Consequences of Social Class

Family Life Choice of Husband or Wife Divorce

Education Education opportunities increase significantly as you move up the social class ladder Capitalist class members skip public schools and attend prestigious private institutions Higher class status = Higher completion rate of college Lower class status = Less choice

Education

Religion Episcopalians tend to be middle to upper class Methodist are predominately middle class Baptists draw heavily from the lower classes

Religious Services Lower classes have more expressive worship services and loud music Middle and upper classes prefer more subdued worship

Politics The higher a person is on the class ladder the more likely they are to vote Republican The lower a person is on the class ladder the more likely they are to vote Democrat Lower classes express voter apathy and a lack of political involvement

Physical Health The lower a person’s social class the more likely they are to die before the expected age  1. Healthcare is not a citizens right it is a commodity for sale. Few poor people have a personal physician and spend hours waiting in crowded public health clinics. Most public hospitals are understaffed and underfunded.  2. Lifestyle. People in lower classes are more likely to smoke, eat fats, abuse drugs and alcohol, get little or no exercise, and practice unsafe sex  3. Life is just better for the rich. They have fewer problems and more resources to deal with the problems that they may have.

Mental Health Is there a connection between mental health and social class?  Lower class tend to have more mental health issues Why?  People dealing with poverty on a daily basis are living under greater stress than those people in the upper classes