What is the difference between socioeconomic status and class

In poorer areas, where food, shelter and safety are priority, education often takes a backseat — becomes less of a priority. American youth are particularly at risk for many health and social problems in the United States. Overall, lower socioeconomic status has been linked to chronic stress, heart disease, ulcers, type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, certain types of cancer, and premature aging. Social class in the United States is a controversial issue, having many competing definitions, models, and even disagreements over its very existence.

Many Americans believe that in the country there are just three classes: the American rich; the American middle class; the American poor. In a society, people usually use the hierarchy of social status to allocate resources, positions of leadership and other forms of power.

Social class or class is the division of a society based on social and economic status. People in the same social class have the same socioeconomic status. Social class is different from the social status as the basis of social class is the economic background of a person, while the basis of social status involves factors like family descent, honour or prestige of an occupation, and cultural position.

We generally divide the population of a country or society into different classes. Furthermore, many sociologists suggest five social classes for this division: upper, upper-middle, lower-middle, working-class, and poor.

The upper class consists of elites, typically the leaders and the wealthiest families in the society. Income has an important role as an enabling resource for health care access and use in the Andersen health behavioural model [ 25 , 26 ].

On the other hand, poor health can also result in lower incomes [ 27 ]. Hence, the association between income and health is likely shaped by bi-directional causal mechanisms. In the literature, measures indicating financial situation is commonly most strongly associated to health and mortality in old age, when compared to e. The rationale for including specific indicators of SES in studies of health in old age may vary.

It could be to monitor, or to understand, how the social patterning of resources affect health. In this case, it is important to consider the different pathways and mechanism that education, social class, income, and occupational complexity might have on health. Another reason could be to merely adjust a model for as much socioeconomic variance as possible, without any specific interest in the mechanisms driving the health inequalities.

Research suggest that a composite measures of individual level indicators could be appropriate for this purpose [ 28 ]. The findings from a previous study, based on the same data as the present study, suggested that a composite measure of individual level variables of SES was more suitable for this purpose than any of the individual variables [ 29 ].

On the other hand, using a composite measure of individual level variables of SES, may obscure the underlying mechanisms and prevent progression in the understanding of how different aspects of SES contributes to health.

Education, social class, occupational complexity, and income are inherently associated, as education is associated with occupational position and complexity, which in turn is associated with income [ 8 , 30 ]. In addition, socioeconomic disadvantage tend to accumulate over the life course, both between and within socioeconomic domains [ 31 ].

Evidence suggest that there are certain, sensitive, periods in life where exposure to socioeconomic disadvantages may have increased and sustained effect on health throughout the life course [ 32 ].

Studies of the working age population have showed that different indicators of SES are differently associated with different health outcomes, which suggest that different underlying mechanisms may generate these associations [ 5 , 33 ].

These findings suggest that the choice of indicator may be of importance for the results and the interpretations, when studying socioeconomic inequalities in health. Less is known of how different SES indicators relate to health in old age. A thorough exploration of how the association between SES and health in old age varies by indicator of SES may provide important insights into the mechanisms generating socioeconomic inequalities in late-life health.

As most commonly used indictors of SES are rooted in educational and occupational stratification, we chose to assess these variables in late working life when people tend to have reached their peak positions, in terms of educational level, social class, and income.

In the present study, late life health is assessed in terms of mobility limitations, limitations in activities of daily living ADL , and psychological distress.

These are all common areas of health problems in later life, and the burden of these afflictions in terms of societal costs is substantial [ 34 ]. Mobility limitations and ADL limitations are rare among people under the age of 40, but after the age of 40 the prevalence increase with age. Mobility and ADL limitations, and psychological distress are all strong predictors of need for social services and institutionalization [ 35 , 36 , 37 ].

Moreover, psychological distress also predict other health outcomes with special relevance for the old age population, such as dementia, mortality, cardiovascular diseases, and cerebrovascular disease [ 38 , 39 , 40 ].

The first wave of LNU was carried out in using a nationally representative sample of individuals aged 18 to 75 years. The sample was then followed-up in , , , , and [ 41 ].

The response rates for the waves used in the present study varies between In LNU, respondents were asked about a wide variety of topics, including their present health status, educational achievements, and occupation. In the wave, the age-span included was wider, and included those aged 69 years and older [ 42 ]. The independent variables were assessed at baseline and dependent variables in the designated follow-up. The four linkages were analysed separately and as pooled data. The magnitude of the associations between the independent variables and the outcomes varied by linkage, but the differences were small and not systematic.

