Category: Socioeconomic Status

There has long been a bit of confusion concerning the meaning of class and socio-economic status in North America. This was more true in the U.S.A. than in Canada, since Canadians, both English and French, were more closely tied to a motherland which still differentiated between class and wealth. Even today, one can buy a dukedom in places, but it may take generations to acquire the respect that generally goes with the title.

One inherited class in the parent societies of North America, and it was based upon family and breeding, not wealth and education. Marxist theory defines class by function in society. North American capitalists tend to define class by political and social influence. None of these are based upon wealth or education. However, socio-economic status is also not based solely on wealth, but is heavily influenced by ones ethnic origin, education and social power, while class is based upon heritage and power.

Currently in Canada, there is still a class line based upon family name, ancestral heritage and breeding. However, this can be mitigated through marriage, success in vocation or politics. However, when most people in Canada use the word class they mean ones socio-economic status. This is a combination of ones wealth, education and social standing. A person can arrive from anywhere, and still aim at the highest socio-economic status.

All that is necessary is education or success in ones chosen profession to begin to build social power. Even those from very different ethnic backgrounds can attain high social status in Canada. It helps if the person perfects a standard English or French accent, and the English is more influential. One excellent example is David Suzuki. He is well known, well educated and highly respected, but his origins are Japanese. Still he is of very high socio-economic status and most Canadians would consider him of the higher class, right up there with MacDonald.

According to Marxist theory, David Suzuki would probably be a bourgeoisie, educated and wielding great political influence. David Suzuki blurs the line in Marxist terms, because he both owns and controls production and also works for production. It depends upon which part of his life we consider. By Marxist terms most Canadians would fall into the working class, with a lower percentage being petit bourgeoisie as owners of small businesses.

Only about 5-10% are actual owners of the production systems, qualifying them as the elite class. Marx believed that capitalist societies would split into two opposing factions: the people who controlled the wealth and power and those who had not control. Marx defined classes according to their relationship with the means of production and the wealth produced. He had only three classes: owners with power, owners with little or no power and workers.

Canadians may differentiate most people by socio-economic status, but there is a line drawn by some people according to whether ones wealth is old money or new money. Old is usually judged by generations, requiring at least a century or two of inherited family name and status. The same ruler is applied in the US, based upon how one can trace his or her heritage. For example, the Kennedys are old money with a traceable respected ancestry.

Families who can trace their heritage back to the revolution can attain some social status in some political circles. Someone successful enough to marry into one of these families can eventually acquire the level of respect for his or her children, but will always be seen as not blood. The high class families have considerable political power in the US and Canada and generally wealth to back it. One can buy political power with enough wealth, but family class must be tested by time.

Essentially, in Canada, class is still defined by social and economic power, rather than wealth and education, though the lines blur. Porter even states that we cannot in our society determine and exact number of classes, because the lines blur between class and socio-economic status.

Most Canadians (and Americans) consider themselves to be middle class, while low class is defined as poor and uneducated and upper class is defined as rich and powerful, and generally well educated also. However, in an essentially capitalist social democracy, education, work or innovation can raise ones status quite quickly. Our society tries to reward talent while maintaining an acceptable minimal standard of living and education for all. However, a very talented athlete who makes millions may still not attain upper class status if he or she cannot learn to behave in a manner accepted by others of the upper class. Without considerable training, a certain attitude and education this is highly unlikely.

Technically, class is not based upon wealth or power, though these generally come with ones class. Anyone of upper class membership, as measured by heritage, family history and political and social influence will also possess high socio-economic status. The reverse is not necessarily true. In order to be considered upper class in North America one still needs education and political and social power, and these are not attained by someone who is poor and uneducated with no talent. Socio-economic status is described by wealth and social standing. Therefore, ethnic origin, education, gender and education all play a role.

Over time, ethnic origin and gender have become less important, and we have hopes they will disappear altogether as a benchmark for socio-economic status in our society. Essentially, one needs to be able to function as a peer among the class to which one attains in our society. This may require education, talent and a certain economic stability, if not outright wealth.

References

Naiman, Joanne. 2008. How Society Works: Class,power, and change in a Candian context 4th Edition.

Education refers to the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and information during ones lifetime and may be provided by teachers, parents or by oneself. This paper describes education and its effects on the gender and socioeconomic status on the US minority ethnic communities.

Teachers teach in many subjects including mathematics, reading, history, science, and other specialized professions such as law, astrophysics, zoology among others. The formal learning takes place in several institutions and higher learning centers like universities and colleges. Informal forms of education also exist like from the museums, libraries, and the internet and also involve the life experiences. Right to education is regarded as one of the basic human rights among other rights. The educators use various systems ranging from training, teaching and giving instructions to the learners. Levels of education are the primary, secondary, higher education, adult education, alternative education, indigenous education system and the emotional / human education systems (Wag staff).

The higher education rates and advanced levels is important to attain higher economic growth in the different USA ethnic communities like the African Americans, Hispanics, Latin Americans, etc since education has a lot of the positive impacts on the learners, that is, the behavior modification that the learners experience in the course of learning is very vital in adulthood. Learners are able to acquire the basic desirable habits in the learning environment right from preschools until adulthood. The disadvantaged groups including the Hispanics and the Blacks lack access to this basic introduction which would affect them in their adulthood and they may not be able to develop the needed attitudes to face life positively.

Education also opens up the learners minds to conceptualize things fast and provide the necessary solutions thus individuals would be able to undertake educational researches to find solutions for hard problems in the society. Individuals would therefore be able to provide expert advice and leadership to the community in hard situations (i.e. during economic downturns) hence the minority groups who fail to attain higher education levels may not attend to their own problems.

