The Overall Life Expectancy of the Uk Population

Over the last century, the United Kingdom's (UK) overall health has improved drastically, with infant mortality on the decline and life expectancy on the rise. However, despite this improvement, the health gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. This essay aims to try and explain why that is. Its main focus will be on health and social-class, looking specifically at what connects them. To begin, the term class will be defined, followed by a brief explanation of how it is currently measured in the UK. Also, health inequality will be defined and researches into the topic will be highlighted as proof it does exist. Moreover, reasons will be put forward, illustrating the connection between class and health and finally, attention will be turned to attempted explanations of this connection.

To begin, Barry and Yuill (2008) referred to class as 'a complex and dynamic power relationship between people.' Additionally, Gabe et al (2004) defined class as parts of society that shares like positions with respect to power, money and control, as they may share similar experience on a day to day basis.

Back in the day, feudal societies adapted fixed practices when determining one's social standing, claiming that it was down to 'God's will'. Nowadays, class is attained rather than being fixed by birth. However, even though there are prospects for change, most people tend to stay in, or very close to the class they were born in (Barry & Yuill, 2008).

So, how is class measured? In the UK, prior to 2001, it was measured using the Registrar-General's Social Class scheme (RGSC) which consisted of a ranking of six classes based on occupation (Barry & Yuill, 2008). The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification system now in use classifies occupation and is based on the nature of, and the advantages brought on by the occupation. For example, skills and professional qualifications required, and if power over employees are involved (Gabe et al, 2004).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health inequalities as 'differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups. It believes that some inequalities in health are attributed to biological differences and freedom of choice, whereas others are due to the external environment and those conditions directly outside of the concerned individual's control. Meaning, health inequalities may be unavoidable because trying to change health determinants may not be ethical or ideological.

Now, it is believed that widening inequalities in health are strongly related to widening economic inequalities between people. Blaxter (1989, in Blank & Diderichsen, 1996) stated that it has been consistently found that there is a relationship between ill-health measures and measures of socio-economic status. Additionally, Nettleton (2006) argued that one's social standing on society's social hierarchy highly influences one's health, as those that are socially, financially and psychologically fortunate are unlikely to suffer from illnesses, unlike those less fortunate. Moreover, Phillimore et al. (1994, in Naidoo & Wills, 1998) believes that the difference in the mortality rates of the social classes widely reflects growing income inequality. These beliefs are evident in researches such as The Black Report (1982, in Waugh et al, 2008) and The Health Divide (Whitehead 1998, in Waugh et al, 2008) which highlighted major