Define the term social class and demonstrate its relevance to an understanding of society, social issues and health

Introduction

The essay will discuss the understanding of the concept of social class from various literature sources and its relevance in understanding society, social issues and health. The definition of social class will be based on the idea of Karl Marx, one the best-known philosophers in Sociology (Levine, 2006). However, the impact which the concept of social class has on society, especially on the aspects of social mobility and teenage pregnancy, will be discussed. Since, society is composed of various individuals with different social classes, the effect of social class on health will further be evaluated. Finally, while focusing on the impact of health, the Black Report (Bambra, 2016) and Marmot Review (Marmot, 2010) will be adequately addressed.

Both Weber and Karl Marx according to Giddens (2017), concur from their ideas that, the poverty line is the dominant way of differentiation of the members of the different social class. It is from this perspective of concurrence that, Weber simply extended Karl Marx ideas in his definition of social class.

More importantly, according to Weber (2009), groups of social class are in three dimensions, power, wealth and prestige. He views that, the three dimensions are considered as the root for social hierarchy and argues that parties are based on power, wealth and prestige (Brennan, 2018). Therefore, it is essential to understand that, Karl Marx’s and Weber's ideas both perceive it as a system where, "the individuals are ruled by abstractions (Marx), where the impersonal and "thing-like" relations replace the personal relations of dependence, and where the accumulation of capital becomes an end in itself, mostly irrational (Levine, 2006). According to Weber, lifestyle heavily influences the group status and is determined by honor and prestige (Brennan, 2018).

Therefore, it is from the theories of Weber and Karl Marx that, the modern definition and understanding of social class has been rooted. Social class is therefore based on employment status, social standards and financial status, which further promotes power, honor, and prestige. Since, a social class is identified through societal grouping, it has impacts on society, and social issues.

Sociology is always said to be the study of societies, and the definition of society is said to be large communities, that exist within a nation-state (Giddens, & Sutton, 2017). It is significant to understand that, the social class heavily influences the lives of individuals within the society. In current society, social issues are profoundly correlated and dependent on the possession of goods, position of an individual he or she has in the society, economic differences and wealth (Giddens, & Sutton, 2017). In understanding the influence social class has on the society and social issues, a study that has previously been done, shows that, sexual debut before age 16 is associated with increased risk of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (Valle et al., 2005). The chance of having given birth as a teenager is more than three times higher for those who had their sexual debut before the age of 16, compared to those who did not and are more than twice as likely to die as those in their 20 (Valle et al., 2005). The risk of becoming a teenage mother is more in women from low social class mostly unskilled and manual workers living in very higher deprived areas as compared to women in higher social class due to Poverty. Being unemployed or having lower salaries and having a low educational achievement, more than their peers but most importantly this is a social issue associated with the social class (Cook, & Cameron, 2017). According to Hills (2010), social mobility is the process by which a group or individual moves from one social position to another concerning the time difference. This movement could involve the acquisition of new skills or education in the bid to get better jobs and hence get more income. Therefore, social mobility is one of the social issues, which is affected by social class and further influences society (Bertaux & Thompson, 2017). The sociologist has described Social mobility as a “vital part of social stratification and an inseparable part of social stratification system because the nature, form, range and degree of social mobility depending on the very nature of the stratification system (Bertaux & Thompson, 2017). Anthony Giddens stated that, Social Mobility is that, education is not necessarily a means to an end (Giddens, 2017). He also stated that, Education would have to work with other factors to foster social mobility. It is important not to think of the education system as if it works in a vacuum – factors like changes in employment and the economy, and the social determinants of children’s educational attainment, are critical in determining patterns of mobility.” (Giddens,2017).

However, other than having various impacts on society and social issues, social class have numerous implications for health due to the inequality. According to Green (2007), Inequalities in health have been measured by using many different outcomes including infant deaths, mortality rates, morbidity, disability, and life expectancy. In the early part of the 20th century, the British government introduced questions on occupation in the decennial census. It allowed the researchers to examine health outcomes by social class. The five-class scheme Registrar General’s Social Class (RGSC) was created in 1911, and a variation of this scheme was still used until 2001. The National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) has now replaced the RGSC (Rose & David, 2003). In England, the Global Burden of Disease study showed that, males, living in the most deprived region of England in 2013, had a life expectancy 8.2 years lesser than those, living in the least deprived region, which was a significant difference as seen in 1990.

Life expectancy for women, living in the most deprived region in 2013, was 6.9 years lesser than for those in the least deprived region, an improvement since 1990 when the difference was 7.2 years. (Newton JN et al., 2015).

Another report which elaborates on the health inequality in correlation to the social classes is the black report published in 1980 (Bambra, 2016), identified that, in Britain, there is an unequal distribution of death and ill-health due to considerable differences in the social classes. Also, the report further stated that, since the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 (Gray, 2012), there had been increment in the widening of health inequalities in contrary to the expectations.

From the Black report, it can be also concluded that, failure of NHS is not a significant cause of the increase of the health inequalities, but was attributed by social differences including, income, employment, diet, education and work conditions (Bambra, 2016). In addition to the black report, Marmot Review was commissioned in 2008 (Marmot et al., 2010), which also proved that, social class heavily influences health. The report stresses on that, the individuals, living in more deprived areas, have a shorter life expectancy, seven years lesser as compared to their peers in a more affluent area, this individual can live 17 years with their poor health. The individuals, in more deprived areas, also have greater exposure to various life deteriorating health factors including alcohol consumption, smoking, mental illness, sexually transmitted diseases and emotional problems (Marmot et al., 2010).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the significant difference between the perspective of Marx and Webber is in their views on social stratification. In particular, Marx emphasises that, the primary cause of social stratification is due to different class groups in the society, especially the two major groups, i.e. Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. However, Weber classifies social status more specifically than merely the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat, dividing into sub-groups such social honour, privilege, prestige and power. Moreover, Weber also emphasised on other components such as the party, which Marx did not.

References

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