In August, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce released a report showing the impact of the great recession on employment for those with varying levels of educational attainment. The differences in losses during the recession and trends throughout the recovery have been stark between those with a high school diploma or less and those with a bachelor’s degree or more. The following chart – pulled from the report itself – illustrates the growing importance of education in the job market.

While it is clear that education plays a significant role in employment, this research has much broader implications. Employment status affects prospects for reliable income and hence the capability to afford basic staples of a healthy lifestyle, such as a sufficient amount of healthy food, quality housing, and access to medical care. According to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, 45% of self-identified lower-class adults had trouble in the past year getting medical care for themselves or their family, while only 18% of middle-class and 11% of upper-class adults said the same.

A large and growing body of research has documented the association between education and subsequent health outcomes. Even small differences in education status seem to be associated with differences in health. According to the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, those with some college or an associate’s degree were twice as likely as those with a bachelor’s or higher to report their current health status as fair or poor.

Educational attainment is also strongly associated with indicators of access to needed health care services. In the same National Health Interview Survey, adults with less than a high school education were 2.5 times more likely to be without a usual place of care and 4.5 times more likely to use a hospital, emergency room, or outpatient center as their usual place of care as those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Among adults age 25-65, nearly half (46.8%) of those with less than a high school education and more than a quarter (27.1%) of those with a high school education or GED are uninsured – rates that are six and 3.5 times, respectively, that of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher (7.8%).

With national elections a few weeks away, candidates and pundits have clearly made education reform a central topic of debate. Arguments for educational reform typically focus on the economic impact and the strategic importance of remaining competitive in the global market place. Although separate policy discussions about health and health care costs also take place, these two policy streams seldom cross, despite ample research evidence to suggest that one is associated with the other. Fully informed decision making requires a thorough understanding of the consequences of a policy position and consideration of all anticipated effects.