Effects of the socio-economic class on health
Student’s Name:
Institution:
Course:
Date
Introduction
The socioeconomic is a combined measure of a person’s sociological and economic status in terms of his income and social position in relation to others. The basis for the comparison is mostly education, income and occupation. Although this is a significant measure due to it significant effect on a person’s wellbeing and health, the social situations in terms of wealth distribution in the society also play a part. Variations in health and wellbeing in the societies are significantly influenced by social and economic inequalities, depending on their social class. The social class is a significant factor determining a person’s ability to have access to and receive adequate nutrition and medical care, which translates to their life expectancy. Particularly, poverty has been seen as a key factor influencing the ability of people to receive healthcare.
Discussion
It is, however, important to understand different kinds of poverty to avoid generalisations. Classifications divide poverty into three, absolute poverty, relative poverty and subjective poverty (Pruitt et al. 2008). Absolute poverty is the one in which the people are deemed poor if they do not have enough income to purchase minimum necessities needed for the mere maintenance of physical efficiency. The second kind is relative poverty in which people are deemed poor if their income is significantly less that of those around them. Subjective poverty argues that individuals are only poor if they feel that they do not have enough resources to get along.
Individuals with low socioeconomic status experience many problems related to their economic status. In most times, they cannot access healthcare and when they do, it’s often that of low quality, despite having the larger share of health issues in the society. The Centre for Disease Control defines poverty as the condition that makes persons in the society to lack basic human needs because they cannot afford them (Baumle 2006). In countries like the United States, poverty is measured by considering the pre-tax income in relation to the size and ages of the household members.
Poverty and a low-socioeconomic status are associated with various adverse health effect situations such as higher infant mortalities, shorter life expectancy and an overall higher death rate. For many individuals, poverty reduces the availability of resources that are used adopt healthy behaviour and avoid unnecessary risks. Poverty is also seen to influence the environment a person lives, works or even plays for the children which determine the danger level to which they are exposed. The services that a poor person can afford are also not of good quality, which will also be a detriment their health. The locations of all these services matter and affects their quality and availability.
Examining these issues deeper, it is clear that societal resources such as economic systems, political structures, social institutions, and technology sustain the people’s health (Wilber 2015). Persons who have prospered have access to resources that they can use to buffer or avoid health risks such as access to knowledge, prestige and power. On the other hand, poverty affects health by reducing the people’s abilities to access proper homes, nutrition and safe neighbourhoods for working learning, clean air and water, and other elements that are part of standard living. Violence is also more prevalent in poor than in rich neighbourhoods, which increases the people’s fear, and stress levels.
Poverty also significantly reduces the life expectancy and child mortality due to factors ranging from the violence in these neighbourhoods to limited educational opportunities. Education and the socioeconomic status correlate with wealth and income and is a contributor of life expectancy (Fitpeña & Bacallao 2000). Statistics point out that children from poor families are more likely to drop out of school than those of high-income families. Consequently, those who drop out will have a lower chance of finding employment opportunities which translate to low-income jobs and this again will affect health. Poverty is demonstrably bad for health.
There are other insidious ways in which poverty affects health. Mental illness and substance misuse are highly prevalent here (Pruitt et al. 2008). Poor nutrition, elevated stress levels and toxic exposure are also common problems for the poor people of the society. These may influence the cognitive development of children even before birth and increase the occurrence of chronic diseases. The larger the amount of time a child spends in poverty the higher their exposure and response to acute stressors. When the nervous system is impaired, the socioemotional and cognitive development is also affected increasing the possibility of adverse health behaviour, behavioural challenges and low performance in school.
The effects of poverty on health are, however, not that uniform. Longitudinal studies related to human behaviour have noted both positive and negative trends among both the lower and the higher socioeconomic populations (Fitpeña & Bacallao 2000). However, there exists a socioeconomic gradient of improvement of heath which shows that higher socioeconomic populations gain more benefits from health behaviour trends than lower socioeconomic populations. For example, when it comes to healthy eating habits, the higher socioeconomic population has access to better and healthier eating options, which are often more expensive. On the other hand, populations with lower socioeconomic conditions will only afford to buy unhealthy fast foods.
