Across the United Kingdom and Canada, a study of nearly 32,000 people has revealed that poverty does not merely shape how people live — it shapes how quickly they age. Researchers from Geneva and British Columbia found that the bodies of the poorest 60-year-olds already resemble those of the wealthiest 75-year-olds in their capacity to move, grip, breathe, and care for themselves. This is not a story of individual habits or personal choices; it is a story of how material circumstance writes itself into flesh and bone, compressing the arc of a human life.
Research confirms wealth gap accelerates aging in lower-income populations
Lower-income populations experience accelerated physical decline and reduced functional capacity in daily activities including mobility, self-care, and independence.