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Social class
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==Consequences of class position== A person's socioeconomic class has wide-ranging effects. It can determine the schools they are able to attend,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Escarce|first=JosΓ© J|date=October 2003|title=Socioeconomic Status and the Fates of Adolescents|journal=Health Services Research|volume=38|issue=5|pages=1229β1234|doi=10.1111/1475-6773.00173|issn=0017-9124|pmc=1360943|pmid=14596387}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wilbur|first1=Tabitha G.|last2=Roscigno|first2=Vincent J.|date=2016-08-31|title=First-generation Disadvantage and College Enrollment/Completion|journal=Socius|language=en|volume=2|page=2378023116664351|doi=10.1177/2378023116664351|issn=2378-0231|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=DiMaggio|first=Paul|date=1982|title=Cultural Capital and School Success: The Impact of Status Culture Participation on the Grades of U.S. High School Students|journal=American Sociological Review|volume=47|issue=2|pages=189β201|doi=10.2307/2094962|jstor=2094962}}</ref> their health,<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|title = Death Rates Rising for Middle-Aged White Americans, Study Finds|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2015-11-02|access-date = 2015-12-09|issn = 0362-4331|first = Gina|last = Kolata|archive-date = 19 July 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180719140539/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html|url-status = live}}</ref> the jobs open to them,<ref name=":0" /> when they exit the labour market (retire),<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Murray|first1=Emily T.|last2=Carr|first2=Ewan|last3=Zaninotto|first3=Paola|last4=Head|first4=Jenny|last5=Xue|first5=Baowen|last6=Stansfeld|first6=Stephen|last7=Beach|first7=Brian|last8=Shelton|first8=Nicola|date=2019-10-09|title=Inequalities in time from stopping paid work to death: findings from the ONS Longitudinal Study, 2001β2011|url=https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2019/10/09/jech-2019-212487|journal=J Epidemiol Community Health|volume=73|issue=12|pages=1101β1107|language=en|doi=10.1136/jech-2019-212487|issn=0143-005X|pmid=31611238|s2cid=204703259|access-date=5 November 2019|archive-date=5 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105093610/https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2019/10/09/jech-2019-212487|url-status=live}}</ref> whom they may marry<ref>{{Cite book|title=Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life.|last=Laureau|first=A.|publisher=Univ of California Press|year=2011}}</ref> and their treatment by police and the courts.<ref>{{Cite book|jstor=10.7758/9781610448550|title=A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor|last=Harris|first=Alexes|date=2016|publisher=Russell Sage Foundation|isbn=978-0-87154-461-2|chapter=Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor}}</ref> Social classifications can also determine the sporting activities that such classes take part in. It is suggested that those of an upper social class are more likely to take part in sporting activities, whereas those of a lower social background are less likely to participate in sport. However, upper-class people tend to not take part in certain sports that have been commonly known to be linked with the lower class.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wilson|first=Thomas C.|year=2002|title=The Paradox of Social Class and Sports Involvement|journal=International Review for the Sociology of Sport|volume=37|pages=5β16|doi=10.1177/1012690202037001001|s2cid=144129391}}</ref> ===Social privilege=== {{main|Social privilege}} ===Education=== [[File:Guido Baccelli (con la nipote Elena) consultato per strada da un contadino, L'illustrazione del medico, marzo 1938, n.46, p. 3.jpeg|thumb|right|A physician consulted on the street by a farmer (Italy, 1938)]] A person's social class has a significant effect on their educational opportunities. Not only are upper-class parents able to send their children to exclusive schools that are perceived to be better, but in many places, state-supported schools for children of the upper class are of a much higher quality than those the state provides for children of the lower classes.<ref>{{cite book|author=McDonough, Patricia M.|title=Choosing colleges: how social class and schools structure opportunity|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-7914-3477-2|pages=1β2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHdy8ql2mM4C&pg=PA1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Shin, Kwang-Yeong |author2=Lee, Byoung-Hoon |chapter=Social class and educational opportunity in South Korea|editor1=Attewell, Paul |editor2=Newman, Katherine S.|title=Growing gaps: educational inequality around the world|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-973218-0|page=105|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqf8ShfYk_YC&pg=PA105}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author1=McNamee, Stephen J. |author2=Miller, Robert K. |title=The meritocracy myth|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7425-6168-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/meritocracymyth0000mcna/page/199 199]|url=https://archive.org/details/meritocracymyth0000mcna|url-access=registration}}</ref> This lack of good schools is one factor that perpetuates the class divide across generations. Nevertheless, certain actions developed in schools, known as Successful Educational Actions, can avoid the continuation of this class divide, improving the outcomes of students and increasing their future employability.