Inequalities? Social class differentials in health in British youth.
In the British context, there is a widespread assumption that inequalities in health between social classes are a persistent feature of the life-course, an assumption appearing most plausible by reference to the more accessible published statistics on the issue. However, the age-bands typically employed are in fact so broad as to obscure important life-stages altogether. One such stage is youth which on the evidence of the major indicators of mortality, chronic illness and self-rated health is characterised more by the absence than presence of class gradients. That social class differentials re-emerge quite dramatically after this relative equalisation in youth has implications for the broader debate about the explanation of inequalities in health.
West
P
P
MRC Medical Sociology Unit, Glasgow, Scotland.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D009026:Mortality; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D006113:United Kingdom