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Social Influences And Class Structure Affect People 's Health

Decent Essays
Social influences and class structure affect people’s health. People who live in poverty and are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder have worse health than those who have more money. In essence, inequality in society is making people sick. For example, the United States is a country that has very wealthy people along with a staggering amount of poor individuals, yet it is one of the richest countries in the world. It is clear that there is a widening gap of inequality in America, and according to the film Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? (2008), the United States spends $2 trillion per year on medical care, but American citizens live shorter, sicker lives than most industrialized countries. But how is this possible? The stresses of every day life for middle and low class citizens greatly contributes to their health issues. According to Williams and Rosenstock, “differences in income are associated with differences in occupations and work environments, potentially exacerbating the overall effect of income inequality on workers’ health” (2015:616). Basically, those who work in poor conditions and make a lower income, who are clearly unequal to the richer citizens who work under better conditions, are prone to greater health risks. This gap in health between unequal classes is not coincidental. In Williams and Rosenstock’s article, they state that one measure of income inequality is the pay gap between that of a production worker and a company’s CEO and
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