Social Class Research Paper

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How are the various dimensions of social class related to differences in health and mortality? “Our inequality materializes our upper class, vulgarizes our middle class, brutalizes our lower class.” – Matthew Arnold, English essayist (1822-1888) In American societies, people who are of a higher-social class, have above average incomes, and are highly educated have better health and longevity. Above average levels of education and a large income, contribute to a significantly smaller chance of suffering from and dying of heart disease, strokes, diabetes and many types of cancer. Upper-middle-class Americans live longer and in better health than middle-class Americans, who live longer and better than those at the bottom. In 2000 an estimated 875,000 deaths in the US could be attributed to social factors such as poverty and income inequality. (i) Income is one of the most obvious factors associated with health and mortality. Medical care is expensive, and those with bounteous financial resources enjoy better access to physicians and medicines. (ii) As advances in medicine and disease prevention increase life expectancy in the United States, the benefits have disproportionately gone to people with higher levels of education, supplementary incomes, respectable jobs and connections. They are…show more content…
(iii) Poor health and poverty go hand-in-hand. Half of the jobs in America now pay less than $33,000 a year, and a quarter pay less than the poverty line of $22,000 for a family of four. People who hold low income jobs, such as food preparation and farm workers, often live in poverty. They frequently endure poor housing conditions, lack of resources in health and educational provisions, as well as hold higher risk occupations. Select researchers believe that the stress of a low wage, high-demand job, is more harmful to an individual’s health, than, a high-wage job, where an employ has extended work related

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