Education benefits the learners enormously on the area of entrepreneurship since they are able to learn the necessary entrepreneurial and management skills and hence would be able to identify viable opportunities and also navigate their companies in the current competitive environment. Educated persons would be able to identify the strengths, the weaknesses, opportunities, and the threats facing his / her business where the poor marginalized blacks and Latin Americans (with minimal education background) are unable to fathom (Sola Asa).

Education on the other hand is very important since students learn a wide range of lessons that would impart vital life skills to them. Learners are able to know the current life threats such as HIV/AIDS scourge. They learn about pregnancy and means to avoid unwanted pregnancies. All these are important in the current socioeconomic environment of which the minority groups may easily fall victim due to lack of education (Feyisetan BJ).

Education system is very important in imparting the legal knowledge to the learners. The current business environment needs legal experts who would help in resolving conflicts like the court cases in addition to protection of the copyrights, patents, wills executions, etc require advanced legal knowledge which the minority groups lack. The advantaged individuals (whites) are also able to defend their rights and understand the existing regulations and the impacts of the new legislations like the labor laws. Learners would also understand their other human rights i.e. right of religion, right of cooperation, right of movement, right of expression among others.

Education programs have been globalized and learners are engaged in learning the foreign languages to be able to exist comfortably in the foreign countries. Individuals would be able to do business (globally) with ease and exchange culture with foreigners. Commodities and services would be able to cross borders to new markets and the foreign direct investments and mergers / acquisition would be done by investing partners who are more advantaged (than the marginalized).

Education systems have also trained learners to become competitive farmers who would engage in improved farm product quality and improved productivity. Farmers would be introduced to the current scientific farming like the genetically modified products. This has been instrumental in solving the current food crisis among those who gain access to learning facilities while the few races who do not gain higher education fail to liberate themselves from food crises. Also jobs created are minimal and most of them remain unemployed. The marginalized Hispanics and blacks remain practicing traditional subsistence farming due to lack of proper education.

Education is the key to solving unemployment problem in the current economies. The increased unemployment rates among the Latin Americans and blacks are caused by their uneducated nature and remain unaware of the available opportunities and also do not possess the needed qualifications. The advantaged races in America would be willing to enter into self employment since they have access to capital providers like the banks and friends unlike the disadvantaged thus they are able to start profitable ventures and reduce the unemployment levels (Kincheloe and Steinberg, 2007).

Another benefit of education is on the family planning by the educated white women who are aware of the techniques unlike the black women who may not read the basic instructions hence end up having many unplanned children. This affects the population problems among the poorer races hence overpopulation complexities like health problems affect them a lot.

Education in all levels ranging from the lower grades to the university level is important in reducing gender disparities and empowering women since they learn to socialize with other learners from diverse backgrounds and this is very vital in fostering tolerance to culture differences and corporation among the learners. This is needed for economic and social interdependentness especially for women in resolving the conflicts and gender related violence through dialogue. This is not true among the black American women and other small ethnic groups since they do not access full education.

Education systems also offer special education skills to the learners like the skills for the blind, the deaf, the lame and the mentally retarded individuals. The learners are taught the Braille, the dolphin pen etc that would go along way in empowering them socially and economically. Disabled learners from the minority races have minimal access to these services and therefore most of them fail to exploit their full potential (Bbigbola).

Statistics by the USA bureau of statistics on the incomes of the educated black women and men are demonstrated below:

Median Annual Income, by Level of Education, 19902006:

Statistics above reveal that educated men are paid higher than women of the same education level. This indicates adverse gender disparity among the blacks and other smaller ethnic minorities. The wage rate generally is lower in comparison to those of the majority ethnic groups with the same education level.

Gender and ethnicity has also been addressed by the education systems whereby currently all individuals regardless of their gender or the ethnic background can venture into any education specialization like engineering, law, anthropology among others without reservations (Kincheloe and Steinberg, 2007). This has attempted to close inequality gap and reduce the gender related aggressions but the minorities encounter other problems that may result in drop outs and this affect them once they become adults. The ethnicity mentality among the blacks has also not been rooted out since most people from disadvantaged backgrounds have not fully attained higher education in the current society.

Educated persons in urban environment are able to secure formal employment where they are paid attractively as compared to those in the rural setting where job vacancies are minimal and are poorly paid. Educated individuals in rural areas do not have access to many investment opportunities like the stock markets which are found in cities therefore they lack diversification means in real estates.

Standard of education in rural areas is quite low compared to the education in cities and this brings disparities in the learning levels. The rural folks practice farming as an additional vocation; their educational needs are wanting and they should be upgraded to help solve the complex problems in the environment.

Education system has also enabled medical doctors to carry out intensive researches into the cause of the incurable diseases like AIDS. This has made the health care very unaffordable among the poor minorities who do not have adequate education and hence the death rates and suffering among them is still alarming (Dunn A.). In addition, infant mortality has not achieved considerable decline among the blacks as compared to those from the whites.

Education has tremendous socioeconomic benefits for the minorities but more efforts need to be input in education by the government for all the community groups in USA to realize comparable benefits.

References

Dunn A, (2004). Malaria knowledge Programme: policy Brief. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine UK;

Ewoigbokhan SE: Morbidity Data and their Interpretation for Nigerian Children.Paper presented at a seminar on Applied Research on Child Health. 2000.

Fevisetan BJ, Sola Asa, Ebigbola, J. (2000). A mothers Management of Childhood Diseases in Yoruba Land; The Influence of Cultural Beliefs, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 1999 Cal, Maryland: National Population Commission (England)

Hodge RW (1964): Occupational Prestige in the United States, 19251963. American Journal of Sociology 1964, 70.

Joe L. Kincheloe, Shirley R. Steinberg (2007). Cutting class: socioeconomic status and education. New York: Rowman & Littlefield

Wag staff A: Socio economic Inequalities in Child Mortality; Comparisons across Nine Developing Countries. Bulletin of the WHO 2000, 78(1):19-29.

