Stratification And Social Mobility On A Person 's Chances For A Higher Life Expectancy Essay

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.

Stratification affects life quality and ageism in late adulthood. For example, think about gender stratification. Irrational, gender-based fear may limit female independence. Throughout most of recorded history, men have had and continue to have, more physical and social power and status than women. This has caused some women

People were less likely to face poor retirement if they worked in managerial or professional jobs than someone who worked in unskilled or manual occupations. This is because the people who worked in manual would have earned lower wages and would not be as likely to get a private pension. Men that are in the professional classes have a life expectancy of 80 years from birth. However men from unskilled or manual classes have a life expectancy of 78.1 years. This also effects woman’s life expectancy as woman from professional classes have a life expectancy of 85.1 compared to those who are in the unskilled or manual classes and their life expectancy if 78.1 years. Causes of death also vary from different social classes. In the higher social classes it is less likely to suffer from, lung cancer, coronary heart disease, stokes and respiratory diseases. All of these increase within social disadvantages.

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

Different researches do believe that there is a link between social class and health. It is a statistical impression and also it has been argued that there isn’t really a pattern in social class, age and peoples employment that has had an impact on people’s health inequalities.

The social class one is born into, more often than not dictates the social class they will belong to as an adult. There have been studies done in regards to social mobility, which greatly supports the concept that social class further promotes inequality, for 40% of individuals, born into either the top or bottom as infants, will remain there throughout their adult life. The stagnant nature of economic mobility, is only further worsened by absolute mobility. Those who begin impoverished are disadvantaged from the start and even with an increase of income, they most likely will remain in their same social class, for most people with time have an increase in overall income, and yet the relative increase remains stagnant, for all

If you have money you can afford to live in nicer upscale housing, not like poor people, they do not have that luxury. They live in neighborhoods that are dirty, rat infested, gang in habited and all kinds of other dangers. Rats leave droppings that are disease infested and overtime these droppings breakdown into dust, which can travel in the air and adults and children inhale this dust, which causes different illnesses.

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?

Tondra Young, who lives in a less wealth district, has a slightly lower life expectancy. The trend continues with Corey Anderson, and Mary Turner, where the lower the affluence of the community is, the lower the predict life expectancy becomes. Wealth, in this case, can be seen as a fundamental cause of health

Among the life chances affected as result of social class involve factors such as: How long people live (life expectancy), how healthy people are, how much and what they eat, the kind of housing they live in, the level of education they reach and the qualifications they achieve, how likely they are to be unemployed

Life chances in terms of health for the lower social class mean that they are more likely to get ill. This happens as they cannot manage to pay for the suitable clothing, heating in the cold weather, living in overcrowded conditions and poor diet. In terms of education attainment children who are born in the family that is classified as higher class achieve better results in school compared to those in lower social class. Furthermore, the children that belong to the parents of higher class are more likely to get better education (through private schools/institutions), this increases their chances of employment with high income (Haralambos & Holborn, 2000).