Income Inequality And Low Socioeconomic Status

Chapter 3: “The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Health, or, ‘They Call it “Poor Health” for no reason’”

Health has been influenced by many factors such as poor health status, disease risk factors, and limited access to healthcare. All these factors are due to social, economic and environmental disadvantages. According to the World Organization (WHO) (2015), “the social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities, which is the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 1978), health can be defined not only in terms of absence of disease, injury or infirmity, but also, as a state of mental, physical and social well-being. Over the last decades, many studies have emphasized the role of social circumstances on health status. The tight link between health and a wide range of socioeconomic, environmental and demographics factors have been increasingly recognized and proffer an alternative perspective on how to consider public health, social justice and even restructuring of the health care system (Daniels et. al., 2004). The increasingly acknowledgement that health is also a result of cumulative experience of social conditions and exposure to environmental

The correlations between level of education and socioeconomic status, and therefore the general health of an individual, are repeatedly proven to be evident across the globe.

Health and social class have always been closely linked. Recent research has shown that the gap between social classes is not only widening in terms of annual income but also in terms of health. Social class affects a person's physical health, longevity, and ability and access to appropriate nutrition and medical care. People who have received more education and have a higher income are less likely to have and die of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and cancer. While individuals of lower social-economic class tend to experience more health issues, they have less access to healthcare of appropriate quality compared to individuals of higher social-economic classes. This is because there are higher health risk factors

The World Health Organisation posits that the social determinants of health (SDoH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life which are in turn responsible for health inequities, the unequal and preventable disparities in health within population groups and between countries (WHO 2015). This broadly means that a person’s health can be negatively impacted or enhanced depending on their social status, educational attainment, level of income, living conditions and access to resources and social support networks.

Socioeconomic status (SES) encompasses amount of income and wealth, level of educational obtainment, type of occupation. It is usually a predicator of many physical and psychological health outcomes and is linked to a variety of health problems, such as low birthweight, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. There is a well-established and researched correlation between high SES leading to better health outcomes and that lower SES results in poorer health outcomes. SES does directly affect health, but rather serves as a proxy for other determinants by establishing and maintaining inequality through differential exposures to conditions that have a more immediate impact on health (i.e. environmental exposures, behavior/lifestyle choices, stress, health care, etc.).

Income inequality is growing in the United States, and the problem is much worse than most people believe. For children, growing up poor hinders brain development and leads to poorer performance in schools, according to a study published this week in JAMA Pediatrics.

The main factor that seems to alter the inequality of health among the world is the social gradient. Throughout life, poor social and economic circumstances seem to affect health, and those people further below the social ladder seem to have twice the chance of serious illnesses or premature death, compared to those near the top (Marmot & Wilkinson, 2006).

Lower socioeconomic status has the greatest negative impact on the individual’s health. Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status are likely to not be highly educated,

There is not singe factor that determine the quality of health and wellbeing. Many intersecting social and individual factors control the societies health. Income inequality is one of the leading determinant for our health. The effects of income inequality on health maybe understood by examining some social mechanisms, such as public education and healthcare, structural violence, disruption of social cohesion and social capital; and individual risky behaviors. (Kawachi and Kennedy, 1999)

Low-income Americans and racial and ethnic minorities have higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care.(1) Disparities already apparent among these groups will continue to increase with high unemployment rates. Globally the wealth gap is widening causing inequalities in resource access which disproportionately affects the quality of life of the impoverished. The origins of poor health for millions worldwide are rooted in economic, social and political injustices. While poverty is linked to higher risk for numerous adverse health effects, it is usually not directly addressed in public health interventions. Domestically and internationally HIV is rooted in economic and social inequity, as it impacts those of

In the world today, it is the minorities that mostly have a difficult time where they have money issues and not have enough opportunities like being able to get an education. Everything in the world is about money. If you want or need something, you have to have money in order to obtain it. Yet this causes an issue for those who are low-income and does not get paid enough. Minorities are not able to have such an education where they will be able to afford and this causes them to not be educated as to learn how to help themselves. In order for minorities to escape poverty, there needs to be an understanding what it is that they possibly need and how the needs and wants can be better dealt with.

The quality of living is not the same for everyone and therefore this often creates inequality in many individual’s health outcomes. The Public Health Agency of Canada states that the health inequalities an individual face due to their “health status, can be a result of genetics, choices an individual has made or by chance” (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2008). However, they also state that often these inequalities occur because of the unequal access to non-medical reasons such as income, and employment and social support. (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2008). The connection between health inequality, experienced through health status factors such as income, education, living environment is very evident through expenditure trends. Individuals who have higher income are more capable of purchasing health services and goods, while individuals and families with lower income are incapable and therefore choose to compromise their health and receive poor health care. Individuals with low incomes, often lack resources and the appropriate access to adequate healthy and safe living conditions and this often leads to bad health outcomes (Commission of Social Determinants, 2008). On the Commission Social Determinants of Health report, it states that when individuals have higher and more exposure to stress, as well a poor social support and aid from community health and lack of resources are more likely to continue to have poor health (Commission of Social Determinants of Health,

All over the world status hierarchy and social class are a common concept of how well we live our lives, however they affect our lives more than we think. Social class can affect many things such as education, opportunities presented to us, economic factors, and even our health. Recently socioeconomic status effects on health has become a more popular topic of discussion but is nothing new to researchers. “Research on socioeconomic inequalities in health in the UK has a long history. In the early part of the 20th century the British government introduced questions on occupation in the decennial census. This allowed researchers to examine health outcomes by social class.” (Knott, Dr Laurence). Researchers have discovered social class can