The global health concerns and cases continue to rise daily, especially to the current pandemic of 2020, Covid-19. Health organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), directs worldwide health concerns within the United Nations’ system, and leads other organization partners in global health responses by ensuring the safety of the air people breath, food they eat, water they drink, and medicines and vaccines needed. The aforementioned proper health necessities are inaccessible to other countries due to poverty. However, in the sociological perspective, theories show that global health status is being determined by the person’s social status, income, and other mediating factors: selection theory, drift theory, and social determinants theory.

The worldwide inequality in socioeconomic status has developed multiple global concerns, especially in the United States of America. The country is named as the richest country in the world, but has the most unequal distribution of income in which developed and is currently developing into discriminating stagnant social classes in society, negatively affecting access of people with lower income into one of the most important basic needs of a person – health care. The significant role of income to the structure of the society, and the state of its components, has grown bigger as the income inequality expands. In the United States of America, the health state of a person has become dependent on socioeconomic status, and vice versa. Socioeconomic status negatively affects the health of the poor population, while health also affects the person’s socioeconomic status.

The drift explanation, also known as social drift, is a term used in sociology which refers to movement down the social scale consequent on long-term sickness. The disability limits the options of the person’s career choice from few to none, bringing a domino reaction from unemployment, to low income, to low socioeconomic status. In the development of society, a hierarchical system organizes the structure of the community or nation, wherein their position in the society is defined by their socioeconomic status, including their access to privileges, opportunities, freedom, basic rights, and basic needs. Drift theory further explains where the part of human’s basic needs includes good health, but the health of the people in the United States has been greatly influenced by their financial capabilities. According to data from the 2019 National Health Interview Survey, 8.3% of the adults aged 18 and over failed to obtain needed medical care due to cost. The data presented shows that the high cost of healthcare, in addition to low income, people are forced to place health at the bottom of the priority list when they are suffering a sickness, and often overwork themselves in order to maintain or improve their socioeconomic status. Aside from access to health care, a good-healthy diet, and properly sanitized shelter also contributes to the overall health of a person, which mostly requires quite a sum of money, especially as the food prices are going higher. According to the United Nations, approximately 25,000 people die from hunger or hunger-related diseases every day in the whole world due to poorly sanitized or absence of shelter, and deprivation of clean water and proper nutrition. This concerning issue has become widespread across the globe, to developing countries, such as the United States, and especially to third world countries.

On the other hand, selection theory states that connection between socioeconomic status and health status also has existing mediating factors that might affect both statuses. The genetics of a person is one of the most common examples of the mediating factors affecting health and socioeconomic status. For instance, people of African ancestry have higher risk of stroke compared to other ethnicities. Additionally, vitamin D from the sun is known to be absorbed by the body through the skin, and the absorption varies to the skin tone of a person; the lighter the skin, the better absorption of vitamin D to the body. Therefore, people of darker skin are most prone to vitamin D deficiency due to their slow metabolism of the nutrient from the natural sunlight. The presented examples show that these disabilities limit the options of the person’s career choice from few to none, resulting in low paying job or unemployment, to low income, to low socioeconomic status, turning to the same cycle.

Lastly, social determinants theory states that a person’s health can be determined by their individual social status, whether it be physical ability, mental ability, socialization, and so forth. Humans develop and grow in society through nurture, the process of learning, and nature, the environment of learning. The nature, or the environment of the society, develops the person’s social status in which, according to this theory, can affect health, well-being, and quality of life. The connection between health and marriage have been proven to bring positive effects to both, marriage to health or health to marriage. Married people tend to live longer and have better physical and mental health, for example, lower risk of having heart attacks and strokes, and lower chance of experiencing depression. Likewise, a low social status causes negative impacts to health. Individual and group concerns such as racism, educational attainment, job position, position in society, physical and mental ability, and other determinants to one’s social status directly affects the status of a person or an entire group’s health, positively or negatively.

The three main theories attempt to explain the connection and the effect of the society’s state, and the position of the people belonging to the society, to their health conditions. Drift theory identifies the connection and impact of a person’s socioeconomic status to their health, and the person’s health towards their socioeconomic status. While selection theory explains that within the connection of socioeconomic status and health, there are existing factors mediating between the two. Lastly, social determinants theory implies that social status also contributes to the health condition of a person. The theory shows the connection of health to sociology, and how social health is able to either damage or improve physical and mental health.

Works Cited

1. ‘Social Drift’. A Dictionary of Sociology. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Oct. 2020. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/social-drift
2. About WHO. (2020). Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://www.who.int/about
3. FastStats – Access to Health Care. (2020, October 30). Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/access-to-health-care.htm
4. Hales, D. (2017). Chapter 15: Major Diseases. In ‘​An Invitation to Health: The Power of Now​’ (17th ed., pp. 468-471). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
5. Holmes, J. (n.d.). Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/losing-25000-hunger-every-day
6. Howard, V. (2014, June 01). Reasons Underlying Racial Differences in Stroke Incidence and Mortality. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784978/
7. National Center for Health Statistics (US). Health, United States, 2011: With Special Feature on Socioeconomic Status and Health. Hyattsville (MD): National Center for Health Statistics (US); 2012 May. Introduction. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK98740/​
8. Parva, N., Tadepalli, S., Singh, P., Qian, A., Joshi, R., Kandala, H., . . . Cheriyath, P. (2018, June 5). Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency and Associated Risk Factors in the US. From https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6075634/
9. Robert H. Shmerling, M. (2020, June 24). The Health Advantages of Marriage. Retrieved December 06, 2020, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-health-advantages-of-marriage-2016113010667
10. Social Determinants of Health. (2020). Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/social-determinants-health
11. The UN Must Lead Way at World Food Summit to Cut the 24,000 Deaths Each Day from Hunger. (2014, May 18). Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/un-must-lead-way-world-food-summit-cut-24000-deaths-each-day-hunger
12. WHO Foundation Established to Support Critical Global Health Needs. (2020, May 27). Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://www.who.int/news/item/27-05-2020-who-foundation-established-to-support-critical-global-health-needs

Introduction

Estimates from the World Bank since the occurrence of global financial and economic crisis in 2007, shows that over thirty million people were rendered unemployed. This was followed by hiking of food prices making the majority of the world population languish in poverty. Decline in aggregate level of demand has had negative influence within the employment field.

