economic policies.