B.  INTRODUCTION

Much work has been done to date on the connection between poverty and ill health, and, more generally, on income and various measures of health and illness. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the health of Manitoba women and their socio-economic status.

This paper will therefore:

1. briefly describe income distribution and poverty in Canada and Manitoba today;
   
   
2. provide a summary of the lIterature on the relationship between income and health;
   
   
3. expand that work with new information about the connections between women's income and their health, including an analysis of data about the utilization of health services by Manitoba women;
   
   
4. describe some of the key health services issues for low-income women and present models of service which addresses those issues;
   
   
5. present ideas for interventions in public policy that will improve the health of Manitoba women living in poverty.

Because of the significance of income and poverty issues for Aboriginal women, information specific to their situation and needs has been included wherever possible.

This paper has been commissioned as part of a project by the Women's Health Clinic of Winnipeg and has been funded by the Health Promotion and Programs Branch of Health Canada.