Despite the stability exhibited by the growth in GDP, the rate of recovery in level of employment continues to trail by almost seven years. Rural workers are assured of agricultural work which comes on a seasonal basis increasing the level of job uncertainty since most of the people also work under unpredictable highly informal conditions (International Labor Organization).

Public works and employment guarantee schemes concerned with job creation program support government plans on readdressing the need on creation of employment.

United States is considered a land of opportunity; this does not mean that everyone has got equal opportunity. Many people believe that there is nothing unjust concerning the issue on having lots of poor people within a rich country. It might seem bad but at the same time not necessarily unjust to the society.

There is belief that much of the inequality within American society results from ways in which institutions and rules are organized. For example, CEOs in the United States are not in anyway hard working than those in other countries such as Japan, but the difference is that they earn higher salaries owing to the cultural expectations and norms within the American society.

Research reveals that America has for a long time been classified as class unconscious society based on the world standards. Despite being regarded as the land of opportunity the country has never leaved up-to the standards of such billing. Comparative studies on the level of social mobility between the United States and other countries in the west have revealed that social mobility is low in U.S. than other industrialized nations.

The idea of social class has been defined within the confines if rich and poor marked by education and earnings in reference to the poverty line (International Labor Organization).

Socio-economic Analysis

Promotion of economic growth stands as the prerequisite to the elimination of unemployment hence reduction in the level of poverty. Over the last thirty years, America has not been successful in reducing poverty because much focus has been made on economic growth as the only means of reducing poverty levels. However, irrespective of one’s racial or ethnic background, reports reveal that higher percentage of those who are unemployed live in abject poverty hence records worse health compared to the elite group within the society.

The disparity in the level of income is identified as larger than that existing between races (International Labor Organization). The population with income less than $10,000 has disease problems almost three times greater than those earning more than $20000. The low income earners normally called near poor ‘near-poor’ always have high risk of remaining uninsured (28%), since they are considered by the government to be less eligible for Medicaid.

This makes the threshold to remain higher i.e.133% of the poverty level, for the most sensitive within the society being children and pregnant women. The high cost of such benefits makes the poor in the society to have the greatest risk of being uninsured. Statistics reveal that the rate of the uninsured among the nonelderly poor remains higher as the national average (37%-17%).

Amongst the unemployed, only 15% have job-based coverage, with Medicaid covering approximately 41% and this leaves 37% without medical insurance. This is further revealed in the fact that around 15 million women are uninsured; 18% of them without any coverage. This makes most of them vulnerable since they are unable to afford individual policies, at the same time do not qualify for Medicaid and sadly have no access to employer –sponsored plans (Sridhar 36).

United States Chamber of Commerce

The agenda of the U.S. Chamber of commerce could as well be described as ‘pro-business’. Majority of the actors dictating the Americans chamber of commerce is the nation’s largest corporations owned by the Elite group. In the year 2009 alone, single donation of over $ 85 million accounted for over 40% of the total chamber budget.

Out of these sixteen companies owned by the Elite group contributed more than $ 1 million each equivalent to 45% of the total budget. This reveals that the base of the United States Chamber’s funding pool is controlled by the few most powerful CEOs. The United States Chamber of commerce has approximately 300,000 members contributing close to $12 million (U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2-14).

The wealthy in the American society assists in building businesses from the ground up and at the same time support the growth of the existing enterprises and this act as one of the potential means of creating employment. Such operations help in the improvement of quality life within the community as well as creation of attractive business climate.

Based on the role played by job creation and innovative power of entrepreneurs, creation of a conducive environment for many businesses leads to creation of many opportunities (U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2-14).

Social reality and opportunities is further shaped by gender and ethnicity. cutting across different races as well as ethnic groups. Socio-economic stratifications are done based on levels such as education, occupation, income and world view on the various patterns of life. However, social class has been used for the purposes of marking the structure of economic and social opportunities which ultimately affects individual behaviors and associations.

Business cycle within United States can be identified by the level of fluctuations experienced within the past two decades. Calculations on the same are usually based on the values obtained from real domestic products. Business cycles within United States have been determined through various stages of economic growths and economic recess (U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2-14).

High unemployment rates and monetary policies within the United States have resulted into unexpected fluctuations. However, annual fluctuations always determine the nature of business cycle in operation. Economic stability within the country before recession was as a result of greater investment by the Elite group of America.

Role of Large and Small businesses

The Elite group owning large companies such as IBM and Microsoft find it. challenging building successful new businesses for the purpose of creating employment opportunities since they become skeptical concerning the idea of defining their strategic objectives together with boundaries. Such decisions are made because they make it an assumption that their strategies are already known and explicitly defined.

The Elite group together with their business companies has the tendency of delegating objectives as well as boundary definitions to the various newly established business units without considering the context within which corporate companies are governed (Anthony and Johnson 45-47). However, in the process of sharing and delegating their business objectives some risks are involved such as directions undermining corporate goals of the various companies.

At times the big companies find difficulties when it comes to innovation owing to application of appropriate technological principles as well as the commendable influence in controlling and directing employee behaviors. The companies have experienced lots of difficulties in making employees accept and embrace change.

This is because the price required for change to be accomplished seems too high for the parties involved. Inclusive is the incorporation of authority and gender and their contribution towards administering and exercising of power over change (Bates 114-350).

