Dental health impacts on working poor - report

Low pay narrows and constricts workers ability to access basic health, including dental services. This is a finding from research investigating the experiences of low paid workers in Australia.

Funded by the Australian Research Council, unions and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, the report examines the effects of low pay on workers and their households.

Interviews and focus groups with low paid workers earning less than $500 per week, $14 per hour or $26,700 per annum were conducted by leading social researchers from four universities.

Paula, a 55-year-old single mother of two, who has two cleaning jobs said: “ … I haven’t gone to the dentist. I have to go. I’m thinking I have to go but (I’m) scared to go in case he finds something I can’t afford”.

The paper concluded: “For these workers, low pay narrows and constricts their social circles, restricts travel, and affects children’s access to school excursions and basic health – including dental – services. Working poverty is associated with the deferral of family information and relationship tensions around money in some households”.