ABSTRACT
A social class is a category or group of people who have approximately the same amount of wealth, status, and power in a society. The various classes are ranked in a hierarchical pattern from top to bottom based on how much wealth, status, and power they have relative to each other; these classes constitute a system of socially stratified human beings. Max Weber’s influence on modern studies of social stratification is seen in the widespread use of socioeconomic status to determine class standing in sociological research. Lifestyle and social/environmental conditions, along with preventive health measures, primarily determine health status. A healthy lifestyle includes good personal habits such as eating properly, getting enough rest, exercising, and avoiding practices such as smoking, abusing alcohol, and taking drugs. Health in Britain improved significantly for all social classes during the twentieth century, but mostly for the upper classes, in a trend that has continued in the twenty-first century.