Large companies like IBM have the tendency of defining their boundaries under tight conditions making them sometimes share into their innovator’s uncertainties and dilemma. Such like actions has made the companies loose the principles underlined for business growth which could ultimately lead to empowering transformation within their new businesses.

In America, incidences occur where companies realize that the methods they use for the purposes of resource allocation do not tally with their set strategic objectives. The existence of social stratification sometimes makes it difficult when it comes to appropriate allocation of resources required for innovation and such determines the kind of strategies utilized (Bates 45-47).

Large companies as compared to small businesses undergo deep structural problems which expose them to financial woes. The results on sales, assets and equity dropped drastically twenty years ago, this was because of inability of investment companies to innovate appropriate technologies which could cope with the economic recession at that time (Anthony and Johnson 45-47). During such time various struggle was experienced amongst the autonomous divisions and at the same time high fixed cost were experienced (Anthony and Johnson 46).

Wealthy individuals such as CEOs usually takes the initiative of making company employees develop interest in serving one another with respect and great regard for their needs. There are normally laid down strategies touching on the management and sourcing employees from far including business analysts as well as experts concerned with various sectors of the economy.

This assists in the process of integrating and provision of countries solutions alongside other senior executives. However, each executive is at times involved in the activity of drafting recommendations required by the country for solving employment related problems as well as creating opportunities (Bates 45-47).

Companies like IBM at some point were involved in outsourcing manufacture of some of its products hence making it easier for their employees to progress as a team with shared goals and equal opportunities. Such move gives the country the ability to cut the costs on Information Technology; other approaches used by IBM included reduction in the number of data centers. This helps in centralizing operations hence ensuring that most opportunities are given to Americans and not foreign countries.

Such firms assist in reorganization of employee teams and upgrading them into vertical industry teams involved in special line of duties. This incorporates the setting of productive principles with the capability of being used for governing purposes within business cycles (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Introduction of downsizing by big companies at some point helped in building bureaucracy since most of business operations were centralized at management level. This saw networks being converted, as well as development of systems taking place hence reducing the level of the countries internal applications. Such moves ensured positive experiences in development of huge profit (Edmiston 74-90).

However, corporate management teams formed by the elite group at times assist in designing the countries business strategies and operations. Such strategies include ideas on the reorganization and equitable distribution of companies’ businesses for the purposes of serving whole population (Edmiston 74-90). The CEOs at the same time contributes in the development of necessary communication networks which simplifies the whole process of linking the country and its business world including the people.

The wealthy class within America has got the responsibility of reengineering projects for the benefit of the whole population. This helps in sustenance of national cost competitiveness by championing for the removal of unprofitable governing structures and processes (Anthony and Johnson 45-47).They at the same time through their companies reversed the use of some technologies such as internet not only to involve browsing and marketing to consumers but also incorporate application of business-to-business and e-commerce within the countries businesses corridors (Bates 45-47).

Most of the economic analysis concerning poverty levels starts with the markets. Labor markets favor those who have market power since they have got necessary tools to eliminate competition from the less powerful sectors. This shows that labor markets controlled by the elite group have got the ability to create employment hence offer a way out of poverty (Bates 45-47).

For innovative processes to succeed owners of big companies utilizes the use of resources of all sorts incorporating capital, customers, suppliers and lucrative business networks. The Elite are more so concerned about treatment of different types of innovation opportunities in different ways hence providing job opportunities. They usually don’t rely on using single set of metrics in running their companies for longer period of time.

Their new inventions are normally taken through iterative development process where various specialists are contacted for the purposes of identifying and addressing possible profitable outcome results. They normally incorporate lots of innovations because of their capability to come up with new ideas unlike the poor within the American society. However, the wealthy within America should appropriately use their positional power as means of exercising command and control over people and the countries economy.

However, the current beliefs within US society demands equality and harmony within the social sector. This calls for the Elite group to be considerate of their demands and principles concerning available resources. There is power struggle within the American society and this has resulted into resistance from the poor and the middle class. This calls for the big companies to consider appropriate application on diversity and conformity (Grant 114-350).

The issue on tax cuts for the wealthy was for the purpose of benefiting the country’s economy as well as extending unemployment benefits. This is because the government realized the fact that the richest Americans as well as corporations help in creating jobs for the citizens. However, the same corporations are currently experiencing higher earnings but not driving the economy as expected.

Research revealed that currently instead of corporation small businesses are the drivers of bigger percentage of the economy while the corporations on the other hand drives the United States chamber of commerce (U.S. Chamber of Commerce 8). The tax cuts benefits the chamber’s CEO’s, for example CEO Tom Donohue earns approximately $ 3.7 million annually. Others like David Kepler and Dow Chemical Company earns over $ 4 million.

The chemical company pumped close to $1.7 million to Chamber in the year 2010, on the other hand the CEO of health insurer WellPoint earned over $13 million during the year 2009 but further gains over $6 million resulting from the tax cuts. The same company gave approximately $ 86 million to the chamber in the year 2009. However, there has been concern whereby the country’s richest members continue to grow richer at the expense of many Americans who are considered victims of “class discrimination” undergoing unfair punishment (U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2-14).

Large businesses owned by the Elite grant employer based health policies to their employees contrary to the small businesses. Statistics in the year 2001 revealed that approximately 31% of employees within the small businesses enjoyed employer based health insurance policies compared to around 70% from those employed in large business enterprises including corporations (Edmiston 74-90).

On the same note workers at large firms are considered likely to benefit from retirement payments, life insurance amongst other benefits. In large firms paid holidays and vacation days range higher based on length of service. This reveals that benefits at large firms owned by the Elite appear more generous compared to small businesses.

