Topics: Economics and Personal Finances, Socioeconomic Class. 1  Richard Fry is a senior researcher focusing on economics and education at Pew Research Center. 2  Rakesh Kochhar is an associate director of research at Pew Research Center.
In the United States, the Census Bureau determines who is poor using an economic poverty measure, by calculating official poverty estimates using a set of dollar-value thresholds, or minimum amount of income needed to meet basic needs, that vary by family size and composition.
Health behaviors (such as tobacco use and diet) account for 30 percent, while the physical environment accounts for 10 percent. According to the model, fully 40 percent of population health relates to social and economic factors such as education, employment, income, safety, and social support.