Relationships are important for physical health and psychosocial well-being.^1,2,3,4,5 Relationships are conceptualized through terms such as social cohesion, social capital, social networks, and social support.

There are several aspects to housing that impact health, including affordability, stability, quality and safety, and surrounding neighborhood.¹ This summary will discuss the quality of housing, specifically the physical quality of housing and neighborhood conditions. In this summary, “home” is used as an all-inclusive term to include all different types of dwellings, such as single-family homes and apartments.

Language is defined as “the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structure and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture.”¹ Literacy has multiple components, including oral literacy (listening and speaking skills), print literacy (writing and reading skills), numeracy (the ability to understand and work with numbers), and cultural and conceptual knowledge.^2,3 Literacy is distinct from

The Bureau of Justice Statistics defines the incarcerated population as the population of inmates confined in a prison or a jail.¹ State and federal prisons house people sentenced to more than 1 year of incarceration.² Local jails hold people sentenced to less than 1 year; people who violate parole or probation; and those awaiting trial, sentencing, or transfer to prison.² Between 1980 and 2014, the United States incarceration rate increased by 220 percent, which can be linked to state and federal p

The United States measures poverty based on how an individual’s or family’s income compares to a set federal threshold.¹ For example, in the 2021 definition, people are considered impoverished if their individual income is below $12,880 or their household income is below $26,500 for a family of 4.² After 5 consecutive years in decline, the U.S. poverty rate increased to 11.4 percent in 2020, or a total of 37.2 million people.³ 

Higher education is any type of education after high school (12th grade), including 2-year college (community college), certificate programs, 4-year college (bachelor programs), graduate programs, and professional programs. In 2020, 66.2 percent of high school graduates ages 16 to 24 years were enrolled in universities or colleges.¹ This summary will focus on enrollment in and graduation from a 4-year college in relation to improved health and well-being. 

Every day, many people are either working or looking for work.^1,2,3 Multiple aspects of employment — including job security, the work environment, financial compensation, and job demands — may affect health. This summary describes how several of these aspects of employment influence health.