Large firms allow for the presence of labor unions which indirectly leads to reduction of turnover through the higher wages paid to the workers (Edmiston 74-90). The large firms at the same time offer on-the –job training and greater progressive opportunities making maintenance of long-term relationship with employees much easier (Edmiston 74-90). The small businesses on the other hand are considered to attract those considered to be unstable workers.

Conclusion

The rate of failure amongst large businesses is low, leading to lower rates of employer-initiated separations (Edmiston 74-90). The loss of jobs from business failures is higher on small business firms than in larger firms. At the same time large firms within U.S are known to pay higher wages compared to small firms.

Example is given in the year 2005 when the average hourly wage within companies having less than 100 workers was $ 15.69 and increased rapidly. For businesses with more than 2000 workers wages increased to approximately $ 27.05 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The statistics shows that the percentage of workers earning low wages decreased with the increase in the number of large companies.

Positive job attributes leads to employee loyalty and confidence to such an extent that most employees are willing to take low salaries in exchange for health benefits. Size-wage effect is further determined by the average difference in the size of firms across industries. The larger the firms within industries paying better salaries the higher the size-wage effect owing to industry make-up (Edmiston 74-90).

Larger firms usually utilize the use of high-profiled workers because of their ability to pay higher wages owing to their strong capital base (Edmiston 74-90). Large firms as identified earlier offer better jobs, higher wages and better benefits. This makes job turnover to be lower at large firms due to the stability that goes with it.

Works Cited

Anthony, Stephen, and Johnson Sinfield. Institutionalizing Innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 2 (2008): 45-47. Print.

Bates, Clark. The Distribution of Wealth. New York: Augustus M. Kelly, 1965. Print.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Occupational Employment and Wages 2008. Washington DC; BLS, 2009. Print.

Grant, Rodgers. The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for Strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33 (1991): 114-350. Print.

Edmiston, Kelly. The Role of Small and Large Business in Economic Development. Kansas City; Sage, 2010. Print.

International Labor Organization (ILO). Global Employment Trends. Geneva: Switzerland, 2009. Print.

Sridhar, Devi. Inequality in the United States HealthCare System. Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford, 2005. Print.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce. How the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Top Corporate Funders Dictate the Agenda for Congress. NY: Sage, 2010. Print.

There has long been a bit of confusion concerning the meaning of class and socio-economic status in North America. This was more true in the U.S.A. than in Canada, since Canadians, both English and French, were more closely tied to a motherland which still differentiated between class and wealth. Even today, one can buy a dukedom in places, but it may take generations to acquire the respect that generally goes with the title.

One inherited class in the parent societies of North America, and it was based upon family and breeding, not wealth and education. Marxist theory defines class by function in society. North American capitalists tend to define class by political and social influence. None of these are based upon wealth or education. However, socio-economic status is also not based solely on wealth, but is heavily influenced by one’s ethnic origin, education and social power, while class is based upon heritage and power.

Currently in Canada, there is still a class line based upon family name, ancestral heritage and breeding. However, this can be mitigated through marriage, success in vocation or politics. However, when most people in Canada use the word “class” they mean one’s socio-economic status. This is a combination of one’s wealth, education and social standing. A person can arrive from anywhere, and still aim at the highest socio-economic status.

All that is necessary is education or success in one’s chosen profession to begin to build social power. Even those from very different ethnic backgrounds can attain high social status in Canada. It helps if the person perfects a standard English or French accent, and the English is more influential. One excellent example is David Suzuki. He is well known, well educated and highly respected, but his origins are Japanese. Still he is of very high socio-economic status and most Canadians would consider him of the higher class, right up there with MacDonald.

According to Marxist theory, David Suzuki would probably be a bourgeoisie, educated and wielding great political influence. David Suzuki blurs the line in Marxist terms, because he both owns and controls production and also works for production. It depends upon which part of his life we consider. By Marxist terms most Canadians would fall into the working class, with a lower percentage being “petit bourgeoisie” as owners of small businesses.

Only about 5-10% are actual owners of the production systems, qualifying them as the elite class. Marx believed that capitalist societies would split into two opposing factions: the people who controlled the wealth and power and those who had not control. Marx defined classes according to their relationship with the means of production and the wealth produced. He had only three classes: owners with power, owners with little or no power and workers.

Canadians may differentiate most people by socio-economic status, but there is a line drawn by some people according to whether one’s wealth is “old money” or “new money”. Old is usually judged by generations, requiring at least a century or two of inherited family name and status. The same ruler is applied in the US, based upon how one can trace his or her heritage. For example, the Kennedy’s are “old money” with a traceable respected ancestry.

Families who can trace their heritage back to the revolution can attain some social status in some political circles. Someone successful enough to marry into one of these families can eventually acquire the level of respect for his or her children, but will always be seen as “not blood”. The high class families have considerable political power in the US and Canada and generally wealth to back it. One can buy political power with enough wealth, but family class must be tested by time.

Essentially, in Canada, class is still defined by social and economic power, rather than wealth and education, though the lines blur. Porter even states that we cannot in our society determine and exact number of classes, because the lines blur between class and socio-economic status.

Most Canadians (and Americans) consider themselves to be middle class, while low class is defined as poor and uneducated and upper class is defined as rich and powerful, and generally well educated also. However, in an essentially capitalist social democracy, education, work or innovation can raise one’s status quite quickly. Our society tries to reward talent while maintaining an acceptable minimal standard of living and education for all. However, a very talented athlete who makes millions may still not attain upper class status if he or she cannot learn to behave in a manner accepted by others of the upper class. Without considerable training, a certain attitude and education this is highly unlikely.

Technically, class is not based upon wealth or power, though these generally come with one’s class. Anyone of upper class membership, as measured by heritage, family history and political and social influence will also possess high socio-economic status. The reverse is not necessarily true. In order to be considered upper class in North America one still needs education and political and social power, and these are not attained by someone who is poor and uneducated with no talent. Socio-economic status is described by wealth and social standing. Therefore, ethnic origin, education, gender and education all play a role.

