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This chapter provides an overview of the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in health, including disease, health behaviors, and access to health. The literature on the social determinants of health is reviewed. The chapter then provides a review of the health status of the homeless, poor, and near-poor. The incidence and mortality rates for leading diseases and health behaviors are reviewed, in addition to issues of environmental exposures, access to care, and health literacy. SES is one of the strongest predictors of health status (Kahng, 2010; Kawachi & Kennedy, 1997; Link & Phelan, 1996). SES is important to health regardless of a person's social status and in general, the more advantaged individuals are, the better their health, and the more disadvantaged individuals are, the greater their chances of increased morbidity and mortality (Adler et al., 1994; Adler & Coriell, 1997, Kidder, Wolitski, Campsmith, & Nakamura, 2007; Zlotnick and Zerger, 2009).

The chapter provides an overview of strategies and policies to address the health needs of the poor and vulnerable in our society, including workplace wellness strategies and school-based health clinics. The authors suggest ways to extend these innovative practices. This chapter emphasizes an approach to addressing the health of the poor and near-poor that acknowledges the significant role that access to social and economic resources plays in the acquisition and maintenance of health. Recommendations for health interventions are focused on strengthening the utilization of community institutions to deliver needed services.

Living on the Boundaries: Urban Marginality in National and International Contexts examines the complex, often controversial issues impacting those who live on the margins of society in our densely populated cities. The topic warrants research compiled by an international array of scholars and intellectuals from a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to sociology, economics, political science, psychology, education, public health, law, criminology, history, urban studies, geography and demography, and urban planning, among others. This volume, from the first chapter to the last, richly details and informs us about the human condition, from multidisciplinary perspectives, about urban life in global contexts. Why is the study of urban life and urban marginality so consequential? The answer is simple. Because of the unprecedented pace of urbanization, a majority of humans now live in highly dense areas, in our cities. It is our cities which project the visual imagery of the stark class divisions in society. By 2050, it is projected that two thirds of the world's population will live in cities. Any volume which attempts to present dynamic issues in global contexts moves us toward resolving many of the conflicting and confounding issues which plague humankind, in the present, and will be with us in the future, if workable solutions are not found. As one reads the ensuing pages, you cannot help but come away better informed, noting the symmetry of complex societal issues of urban marginality across national boundaries.