Lower Social Status

Why are higher income and social status associated with better health? If it were just a matter of the poorest and lowest status groups having poor health, the explanation could be things like poor living conditions. But the effect occurs all across the socio-economic spectrum. Considerable research indicates that the degree of control people have over life circumstances,

In the movie Unnatural Causes: In Sickness and in Wealth, it compared the lives of four individuals, Taylor, Young, Anderson, and Turner, in different locations, race, and socioeconomic background. The scale of difference between this group of people is that it goes from financially stable and healthy individuals to individuals with lower income and poorer health. This wealth-health gradient reflects that those who have easier access to healthier lifestyles (i.e. running outside without the concern of safety) are more likely to have a higher life expectancy than those who are in living environments that are not as developed and lack healthier options of nutrition. The difference of the average life expectancy scaled down from Jim Taylor whose neighborhood had an average life expectancy of 80 years, Young’s 75.3 years,

Depending on where you live and how much your income is you may live a healthier and longer live . Richer people may look down and discriminate against poorer individuals.

In addition, they endure more stressful family and work conditions which can lead to unhealthy lifestyle characteristics, such as excessive use of alcohol and may…(reword) poor nutrition” (19). In other words, the more prestige/power one has within society, the better their chances are of living longer. Scott’s article Life at the Top in America Isn’t Just Better, It’s Longer; provided many examples that showed the inequality between the classes. For example, Jean Miele’s case; he had a heart attack and because of his social class—and connections established through his status—he was surrounded by two knowledgeable colleagues that knew something was seriously wrong with Miele, therefore; immediately calling an ambulance. In addition, because of the neighborhood Miele was in during the heart attack he was given a choice of where we was to go to receive medical care; within minutes of arriving at the chosen hospital, he was in line for an angioplasty to unclog the affected artery. After the heart attach Miele entered a cardiac rehab which was covered through his insurance. As Scott showed in her article, Miele never once considered the amount this operation cost or the price for his cardiac rehab treatment.

Socio-economic class or socio-economic status (SES) may refer to mixture of various factors such as poverty, occupation and environment. It is a way of measuring the standard and quality of life of individuals and families in society using social and economic factors that affect health and wellbeing ( Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Cockerham (2007 p75) argues: ‘Social class or socioeconomic status (SES) is the strongest predictor of health, disease causation and longevity in medical sociology.’ Research in the 1990s, (Drever and Whitehead, 1997) found out that people in higher SES are generally healthier, and live longer than those in lower SES.

The Health and Wealth connection distilled is our health will most commonly reflect from our amount of wealth. The wealthy can afford the cost of quality care and the time to take care of themselves. Within the textbook, Dimensions of Human Behavior Hutchison writes. Public health experts have long noted the association of poor clinical outcomes, in all body systems, with low income, low education, unsanitary housing, poor healthcare, on stable employment, and uncertain physical environment (Hutchison, 2015). Easily demonstrated throughout American society the rather dubious and is a somewhat perplexing phenomenon of the Health-and-Wealth connection theory. The gap between the haves and have-nots are ever expanding. Those who have the funding to pay for resources will pay to get those resources. And those who do not have sufficient funds to pay for said resources will, unfortunately, have to stand in the long lines to receive seemingly, deceptively, scarce resources.

There has always been a link between social class and health, even with the welfare state and the improvements made to health in all sections of societies over the years, a difference still remains in this area. This difference is applied to all aspects of health, which include life expectancy, general levels of health and infant mortality. Many people argue that as long as the quality of life is

This lack of prevention stems from poor education often received in those areas and the culture that often permeates within them (Williams/Torrens). Widely accepted is the concept that people with higher incomes generally enjoy better health and live longer than people with lower incomes.

First, there is Jim Taylor, Hospital CEO, District 16; second, Tondra Young, Clinical Lab Supervisor, District 24; lastly, Corey Anderson, Floor Technician, District 21. The population of each district decreases in average income, education level and life expectancy than its preceding district, beginning with district 16, Jim Taylor’s district. District 16 has an average combined household income of approximately $120,000/ annually. In this district, 65% of the population has a college degree and the life expectancy in this district is 82 years. Whereas, Tondra Young’s district, district 24, has an average combined household income of $70,000/annually and 15% of the population has a college degree. The life expectancy of district 24 is 75 years, that’s 7 years less than district 16. In district 21, Corey Anderson’s district, the average combined household income is less than $50,000/ annually and only 5% of the districts population have college degrees. Consequently, the life expectancy of district 21 is 70 years, 5 years less than district 24 and 12 years less than district 16 (Adelman 2008). The results of this study are indisputable: there is an obvious correlation between social/economic status and health status. As each districts average income and education level decrease, average life expectancy coincides. This leads to the next question: why does social and economic status so greatly influence health status?

