Socioeconomic Status And Lower Social Class

Many questions have risen in this day and age in which ones wealth can greatly effect almost every aspect of their lives. There has been much controversy as to whether the recognition of socioeconomic classes are for the benefit of society as a whole. Socioeconomic class is defined as some combination of occupation, education, and income level (Heimer 802). A good society consists of equality, support for the government, educated individuals, better living conditions, and low crime rates. As research will show, socioeconomic classes contribute to social inequality, lower support for the government, subpar education levels, income insecurity for some classes, lower living conditions, trouble transitioning into adulthood, and higher crime rates. Therefore, socioeconomic classes are a detriment to society and do more harm than good for the people.

Individuals within a society are grouped into certain rankings that is based on their wealth, income, race and education known as the social stratification. Sociologist use this to determine the social standings of individuals within a society. Social stratification can also appear in much smaller groups. These groups such as the work place, schools, and businesses can “take the form of a distribution of power and authority down the ranks”. (Cole, 2017) The Caste system is also another form of stratification that one does not get a choice in. They are born into it and regardless of their talents will hold positions that are given to them their whole life. Social mobility is the ability for individuals to move about their social standings.

Socioeconomic Status is where a particular person or group of people stand in regards to social class. The main measurement that determines one's socioeconomic status is level of education, occupation and income. Although it may not be considered a factor in child development, socioeconomic status can actually play a huge role in determining what kind of adolescent a child develops into. It can influence a child’s morals, self-esteem, grades and many more aspects of a child's life. Socioeconomic status can play a role in determining where a person resides, the occupation they end up getting, their education and their income as well. So, although one’s socioeconomic status is technically made up of these aspects, one can be born into a low socioeconomic status which could result in them continuing to have one throughout their life. It is a cycle that one must break in order to change the outcome. Low socioeconomic status can result in child poverty. Child poverty over the years has risen and fallen but has remained consistently apparent in America. Child poverty can have detrimental effects on developing children and adolescents. It may influence the way they are raised, taught, cared for and many more aspects of the child's life which are important for successful development. Low socioeconomic status can determine how well children and adolescents develop and the type of person they develop into, including

Furthermore, research on aging and eldercare also show a propensity that socioeconomic status should be taken into consideration, according to Bookman and Kimbrel (2011). The authors contend that African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American communities, and other groups also bring their cultural strengths and demands to the caregiving experience (Bookman & Kimbrel,

The low income due to HIV/AIDS leads to low consumption of goods and little savings, which results in malnutrition, inability to combat illness and a lack of education and skills. The low capital worth, low

Since the 1980’s, the HIV epidemic continues to affect individuals all over the world; the HIV virus can affect any individual regardless of their socioeconomic status. HIV is a human immunodeficiency virus that is believed to have originated in Africa during the 1920’s, however, it did not spread to other continents until the 1980’s. According to the center for disease control and prevention, HIV is most prevalent in African-American communities. Unfortunately, it appears that the HIV virus is increasingly affecting African American women with a low SES status. One’s SES status is determined by one’s social and economic standing; SES is often measured by one’s level of education and income. One’s socioeconomic status may determine how an individual

Socioeconomic status (SES) is the strongest determinant of health outcomes (Marmot & Bell, 2011). Parents and children of lower socioeconomic status are at higher risk of negative oral health outcomes and poor oral health-related quality of life (Jones, Shi, Hayashi, Sharma, Daly, & Ngo-Metzger, 2013 and Wells, Caplan, Strauss, Bell & George, 2010). Women with lower socioeconomic status are 30% less likely to utilize dental services. Likewise, they are 30% more likely to report unmet dental needs than women in higher socioeconomic gradients (Kaylor, Polivka, Chaudry, Salsberry, & Wee, 2010).

Consequently, socioeconomic factors also play a part in treatment. Homeless, unemployed HIV-positive people are less likely to see a doctor on a routine basis and less likely to seek out medical care because of a lack of availability and accessibility of medications and healthcare facilities. Without the proper medications, the virus eventually becomes AIDS. Nevertheless, prevention, behavior modification and treatment are key factors in preventing the spread of HIV (Greene, Madkins, Andrews, Dispenza, & Mustanski, 2016).

