ABSTRACT
That there is a link between social class and health is accepted by most medical sociologists, even if the nature of the link is disputed. The influential collation of data and ‘ruling’ in favour of such a link by Black and colleagues (Townsend and Davidson 1992) has subsequently been supported and given further substance by a continuing flow of large-and small-scale empirical studies. In fact, a decade after the Black Report was published, Davey Smith and associates (1990; Blane et al. 1990) were able to affirm that class-related health inequalities had in all probability increased rather than diminished in the interim, a conclusion in line with Black’s own assessment (1993; see also Whitehead 1992).
