The chapter refers to the common belief that the poor make ...

[mwit1967]

The chapter refers to the common belief that the poor make unhealthy lifestyle choices that result in ill health. Discuss the ways in which social class affects health.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Discuss the concept of the working poor and the reasons given in the chapter that show why the idea that a poor person should just get a job is actually a myth.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[carlsona147]

Answer to Question 1

Feedback: Privilege in the social stratification system translates both directly and indirectly into better health in several major ways. (1) The disadvantaged are more subject to stresses (and resulting ill health) from high crime rates, financial insecurity, marital instability, spells of unemployment, unhealthy work conditions, and exposure to pollution and toxic materials in their neighborhoods. (2) Children of privilege have healthier environments and better nutrition in the crucial first five years of life. (3) The privileged have better access to and make better use of the health care system. The fewer the economic resources, the less likely a person will receive preventive care and early treatment. (4) Studies have shown that obesity rates are higher in low-income and minority neighborhoods where there is less access to recreational facilities, fewer full-service grocery stores, and abundant fast food services.

Answer to Question 2

Feedback: A job is not necessarily the ticket out of poverty for many people who hold menial, dead-end jobs that have no benefits and pay the minimum wage or less. There is not a single state in the country where it is possible to work 40 hours per week at minimum wage and afford a two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. The lot of the working poor is similar to that of the nonworking poor on some dimensions and worse on others. They do society's dirty work for low pay and no benefits, they live in substandard housing, and their children go to underfinanced schools. They are poor but, unlike the nonworking poor, they are not eligible for many government supports such as subsidized housing, medical care, and food stamps.