Thus, we present the results from the full sample, with all the linkages pooled. However, we performed separate analyses for those who were not in paid employment or self-employed at baseline Table 3. Sensitivity analyses, comparing the estimates to estimates based on the full sample showed similar results.

Responses were summarised in an index that ranged from 0 no problems to 2 problems with both tasks. The responses were summarised in an index from 0 managed all five tasks without help to 10 not able to perform any of the tasks.

We calculated an index based on the responses regarding anxiety and depressive symptoms. The responses were summarised in an index ranging from 0 no problems to 4 severe psychological distress.

Education was measured as educational attainment. Self-reported educational attainment was divided into three groups: high, medium, or low. Upper secondary school or above was considered a high level of educational attainment. Compulsory school complemented with vocational training was considered a medium level of education. Attending compulsory school only or no schooling was considered as low level of education. The social classes were collapsed into three groups: low unskilled and skilled blue-collar workers, small farmers and entrepreneurs without employees ; medium lower-level white-collar workers, farmers and entrepreneurs with 1 to 19 employees ; and high intermediate and upper-level white-collar workers, farmers and entrepreneurs with 20 or more employees, and academic professionals.

The substantive complexity scores indicate the level of intellectual flexibility, engagement, and skills needed to perform working tasks of greater or lesser complexity. The measure of substantive complexity used in this study was developed by Roos and Treiman [ 44 ], and is based on the U.

Census The DOT included 46 worker characteristics, assessed by job analysts. This measure forms the basis for our measure of occupational complexity [ 44 ]. These scores have later been matched to Swedish occupational categories. See Andel et al. Occupational complexity ranges 0—10, the scale was divided into three categories on the complexity scale: 0—3.

Individual income was assessed from Swedish tax registers the year before baseline. Income was standardised to the purchasing power of , log transformed and divided into quintiles. To increase the comparability of the models and to increase model fit, we divided income into three categories.

We collapsed the two lowest quintiles into category 1 and quintiles three and four into category 2. Category 3 consisted of the fifth quintile, which included those with the highest incomes. This categorization was data-driven and based on tests of spline lines, which showed that the used categorization gave the best fit of the data.

We used education, social class, occupational complexity, and income as classified above, and summarized them. The index was then divided into tertiles. This was done to investigate whether a composite measure could, statistically, capture as much, or more, of the variance in late-life health as the individual indicators. Covariates in all analyses were age, sex, and linkage. Age and sex was assessed by self-reports during the interview. Age was measured by birth year and given continuous representation in all analyses.

Sex was categorized as either woman or man. AMEs are estimated as the average difference in probability of the given outcome across all observations with covariates at their observed values. Thus, the estimates can be interpreted as the differences in the probability of the outcome in percentage points. The AMEs from ordered logistic regression should be interpreted as the difference in the probability of reporting an outcome one-step higher on the scale than the outcome in the reference group.

The proportional odds assumption was tested with the gologit2 command in Stata [ 47 ], and the assumption was accepted.

To study how each of the main independent variables contributed to model fit, we calculated the change in pseudo-R2 obtained by adding each independent variables education, social class, income, and occupational complexity one at a time to a model including only the outcomes and adjustments for sex, age, and linkage. For each indicator of socioeconomic status, we also calculated the change in pseudo-R2 associated to the exclusion of that variable from the full model model 2.

We also ran all analyses stratified by sex. We found only small, statistically non-significant, differences between women and men except in the association between social class and mobility limitations see results. Our study design allow individuals to be included in several linkages. As this could lead to artificially low standard errors, we used cluster-correlated robust estimates of variance in the analyses [ 49 ].

We also used multiple imputation to impute missing data on mobility limitations at baseline imputations were included. Sensitivity analyses showed none or small differences between the imputed and non-imputed data. There were no internal non-responses of psychological distress at baseline in the analytical sample.

No imputations were made on the outcome variables. The correlation between education and social class was 0. Correlations between the indicators differed between the linkages, and there was a general trend towards minor, statistically non-significant, increases in the correlations over time.

Model 2 was tested for multicollinearity with the VIF command in Stata, and the result indicated no multicollinearity. Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1. There were more women than men among the respondents, and women reported more problems in all three outcomes. The mean age at follow-up was 79 years.