The Life at the Top in America Isn’t Just Better, It’s Longer news article assigned for this week’s critical writing caught me off guard. I was not expecting a narrative compilation of three individuals’ varying healthcare experiences. The article allowed me to reflect and contemplate the three very differing experiences. Each of these experiences was significantly dissimilar from one another due to each individual’s socioeconomic status. As we have learned and discussed in Chapter three of the text, socioeconomic status (or social class) is an individual’s or group’s standing within a ranked social structure. This socioeconomic status is typically determined by three main variables such as income, occupational prestige, and education. Different models of the social class ladder exist. The five-class model used in the United States is as follows: upper class, upper-middle class, lower-middle class, working class, and lower class. With this in mind and as previously mentioned in our text, “socioeconomic status or social class is the strongest and most consistent predictor of a person’s health and life expectancy across the life course.” In this response paper, I will deliberate and explain my thoughts on each individual’s experience.

Being a racial minority and of a lower social class definitely influences your health and longevity. In Chapter 11, it states “white hold a significant advantage in health and longevity, having a life expectancy at birth of 79.0 years compared to African Americans at 75.3 years (Conley, pg 423). They mainly focus on the differences between whites and African Americans because they are the most prevalent. African Americans also have the highest infant mortality rate then any other race mentioned in the book. They say that it’s because of “day-to-day” life that contributes to their health because they are disproportionately poor, and being poor is very stressful (Conley, pg 424).

The Health and wealth connection distilled is our health will most commonly reflect from our amount of wealth. The wealthy can afford the cost of quality care and the time to take care of them selves. Within the textbook, Dimensions of Human Behavior Hutchison writes. Public health experts have long noted the association of poor health outcomes, in all body systems, with low income, low education, unsanitary housing, in adequate healthcare, on stable employment, and unsafe physical environment (Hutchison, 2015). Easily demonstrated throughout American society the rather dubious and is somewhat perplexing phenomenon of the Health-and-Wealth connection theory. The gap between the haves and have-nots are ever expanding. Those who have the funding to pay for resources will pay to get those resources. And those who do not have adequate funding to pay for said resources will unfortunately have to stand in the long lines to receive seemingly, deceptively, scarce resources.

The greatest factor within health care between social and racial divides is that of a socioeconomic status. The rich are given more opportunities and advantages than the poor, a common history that is also found between white and minorities. Minorities make up a majority of the lower-class society due to oppression and lack of opportunities that can be used to gain upward social mobility. The elite and upper-class are more readily available to gain intellect about current medical trials that show advancement in health issues. The elite are educated and they have financial strengths that allow them advantages that the lower-class lack. While there are other integrated factors, such as, underlying health issues and racial disparities the main issue is socioeconomic status. In Marxism theory this would be comparable in that the bourgeoisie are exploiting the proletarians by not providing adequate healthcare opportunities. Additionally, W.E.B. DuBois would use the color line theory, by showing that there is a pure divide between races. The lower-social class is mostly those of racial and ethnic backgrounds and therefore this divide in social class is also a racial class

Hypodescent status is a derogatory method of assigning race to people. It declares that whenever someone is of mixed racial background, they are automatically assigned to the subordinate race. The subordinate race is the race that is considered inferior, less popular, or is lower in socioeconomic status. In the United States, when referring to the black race, this has historically been defined by the “one drop” rule. The one drop rule states that if there is even a “drop” of black blood in the person, then they are considered black. As time has progressed, this form of assignation has become looser, but a form of hypodescent still exists in the United States. This is why former President Barack Obama is still almost solely considered black despite being of mixed racial origins. Since race is a socially constructed function, however, it can just as easily be defined in other ways. Some of these ways are defined by F. James Davis in the textbook, and allow for a different way of thinking of race. If it were defined in some of these ways, the career of Barack Obama—and black (or formerly black) people in general—would be dramatically different.

The idea that stratification and social mobility can influence a person’s chances for a higher life expectancy is very possible. The concept of “stratification is defined as the structural ranking of an entire group of people that maintains unequal economic benefits and power within society.” This system allows individuals opportunities only based on the tier that they occupy. “There are four major systems of stratification which are slavery, caste, estate and class.” “The current stratification within the United States is an open, class system where the position of an individual is influenced by their achieved status and social ranking is primarily based on economic position.” Certain “characteristics within the system can influence social mobility, which is the idea that a person can move from one position in society’s stratification system to another.” A person’s position in this “class system shapes their access to material, social and cultural resources and is heavily dependent upon their family’s background, race and ethnicity.” “The United States divides it class system into five social class; the upper, upper-middle, middle, working and under class.” The different tiers reflect income, education, political power and authority decreases as you go from top to bottom. The greater a person’s income is it decreases there likelihood of disease and an early death. A person with a lower social class have greater difficulties trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle like