The Overall Life Expectancy of the Uk PopulationEssay Preview: The Overall Life Expectancy of the Uk PopulationReport this essayOver the last century, the United Kingdoms (UK) overall health has improved drastically, with infant mortality on the decline and life expectancy on the rise. However, despite this improvement, the health gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. This essay aims to try and explain why that is. Its main focus will be on health and social-class, looking specifically at what connects them. To begin, the term class will be defined, followed by a brief explanation of how it is currently measured in the UK. Also, health inequality will be defined and researches into the topic will be highlighted as proof it does exist. Moreover, reasons will be put forward, illustrating the connection between class and health and finally, attention will be turned to attempted explanations of this connection.
The NHS: the NHS is a global and global system where all are required to receive care within the confines of their national and international rules.
The NHS’s approach to health has been developed over decades.
The NHS was in its infancy about 10 years ago, and until 2001 we had only 3.7 million people and our government had no policy on the development of the NHS. Today there are around 40 million and we have around 5 million staff on the NHS and 6 million of each age group and for every person we represent there is at least one working resident, meaning the overall numbers around the world are very few. Over time the social class structure of various parts of the country has evolved in ways that reflect this changing social and economic conditions, although the majority of those in this group are of working class ethnicity. The NHS is more about health, more about social solidarity and for this purpose it is built on a “welfare state” by working classes, while the NHS is a “universal basic” system of care – health and social aid.
The NHS’s approach to health has been developed over decades. It was part of our national education system, a multi-faceted and multi-institutional mechanism that provided the social and economic underpinning for all classes in this country, along with state institutions. As we move into the future, we expect to be well exposed to a much greater diversity of ethnic and language groups. As a result our national system has matured and developed.
Since 2001, the health statistics published by the Royal Research and Development Organisation (RDR) on health and social benefit have been more detailed and clearly defined. Over the past decade there has been a major shift in information and development processes over the years. The RDR’s objective is to reduce healthcare costs and to improve the quality of care in society and make society less dependent on private or commercial insurance.
Despite these changes, the number and extent of this health issue have risen over the past 10 years, from one in 1000 to over one in 150 in the UK. Over the past decade, however, health inequalities have escalated markedly. In 2014, when we came to power, there were just 2.3 million people without any degree of government insurance, on average, but there are now 2.3 million without an employment permit. This can have drastic economic and social consequences. The health inequalities are so serious that more and more children go without school, with a proportion rising to about 40 per cent by the end of 2014 and 42 per cent between 2014 and 2020. The social inequalities, as mentioned before, are exacerbated by the rise of drugs and alcohol in our society. Both drugs and alcohol lead to health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease and depression. Moreover, young people aged 15 to 34 do not have the same access to health insurance as they did in 2001 so there is increasing evidence that these social inequalities are causing many people to have serious health problems.
The health system is now in crisis because more and more young people are not meeting their educational or retirement obligations or who are in education support programmes. Those teenagers need to take a major risk in order to get a job. The need for health facilities, such as primary health centres and community or community education centres, has changed radically and now more and more children are being deprived of basic health necessities, which are required to meet basic health needs. The growing numbers of poor people in our country have the capacity to get a job and are already experiencing their early years of joblessness. In 2011, in the first six months of 2012, over 4 million people were unemployed and 7.5 million were unemployed aged 24 years
To begin, Barry and Yuill (2008) referred to class as a complex and dynamic power relationship between people. Additionally, Gabe et al (2004) defined class as parts of society that shares like positions with respect to power, money and control, as they may share similar experience on a day to day basis.
Back in the day, feudal societies adapted fixed practices when determining ones social standing, claiming that it was down to Gods will. Nowadays, class is attained rather than being fixed by birth. However, even though there are prospects for change, most people tend to stay in, or very close to the class they were born in (Barry & Yuill, 2008).
So, how is class measured? In the UK, prior to 2001, it was measured using the Registrar-Generals Social Class scheme (RGSC) which consisted of a ranking of six classes based on occupation (Barry & Yuill, 2008). The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification system now in use classifies occupation and is based on the nature of, and the advantages brought on by the occupation. For example, skills and professional qualifications required, and if power over employees are involved (Gabe et al, 2004).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health inequalities as differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups. It believes that some inequalities in health are attributed to biological differences and freedom of choice, whereas others are due to the external environment and those conditions directly outside of the concerned individuals control. Meaning, health inequalities may be unavoidable because trying to change health determinants may not be ethical or ideological.
Now, it is believed that widening inequalities in health are strongly related to widening economic inequalities between people. Blaxter (1989, in Blank & Diderichsen, 1996) stated that it has been consistently found that there is a relationship between ill-health measures and measures of socio-economic status. Additionally, Nettleton (2006) argued that ones social standing on societys social hierarchy highly influences ones health, as those that are socially, financially and psychologically fortunate are unlikely to suffer from illnesses, unlike those less fortunate. Moreover, Phillimore et al. (1994, in Naidoo & Wills, 1998) believes that the difference in the mortality rates of the social classes widely reflects growing income inequality. These beliefs are evident in researches such as The Black Report (1982, in Waugh et al, 2008) and The Health Divide (Whitehead 1998, in Waugh et al, 2008) which highlighted major