Social class is a major cause of inequalities in health, as sociologists believe that illnesses are socially constructed and dispersed. It seems that differences in socio-economic groups exist in many countries throughout the world. Marx argued that the class a child is born into can determine the outcome of the child's future education, occupation and health. (Osborne, R. and Van Loon, B. 2000. ).
Social class is officially measured by analysing one's occupation. The Registrar General's classification defines social class groups as follows;.
I. Professional (for example a doctor, a lawyer or an accountant).
II. Intermediate ( for example a manager, a nurse, or a school teacher).
III.N Skilled non-manual ( for example a shop assistant, a secretary, or a clerical worker) .
III.M skilled manual (for example a joiner, a bus driver, or a butcher).
IV. Partly skilled (for example a post man, a bus conductor, or a gardener).
V. Unskilled ( for example a cleaner, a labourer, or a dock worker).
(http://www.Nottingham.ac.uk/~ntzst1/dn1/social contexts.htm) .
In the UK inequalities in health tend to be measured by comparing morbidity and mortality levels within the above social class groupings. During the twentieth centaury there have been considerable overall improvements in the nations health. For example, life expectancy at birth has increased approximately 30 years since 1900. In addition to this infant mortality has fallen from one in ten to only six per 1,000. Having stated this, such advances have not always been achieved at similar rates among all social class groupings or in all areas of the country. In particular, those who are least well-off tend to become ill more often and as a result often die sooner than those in higher social groups. And, although, in general, people who live longer do not necessarily enjoy a longer healthier life, long-standing and limiting diseases are more frequent among unskilled people.