Over time, ethnic origin and gender have become less important, and we have hopes they will disappear altogether as a benchmark for socio-economic status in our society. Essentially, one needs to be able to function as a peer among the class to which one attains in our society. This may require education, talent and a certain economic stability, if not outright wealth.

References

Naiman, Joanne. 2008. How Society Works: Class,power, and change in a Candian context 4th Edition.

It is important to note that an individual’s or household’s socioeconomic status or SES can serve as a key indicator of the many underlying issues causing the breakdown of major functional aspects of a family unit. The emphasis of the study is to understand the interconnectedness of SES with the set of factors associated with broken households, which include domestic violence, divorce, and mental health issues as well as addictions.

The current literature clearly indicates the fact that domestic violence, which is a core part of the broken household factor, contributes to emotional trauma and disruptive behaviors (Lloyd, 2018). The latter factors result in poor educational outcomes and experiences. Another study suggests that “SES increases the academic achievement gap from age 7 through 16” and “SES affects academic achievement through pathways other than intelligence” (Von Stumm, 2017, p. 57). In other words, SES directly impacts a child’s future socioeconomic status, but not always due to intelligence factors. Children, who were sexually, emotionally, abused physically as well as neglected had a higher risk of childhood trauma, which led to binge drinking, substance abuse, depressive symptoms, and PTSD symptoms (Machisa et al., 2016).

In conclusion, the quantitative research design needs to focus on correlational methods since the goal is to find whether or not there is a relationship between IV: broken households and DV: socioeconomic status. The objective is to maximize the sample size by recruiting as many participants as possible. The design needs to use surveys, questionnaires, or interview format depending on the plausibility. The selected tool needs to include close-ended questions only, focusing on current SES elements, such as income, and past broken household experiences, such as experiencing abuse, witnessing abuse, violence, current addictions, and mental health factors.

References

Lloyd, M. (2018). Domestic violence and education: Examining the impact of domestic violence on young children, children, and young people and the potential role of schools.Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1-18. Web.

Machisa, M. T., Christofides, N., & Jewkes, R. (2016). Structural pathways between child abuse, poor mental health outcomes and male-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV).PLOS ONE, 11(3), 1-15. Web.

Von Stumm, S. (2017). Socioeconomic status amplifies the achievement gap throughout compulsory education independent of intelligence.Intelligence, 60, 57–62. Web.

Introduction

Premature birth is still a considerable health risk for children. Although the survival rates of preterm infants have significantly improved in recent years, neurodevelopmental outcomes pose a concern (Mangin, Horwood, & Woodward, 2016). The most adverse neurodevelopmental results of preterm birth include cerebral palsy, full or partial blindness, and deafness that can occur in up to 15% of infants (Mangin et al., 2016). The majority of preterm children are diagnosed with developmental delays that can affect them even in their adult years. Up to 60% of preterm children display emotional, behavioral, and language difficulties, and can have lower intelligence than term-born children (Mangin et al., 2016). Cognitive delays in preterm children are a severe problem that receives much attention from researchers and medical professionals. However, only a small proportion of studies conducted on the topic concentrate on the effect that the socioeconomic background of the family has on children with cognitive disabilities. The proposed research will attempt to establish whether their families’ socioeconomic background impacts the developmental trajectories of preterm-born children with cognitive delays.

Literature Review

There are many research articles dedicated to the topic of cognitive delays in children born prematurely. A significant part of those articles focuses on the intelligence and academic performance of preterm infants. The meta-analysis compiled by Brydges et al. (2018) suggests that premature birth is negatively correlated with intelligence, the speed with which children process information, and behavior. Many studies report impaired language processing abilities in prematurely born children (Brydges et al., 2018). The meta-analysis by Allotey et al. (2017) examines the studies of cognitive, behavioral, and academic performances of preterm children compared to their term-born counterparts. According to Allotey et al. (2017), premature birth leads to various developmental issues that can persist at older ages. These issues include behavioral problems, difficulties in processing language, and impaired motor skill development (Allotey et al., 2017). The academic performance of preterm children is negatively impacted by the described delays in their cognitive development. Overall, the results of the two meta-analyses show that premature birth leads to numerous complications.

Many studies on the topic of early birth and its effects on infants discuss the same points. Mangin et al. (2016) focus on the examination of cognitive development patterns of children carried to term and those born before term. The study’s findings indicate that preterm children are more likely to perform below their full-term counterparts on intelligence tests (Mangin et al., 2016). Cognitive functions of children born before the 37th week of pregnancy remain at a similar level between the ages of 4 and 12 (Mangin et al., 2016). Thus, cognitive delays experienced by prematurely born children do not diminish with age. Mangin et al. (2016) note that parents’ low socioeconomic status is another predictor of cognitive risk for children born before term. Allotey et al. (2017) state that the family’s socioeconomic background can affect children diagnosed with developmental delays. Meanwhile, Brydges et al. (2018) indicate that the analysis of how this background can affect preterm children is not consistent. The literature review shows that there are gaps in research on the effect of birth at an early gestational age on children’s cognitive development.

Research Question

The review of previous articles on the subject indicates a lack of research on the correlation between the family’s socioeconomic status and the cognitive development of preterm children. This lack of analysis helped cultivate the research question for the proposed study. The research question for the future research study can be formulated as follows: Does the family’s socioeconomic status impact the developmental trajectories of prematurely born children with cognitive delays in a meaningful way?

