Posted: June 11th, 2015

Health inequality

Health inequality has been a conspicuous issue in the United States even though they spend more money on health care compared to other nations. Evidently, there is a direct relationship between health inequality and socioeconomic inequality. This can be seen from the annual increase of money invested in health care by the nation, yet very little is achieved in improving the health rate for those who are economically disadvantaged. The widening gap between the health of the rich and the poor Americans is one notable example for the direct connection between socioeconomic status and health. Socioeconomic status is often measured by three important factors: wealth, education, and occupation. Those who excel in these three factors always have more power than those who are inferior in all the three areas. Therefore, the theory of constrained choices plays a vital role in predicting the health outcome that is derived from the direct relationship of socioeconomic status and health. The two factors that serve as the key mechanisms by which socioeconomic status predicts health outcome are: material deprivation and exposure to toxins and social deprivation and stress.

Material deprivation and exposure to toxins have a direct relationship between one another. In accordance to the theory of constrained choices, the environment and workplace of an individual are always embedded with inequality. For instance, individuals with scarce resources or wealth always have less control over their choices to afford the luxury of avoiding harmful environment, while richer individuals have more control to infuse themselves in a healthier environment. One vivid example can be seen from the example of lead exposure in the article “Health Divide” written by Berkman. Lead exposure issue is very commonly found in young children and Berkman shows that there is a clear inverse relationship between the family’s income and the level of lead in the blood of young children who live in that particular environment. This inverse relationship shows that the poor health outcome on the young children is directly connected to their families’ wealth or socioeconomic status.

In addition, the high risk of toxic poisoning and injuries in workplace tend to be unavoidable for those who are economically disadvantaged. On average, individuals with poor economic background tend to not have an adequate education level that equip them with the necessary skill to move up the job ladder, thus limiting their option to where they can work and can sometimes lead to unemployment. Unemployment also contributes in generating poorer health outcome as described in the article “Sick out of Luck” by Sered and Fernandopulle. Unemployed individuals with low socioeconomic status tend to have very limited resources that obstruct their access to health care, which in return poses a great risk upon the individuals’ health. Ultimately, these individuals will fall into the ‘working poor caste’ that inhibits them to maintain their health due to the unstable access to healthcare.

Social deprivation and stress are another mechanism that manifests the relationship between low-income people and poor health outcome. Social conditions of work also play a critical factor in displaying the health disparities between individuals with a low-ranking occupational job and the high-ranking one. As mentioned above, occupation is also considered as the measuring key of ones’ socioeconomic status. Therefore, in accordance to the theory of constrained choices, individuals with a low-ranking job tend to have less control over their jobs, less support, and encounter greater demands to meet in the system. For instance, job insecurity and inflexibility tend to be inevitable for these workers and they often lead to elevating their health risk due to job stress. As mentioned in the short film “Place Matters”, chronic stress may cause the body to release certain hormones, such as adrenaline, that in return will exhaust and change the body’s metabolism, making the individuals more vulnerable to disease. In addition, individuals who are economically disadvantaged and have a low-ranking job are more likely to be socially isolated, due to the continuous needs to work to compensate for an adequate amount of income to survive. Continuous social isolation will again accumulates a chronic stress to these individuals and thus, producing poorer health outcome.

All in all, the three key measurements of socioeconomic status are very well reflected in the two mechanisms mentioned above and they are mutually interconnected to each other. The theory of constrained choices also plays a crucial role in demonstrating the connection between socioeconomic status and health. Individuals with low socioeconomic status tend to have limited menu of choices that ultimately result to poorer health outcome compared to those with high socioeconomic status. Therefore, economic inequality is the factor that accounts for the direct relationship between socioeconomic status and health.