The Spirit Level Summary

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,

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social wellbeing, and not just the absence of disease” (WHO, 1974). Health inequalities are the differences in health or healthcare opportunities in different societies this may be due to income,

These are a few potential links between social inequalities and the health of the population: income and wealth distribution, unemployment, the ageing society, gender and health, mental illness and suicide and disability and dysfunction. I am going to discuss each of these and see the health impact on people in each group.

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.

Evidence show that people from lower class backgrounds and ethnic minority’s backgrounds are more likely to suffer more health problems to the majority ethnic group this shows a pattern of inequality.

For a variety of reasons, it is easier for the monied classes to access quality health care when needed and, in general, lead healthier lifestyles. People of higher socioeconomic groups have been shown to live longer (Scrambler, 2012). Beginning with higher infant mortality rates, lower socioeconomic groups often face a lifetime of challenges to good health and longevity.

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

Defining inequality can range across a massive scope, however, the specific inequalities amongst classes of wealth in America are the beginning of a shocking chain reaction. Individuals in different regions of Louisville were analyzed, comparing their wealth to their health. As expected, those living in richer neighborhoods with higher-paying jobs had the most access to frequent health care, healthy meals, and other better lifestyle habits. Thus, a statistic that stuck out to me began to make sense; “If a poor person’s smoking, he or she has a higher rate of disease than if a wealthy person is smoking” (Adelman, 2008). Though smoking is damaging, it varies in levels of damage depending on the class of the person smoking, and this left me curious as to if other variances of things

While theories such as “trickle down economics” support the wealthy creating more wealth for the lower income levels there is more evidence elaborating the benefits of living in a country with higher economic equality. When there are higher levels of economic equality countries enjoy more political stability, better health conditions, and a better outlook on the nation and jointly, life. The following graphic and its

Health inequalities are preventable and unjust differences in health status experienced by certain population groups. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience health inequalities than people in higher socio-economic classes. Health inequalities are not only found between people of different

The United States is world renowned for having the best health care if not the most accessible. Citizens have at their disposal a plethora of hospitals, physicians, and therapists to improve their well-being. Statistical data was taken back in 2010 under the Central Texas Region and studied health care coverage and income in regards to the community. The data displayed in the surveys heavily suggest that income/ health in general have a high correlation. The issue that arose with the given data imply that those who are on the lower end of the income spectrum subsequently have no health care coverage and poorer health than those with higher income. In any case with high correlation there are a number of factors influencing the statistical evidence, and in this case sociological barriers are present in regards of inequality and health care.

Inequality is ubiquity in our world, most people are looking at the downside or the surface of this phenomenon. In fact, that inequality is the drive of historical and social progress.

The report gives a clear analysis of how inequality runs from the richest to the poorest. Using the RGSC’s scales one of the reports most famous findings was that a child of an unskilled manual worker would die 7 years earlier than a child born to professional parents. (Macionis & Plummer, 2005). Other findings were that people in class V were more likely to die of conditions like heart disease, cancer or stroke than those in class IV. It was evident that people in class I had a longer life expectancy, better health with lower death rates. (O’Donnell, 2005). The Black Report look at four main reasons which may explain the inequalities in health:-

Rowlingson (2011) agrees with Wilkinson and Pickett that there is indeed a strong correlation between income and health and social problems. In her report she includes the ‘Marmot Review’ (Marmot, 2010) which shows evidence that people living in England in the poorest areas compared to those living in the richest will, on average, die 7 years earlier. This suggests a clear link between class and health. The report further notes other additional factors, such as infant mortality, and mental and physical well being go hand in hand with inequality.

Socioeconomic status is a predictive measure of health that has been widely used in the literature (Kroenke, 2008). It