ABSTRACT

Originally published in 1986, this book discusses issues such as social class differences in health; the effect of unemployment on health; the relationship between income and health; how much of the class differences in death rates can be explained in terms of medically recognized factors. Presenting empirical research to resolve these issues, the book takes health to the centre of the political stage and raises fundamental issues about the direction of modern economic and social development and its impact on inequality. As relevant now as when it was first published the book reviews twenty of the most important longitudinal studies in the area of health and class that had been carried out in the UK at the time.

chapter One|20 pages

Socio-economic differences in mortality

Interpreting the data on their size and trends

chapter Two|13 pages

Social inequalities in mortality

The social environment

chapter Three|16 pages

Social class mortality differentials

Artefact, selection, or life circumstances?

chapter Six|27 pages

Income and mortality

chapter Seven|10 pages

Inequalities in health and health care

A research agenda