GETTING TO KNOW LOW INCOME, LOW EDUCATION & LOW
OPPORTUNITY COMMUNITIES
Although California has an overall adult smoking prevalence rate
of 15%, the current smoking rate among Low Socio-Economic Status
(Low SES) adults is twice as hovering around 30%. 1
Among low-income Californians, the smoking rate for white, Low
SES adult males (non-Hispanic) is 34.1%, followed by 29.4% for
Asian American and Pacific Islanders, 28.6% for African American
males and 20.9% for Hispanic males in the Low SES population. 2
The smoking rate for adult women with low income and low education
is 26.5% for African American women and 22.9% for white women (non-Hispanic). 3
The majority of California adults below the
federal poverty level are employed. In 2002, more than nine out of 10 (90.6%) of California’s
low-income families with children were working families. 4
Studies from the Harvard School of Public Health reveal that workers
in low wage jobs are significantly more likely to use tobacco;
and that Low SES workers wish to quit, just like other smokers.
The messages given to them must be free of blame, clear and not
preachy. 5
1, 2, 3 The California Adult Smoking Prevalence
Survey, 2002. Adult current smokers are defined as those respondents
who report having smoked > 100 cigarettes in their lifetime
and currently smoke either every day or some days. Current smokers
are defined as those respondents who have smoked at least one day
during the 30 days prior to the survey.
4. Baran, B., Ross, J.,
Graves, S. “California’s Working Families Fail to Make
Ends Meet” California Budget Project Annual Report, Dec.
2004.
5. Barbeau EM, Krieger N, Soobader M-J, “Working Class
Matters: Socioeconomic Disadvantage, Race, Ethnicity, Gender and
Smoking in NHIS 2000” American Journal of Public Health Feb.
2004.
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