While these restrictive social policies have grown from beliefs about the undeservingness of people of color, the result most commonly harms whites, who, in contrast to the perceptions of many Americans, constitute the plurality of the poor. Basic income, food security, and access to affordable, quality health care promote good physical health (Braveman et al., 2011), which suggests that the weak welfare safety net may contribute to whites' poor standing on international health comparisons.