In a hospital setup, a low-income patient may be misunderstood by the caregiver if they portray behaviours that show noncompliance such as failing to take tests, missing appointments or even adhering to a medical regimen (Wolfe 2012). For example, they may have arrived minutes late for their appointments only because they had to rely on other persons or public means for transport. Similarly, low literacy skills may prevent the individual from understanding the printed prescription instructions. The nature of his job may not allow him to take time off work to seek medical care. The patient may not openly share about the situations leading to noncompliance behaviour. The healthcare provider may turn away such clients, for failing to understand their situations. This will further contribute to the poor health of the low-income populations.
It is clear that the poor suffer worse death and ultimately die young. Their maternal and child mortality rates are higher than average, higher occurrence of disease due to poor sanitation, and even social protection. A report on England from the National Statistics Office showed that despite having 67 years of the NHS, there are persisted difference in health parameters across the social classes. Women continue to live than the men, but this gap is steadily closing. This situation is further magnified by the economic inequality of the society (Adler 2009). The men living in deprived were found to have a life expectancy nine years shorter than that of men living in wealthy neighbourhoods. The duration of their life in which they spend in good health is 70.5% which is low compared to the 84.9% of the wealthy men. The women from most deprived areas had a life expectancy, 6.4 yeas shorter than that of those in the least deprives areas (Zpatrick 2013). They also spend 66.2% of their lifetime in good health compared to their wealthier counterparts who spent 82.9% of good health. The life expectancy of men at the age of 65 years was highest in Chelsea and Kensington, 21.6 years and lowest in Manchester, 15.9years. That of women was highest in Camden, 24.6years and lowest in Manchester, 18.8years.
These differences portray the variations in social class. The social class encompasses culture, status, wealth, environment and background. The relationship between poor health and social class is demonstrated in various levels. The cultural explanation says that people of the lower social class opt for unhealthy lifestyles, eating fatty foods, exercise less, and smoke more compared to those of the middle and the upper classes. They do not have enough money to spend on a healthy diet although this does not matter as much as them not knowing what consists of a healthy diet. People who have been performing hard tasks on their feet all day are less likely to be involved in physical activity in the evening (Jefferson 2012). Although there exists a phrase that says as ‘drunk as a lord’, much of the binge drinking is observed among the low-income earners. Surveys show that even during recessions, when people have the least money for leisure, the alcohol demand does not go down, especially with the low-income populations.
People often wonder, since poverty and poor health are interlinked, which one causes the other. It is a fact that low social classes lead to poor health while it is also true that poor health can lead to the deterioration of the social class. Studies show that patients in UK’s Black Caribbean showed higher rates of psychopathology related to being socioeconomically disadvantaged (Card & Raphael 2013). However, most of these chronic illnesses only present themselves later in adulthood, after people have taken up various careers and therefore the association between the poor living conditions in childhood and deteriorating health cannot be found. Looking at the issue from the flip side may suggest that the healthy tend to rise through the social classes which are not true. Hence, poverty causes health deterioration.
Conclusion
From the discussion, poverty deteriorates health. The effects begin as lack of basic necessities, poor living conditions, lack of money to seek healthcare services, and even illiteracy lead are all the effects of poverty. As a result, people with low incomes have a low life expectancy and high infant mortality rates for their children.
References
ADLER, N. E. (2009). Socioeconomic status and health in industrial nations: social, psychological, and biological pathways. New York, NY, New York Acad. of Sciences.
BAUMLE, A. K. (2006). Demography In Transition Emerging Trends in Population Studies. Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
CARD, D. E., & RAPHAEL, S. (2013). Immigration, poverty, and socioeconomic inequality.
FITJEFFERSON, P. N. (2012). The Oxford handbook of the economics of poverty. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
PEÑA, M., & BACALLAO, J. (2000). Obesity and poverty: a new public health challenge. Washington, D.C., Pan American Health Organization.
PRUITT, S. L., AMICK, B. C., MULLEN, P. D., HARRIST, R. B., & VERNON, S. W. (2008). The association of area socioeconomic status and cancer screening: a systematic review and multilevel study. Dissertation Abstracts International. 69-02.
WILBER, G. L. (2015). Poverty a new perspective. Lexington, The University Press of Kentucky.
WOLFE, B. (2012). The biological consequences of socioeconomic inequalities.
ZPATRICK, K. M. (2013). Poverty and health: a crisis among America’s most vulnerable.