<ref>Grau del Valle, C., GarcΓa-Raga, L., Barrachina-Sauri, M., & Roca-Campos, E. (2024). Case Study Of The Impact Of The Learning Communities Project On Increasing The Employability Of The Roma Population In Situations Of Social Inequality. International Journal of Sociology of Education, 13(2), pp. 139-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.17583/rise.14642 </ref> Β In the UK, the educational consequences of class position have been discussed by scholars inspired by the [[cultural studies]] framework of the [[Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies|CCCS]] and/or, especially regarding working-class girls, [[feminist theory]]. On working-class boys, [[Paul Willis]]' 1977 book ''[[Learning to Labour|Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs]]'' is seen within the [[Cultural studies#British Cultural Studies|British Cultural Studies]] field as a [[classic]] discussion of their antipathy to the acquisition of knowledge.<ref>Willis, Paul (1977). ''Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs''. Farnborough: Saxon House. {{ISBN|978-0-5660-0150-5}}</ref> [[Beverley Skeggs]] described ''Learning to Labour'' as a study on the "[[irony]]" of "how the process of cultural and economic reproduction is made possible by 'the lads' ' celebration of the hard, macho world of work."<ref>Skeggs, Beverley (1992). "Paul Willis, ''Learning to Labour''". In Barker, Martin & Beezer, Anne (eds.). ''Reading into Cultural Studies''. London: Routledge, p. 181. {{ISBN|978-0-4150-6377-7}}</ref> ===Health and nutrition=== {{main|Social determinants of health}} A person's social class often affects their physical health, their ability to receive adequate [[medical care]] and [[nutrition]] and their [[life expectancy]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Barr, Donald A.|title=Health disparities in the United States: social class, race, ethnicity, and health|publisher=JHU Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8018-8821-2|pages=1β2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=US21MlGw3-IC&pg=PA1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Gulliford, Martin|chapter=Equity and access to health care|editor1=Gulliford, Martin |editor2=Morgan, Myfanwy|title=Access to health care|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-415-27546-0|page=39|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mOXP05u5alAC&pg=PA39}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Budrys, Grace|title=Unequal Health: How Inequality Contributes to Health Or Illness|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7425-6507-4|pages=183β184|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUSM_kCNsSAC&pg=PA183}}</ref> Lower-class people experience a wide array of health problems as a result of their economic status. They are unable to use health care as often and when they do it is of lower quality, even though they generally tend to experience a much higher rate of health issues. Lower-class families have higher rates of [[infant mortality]], [[cancer]], [[cardiovascular disease]] and disabling physical injuries. Additionally, poor people tend to work in much more hazardous conditions, yet generally have much less (if any) health insurance provided for them, as compared to middle- and upper-class workers.<ref>{{cite book|author=Liu, William Ming|title=Social Class and Classism in the Helping Professions: Research, Theory, and Practice|publisher=Sage|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4129-7251-2|page=29|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IbVbxXisUgC&pg=PA29}}</ref> ===Employment=== The conditions at a person's job vary greatly depending on class. Those in the upper-middle class and middle class enjoy greater freedoms in their occupations. They are usually more respected, enjoy more diversity and are able to exhibit some authority.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Maclean|first1=Mairi|last2=Harvey|first2=Charles|last3=Kling|first3=Gerhard|date=2014-06-01|title=Pathways to Power: Class, Hyper-Agency and the French Corporate Elite|journal=Organization Studies|language=en|volume=35|issue=6|pages=825β855|doi=10.1177/0170840613509919|s2cid=145716192|issn=0170-8406|url=http://opus.bath.ac.uk/50376/3/Maclean_Harvey_Kling_OS_2014.pdf|access-date=4 December 2018|archive-date=19 November 2018|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20181119045202/https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/pathways-to-power-class-hyper-agency-and-the-french-corporate-eli|url-status=live}}</ref> Those in lower classes tend to feel more alienated and have lower work satisfaction overall. The physical conditions of the workplace differ greatly between classes. While middle-class workers may "suffer alienating conditions" or "lack of job satisfaction", blue-collar workers are more apt to suffer alienating, often routine, work with obvious physical health hazards, injury and even death.<ref>{{cite book | last = Kerbo | first = Herald | title = Social Stratification and Inequality | publisher = The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. | year = 1996 | location = New York | pages = 231β233 | isbn =978-0-07-034258-3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Business Of America: The Economy In The 1920s |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/business-america-economy-1920s |website=encyclopedia.com |access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref> In the UK, a 2015 government study by the [[Social Mobility Commission]] suggested the existence of a "glass floor" in British society preventing those who are less able, but who come from wealthier backgrounds, from slipping down the social ladder. The report proposed a 35% greater likelihood of less able, better-off children becoming high earners than bright poor children.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission|title=New research exposes the 'glass floor' in British society|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-research-exposes-the-glass-floor-in-british-society|website=www.gov.uk|access-date=2015-09-22|archive-date=13 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913232714/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-research-exposes-the-glass-floor-in-british-society|url-status=live}}</ref>
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