Socioeconomic status has a large effect on poverty rates and occupational status. Commonly, an individual within the lower social classes tends to fall under the poverty line as well. Individuals who live in a low socioeconomic status area and/or are below the poverty line, commonly reside in living conditions that could increase the spread of disease and illness. A low socioeconomic status also means that healthy food is either unaffordable or too far away from resources that provide adequate food. For those in poverty, or with a low SES, this could result in overall poorer health, or even malnutrition.

In a sense, a person’s social statuses define who they are and where they stand in the complex structure of social standings with our fellow humans. Some of these statuses we strive to obtain, such as the development of friendships or climbing up the hierarchy of a profession; others are thrust upon us at birth or by happenstance. The former are achieved statuses, a fitting name as such status must be obtained by the achievement of goals set by either individuals or society itself. The latter, those statuses thrust upon individuals, are called ascribed statuses. These include a person’s sex at birth, their race, physical and mental handicaps, etc. Social statuses greatly affect a person’s life, as different statuses beget different reactions from society. This paper will touch on such differences in three areas: sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Sex/gender concerns what sex a person was born into, and what kinds of expectations were placed upon them as they grow into women and men. Race/ethnicity concerns the physical differences of individuals based upon their families’ geographical origins- which can have an impact on traditions passed down within their family as well as determine how they are viewed within our culture. Socioeconomic status is a person’s social class, which is determined by wealth, quality of life, and profession. These classes include the upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class, and the lower class.

The social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age, as well as the systems put in place to deal with illness. Social determinants for HIV would be in the poor black community where people are unable to afford condoms, new needles and are uneducated in this disease. The epidemiologic triangle is a model that scientists have developed for studying health problems and how they spread. The epidemiologic triangle of this disease would be the host (the human), environment (which tends to be lower income black community’s) and agent (HIV).

Health insurance is a result of socioeconomic status that must be looked at by health care providers. Low socioeconomic status individuals usually cannot afford privatized health care insurance. If they can afford health insurance, it is commonly public insurance such as; Medicare and Medicaid. However, public health insurance is rarely accepted by physicians because privatized health insurance is more reliable. This means that less educated individuals have less access to health care based on if they carry insurance, or the type of health insurance they carry. Similarly, poorer people must travel farther than wealthier folks to get medical attention. Low SES individuals are less likely to get care until serious conditions arise because it is not of adequate access or affordability. However, low socioeconomic status areas that do have near by clinics and accept public health insurance are overcrowded. This is a major risk for the health care field because the spread of disease in an overcrowded clinic lowers the health of society. Socioeconomic status includes education levels, occupational status, and social class which all attribute to the effects of poverty, the overall health of society, health care accessibility, and health insurance affordability.

Studies have routinely found that socioeconomic status is one of the most important factors in determining whether or someone is going to vote in elections. Traditionally, the higher someone’s socioeconomic status the more likely they are to vote in elections. It is often thought that this it is due to the fact that the higher one’s socioeconomic status the more they have at state in elections. However, it would seem that during elections with higher than normal levels of participation this tends to be less true. Therefore, the question that is trying to be answered here is if higher levels of voter participation cause the socioeconomic bias to decrease, when compared to years where the voter turnout is less?

Many people residing in the inner city live in poverty, may be uninsured or underinsured, and have poor access to health care (Flash et al., 2014). If a woman does contract HIV, she may not know the symptoms associated with the disease and not reach out for medical attention. Mental health is a factor that receives little attention. Adolescents who have depression or low-self esteem are correlated to using of illegal drugs, engaging in sexual behavior, and for developing of AIDS (Azzarto, 1997).

This disease has made people outcasts in our society because they have this disease that can kill or make someone ill for a long period of time which will adventually lead to death. Widdison and Delaney (1996) write, "It is convenient to characterize a social problem as a conflict of values and duties, a conflict of rights or social condition that leads to or is thought to lead to harmful consequences". (Page 10) Staying with the topic that over population and poverty combined causes social problems such as scarce jobs and resources for people but only that overpopulation is responsible for the conditions, which contribute to the overall lowering of the quality of life of human beings in society. Another problem is AIDS, which is both a population and social problem. People are sometimes not accepted because they have the AIDS virus. This also affects the poor people more than the wealthy because AIDS is more common among poor neighborhoods because they have less money to buy things such as condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS and other diseases. According to the Global AIDS Policy Commission "about 95 percent were spent in industrialized countries that have less than 25 percent of the world's population", 18 percent of the people with AIDS and 15 percent of HIV infections worldwide." (Tarantola and Mann, 1995 pages 123-124) According these numbers, a very large