Rich Americans drink more, smoke less, exercise more, weigh less, and sleep more.
Of course, some of those poor people could be “physically active” at work…
…and some of those rich people might not be counting all their sleep:
Lifestyles of the 4x-poverty set
Family Inequality 
Hm. Cigarette smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, and sleep are all higher for the poor. In this economy, it could be indicative of depression. Were I poor, I’d be damned depressed, not only about the economy, but about the efforts of the ruling classes to make it easier for the poor to get out of poverty with the help of jobs and education.
Oh, yeah, education. Isn’t that one of the things that helps with obesity?
The drinking is easily explained: the richer you are, the more parties you have.
Yes, the poor have unhealthy lifestyles. They also lack motivation to do anything about it. They’re so busy scrambling to cover the bills, and so knocked out by what seem like tiny setbacks to people with even middle incomes, that there is little they have energy for but watching television, eating junk food, and sleeping.
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Note it doesn’t say poor people don’t sleep more – they are more likely to undersleep.
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“The drinking is easily explained: the richer you are, the more parties you have.”
Also, booze is expensive. But then so are cigarettes.
In places I’ve worked, it’s always seemed like the higher-ups more frequently go out for happy hour with each other. Which also bolsters their networking, which helps them earn more, which feeds this whole cycle.
The receptionist and the mailroom person just make a beeline for the door at quittin’ time. They’re probably tired and can’t afford $8 cocktails. They buy a 6-pack on the way go home maybe.
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If we could get people to stop using up governmental resources to get a Ph.D in a field that produces nothing we might could spend those resources helping the truly needy.
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Great point. Three questions: Which field are you talking about, do we really spend so much on it, and would “we” really spend that money on the truly needy instead?
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