There were no statistically significant differences in psychological distress by age group. However, limitations in mobility and ADL increased with age. In general, the respondents with the highest level of the SES indicators had the least problems while the lowest group had the worst health outcomes, with one exception — people with medium social class had significantly lower ADL limitations than people with high or low social class.

The association between ADL limitations and occupational complexity was not significant, and there were no statistically significant differences in psychological distress by education or social class. The associations between education, social class, occupational complexity, income, the SES-index, and health in later life were all analysed separately in model 1 Table 2 , adjusted only for age, sex, and linkage. In model 2 Table 2 , all the SES indicators were analysed simultaneously in relation to each health outcome.

We also adjusted the associations between each individual SES indicator and each health outcome, by the other indicators of SES one-by-one. At this point, it is worth noting that the effect sizes in the main analyses are dependent on the scales of the outcome variables. The first contact an offender has with the criminal justice system is usually with law enforcement, most often the police who investigate a suspected violation and make an arrest. Next, the courts carry out adjudication or the legal processing of offenders.

The courts serve as the venue where disputes are settled and justice is administered. Depending on the offense, either a judge or a jury determines whether the suspect violated the law and what their punitive sentence will be. If found guilty by the court, offenders are then turned over to correctional authorities.

Correctional authorities may include prison wardens or social workers, depending on the type of offense. Courtroom : The criminal justice system includes adjudication, wherein the courts legally process suspects to determine their guilt or innocence and sentencing. Like all other aspects of criminal justice, the administration of punishment has taken many different forms throughout history. Early on, when civilizations lacked the resources necessary to construct and maintain prisons, exile and execution were the primary forms of punishment.

Historically shame punishments have also been used as forms of censure. The most publicly visible form of punishment in the modern era is the prison. Prisons may serve as detention centers for prisoners after trial. Jails are used for containment of the accused before trial. Early prisons were used primarily to sequester criminals and little thought was given to living conditions within their walls.

In America, the Quaker movement is commonly credited with establishing the idea that prisons should be used to reform criminals. This can also be seen as a critical moment in the debate regarding the purpose of punishment. Police Confiscate Gun : Police officers are the most visible members of the law enforcement branch of the criminal justice system, and are charged with maintaining social order by arresting offenders who violate the law.

Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Stratification, Inequality, and Social Class in the U. Search for:. The Impacts of Social Class. Learning Objectives Describe how socioeconomic status SES relates to the distributiuon of social opportunities and resources. Key Takeaways Key Points While sociologists debate exactly how social classes are divided, there is substantial evidence that socioeconomic status is tied to tangible advantages and outcomes. Key Terms hierarchy : Any group of objects ranked so that everyone but the topmost is subordinate to a specified group above it.

Physical Health Social class is a strong social determinant of health. Learning Objectives Describe how a low socioeconomic status SES can impact the health status of individuals. Health inequality refers to the unequal distribution of environmental hazards and access to health services between demographic groups, including social classes, as well as to the disparate health outcomes experienced by these groups.

In addition to environmental hazards, lower socioeconomic classes have lower levels of health insurance than the upper class. Much of this disparity can be explained by the tendency for lower status occupations to not provide benefits to employees. Key Terms Environmental Hazards : Risk factors related to social and economic conditions that may produce negative health outcomes, including pollution and distribution of grocery stores, for example.

Mental Health Different classes have different levels of access to treatment and encounter different mental health stressors. Learning Objectives Define mental health and explain why it is regarded as a socially constructed concept. Mental health is socially constructed and defined; it is determined by both scientific and cultural knowledge, and it is understood differently by various groups, institutions, and professions.

Family Life Family life, including marriage, childbearing and household composition are strongly influenced by social class. Learning Objectives Give examples for effects of social class on marriage, birth rates, and family composition. Key Takeaways Key Points In the United States, the probability of a first marriage ending is substantially higher for couples with low socioeconomic statuses than for those in the middle or upper class.

Globally, the birth rate in countries with large impoverished populations is much higher than in wealthier countries. In nations with high levels of fertility, upper class individuals tend to have more children than their lower class peers, while in nations with low levels of fertility, upper class families exhibit even lower fertility than average.

Social class has both a cause and an effect relationship with family composition, and lower social class is often correlated with one-parent households.

Key Terms birth rate : The birth rate is typically the rate of births in a population over time. Family Life : A general term that refers to marriage and childbearing patterns, household composition and home stability.