Aims and Objectives

The main aim of the proposed research stems from the formulated research question. The study’s primary purpose is to establish whether the family’s socioeconomic status can affect the developmental trajectories of children diagnosed with cognitive disabilities due to preterm birth. The desired result of the study is to acquire evidence of the correlation between socioeconomic status and the cognitive progress of children born before term. Several steps will be taken in order to achieve the indicated aim. The first objective is to observe the development of the selected participants. This step will entail collecting relevant data from preborn children and analyzing its significance. Second, information on the socio-economic background of families taking part in the research will be obtained and analyzed. Third, the relationship between the two sets of data will be analyzed to establish whether there is a correlation between the two.

Theoretical Framework

Cognitive development is a complex process during which children start to explore the world around them and analyze what they encounter. They develop new knowledge and skills, including learning how to speak, and later read and write and learn socially acceptable behavior norms. The expansion of cognitive skills is affected by every new experience and the social context. The family environment has the most meaningful influence on the development of a child, with parents being the most substantial external influence in the children’s lives (Morawska & Mitchell, 2018). Children born at an early gestational age are not an exception, and their parents manifest a principal impact on their development. However, as premature birth leads to cognitive delays, those children need more attention than those carried to terms and exhibit no developmental problems. It can be argued that parents’ education and income can impact their children’s overall well-being and development.

The proposed research will rely on the theoretical framework provided by context-based theories. In particular, Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological model will be employed to support the study. According to the theories mentioned above, all children have a bilateral relationship with their social environment (Morawska & Mitchell, 2018). Their development is affected by the social context around them, and they affect this context and others in it. Bronfenbrenner’s model shows that parents and siblings have the most substantial effect on the child’s development (Morawska & Mitchell, 2018). Parents’ level of education and approach to raising a child with cognitive issues will inevitably affect their development. The model also shows that parents’ workplaces can influence their children (Morawska & Mitchell, 2018). The family’s income can define the support system that a child with a cognitive disability can access, their education, and overall progress. Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological model supports the idea that the family’s socioeconomic status can affect the developmental trajectories of children born prematurely and diagnosed with cognitive delays.

Research Design and Method

The research in question aims to establish how socioeconomic background affects children born with cognitive delays. In order to achieve this aim, the longitudinal cohort design was selected. The chosen design will allow the researchers to collect the required data sets over a long period. All the participants will have one common characteristic of having a child diagnosed with cognitive issues due to premature birth. The information on the development of those children will be collected for five years. This period was selected in order to gather quantifiable data that will help analyze the participants’ progress during that time. The information on the socioeconomic backgrounds of the participants’ families will also be collected and analyzed. Significant changes in levels of education and income will be recorded to better socioeconomic status can affect the cognitive development of children born preterm.

The proposed study will employ a quantitative, descriptive research method. The relationship between the two main variables will only be observed and analyzed. None of the variables will be manipulated, and there will be no control groups. The chosen method is the most appropriate for the study aiming to establish whether the correlation between the socioeconomic status of the family and the development of children with cognitive problems exists.

Data Collection

The proposed research will use a survey data collection method to gather the necessary information on the development of children born before term and diagnosed with cognitive problems. Standard measures of intelligence, processing speed, and executive functions will be employed to collect the data. Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence developed by Wechsler will be used to measure intelligence and processing speed in children ages 2 to 7, whereas Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children will be given to older participants (Mangin et al., 2016). All the tests will be delivered to the participants in person or via video call if necessary.

Furthermore, information on the socioeconomic backgrounds of the participants will be collected. This data will be provided by the parents or legal guardians of the child participants. A questionnaire will be designed specifically for the proposed research. The adults will be asked to disclose information about their levels of education, work experience, current job, and mean income. They will also be asked to estimate the amount of money annually on their children. This data will be collected once a year in order to determine whether any changes took place.

Sample

The research participants will be recruited among families with children born between 32 and 37 weeks of pregnancy. The recruitment process will be conducted online and offline through various hospitals and support groups for parents with prematurely born children. During the recruitment, prospective participants will be given general information about the research. A minimum of 300 participants will be drafted to ensure the generalizability of the research findings. Furthermore, families with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds will be selected for the research to establish whether there is a connection between socioeconomic status and the development of preterm children with cognitive delays.

After an initial sample is obtained, it will be evaluated to verify its suitability for the study. The criteria for the selection of the participants are broad. Children taking part in the study must be born early or late preterm and diagnosed with cognitive development problems. There are no geographical limitations as the data collection can take place online via video calls. However, the participants will be given preference if they are more conveniently located for the researchers to visit in person to collect data. Prospective families will be excluded if they are taking part in other research studies on cognitive development in prematurely born children. However, participation in descriptive or observational studies will be permitted. Researchers will also, exclude participants if the quota for a specific socioeconomic status is filled.

Ethical Considerations

There are ethical considerations relating to the protection of human subjects in medical research. First, informed consent will be secured from the parents of the participants. Underage children cannot legally consent, and their parents or guardians will be accountable for providing it. All the information about the study, including the research question, aims, objectives, and data collection and analysis methods will be provided to the participating families. A separate consent form will be offered to the parents and guardians as they also will take part in the research by contributing information about their education, work experience, job, and income.

The participants will be informed about the voluntary basis of the research. They will have an opportunity to quit the research at any stage. However, they will be notified that the information collected from them before the withdrawal will be used in the study. The research will acknowledge whether anyone withdrew from it and the reasons for withdrawal. Furthermore, all the participants will be offered a short survey to state their opinion of the research upon withdrawal or completion. Personal information will not be included in order to protect the confidentiality of human subjects. The information about the socio-economic backgrounds of the participants will be used in summary form. They will also receive the results of the study with explanations of possible implications.

Implications

The proposed study will contribute considerably to the existing body of research on cognitive delays in premature children. The research will help establish whether the family’s socioeconomic status has a meaningful impact on children’s developmental trajectories. If it is confirmed that socioeconomic status influences the cognitive development of children with cognitive disabilities, further research will be required. As the proposed study is descriptive, future research can focus on comparing the development of preterm and term-born children from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Additionally, a new support system for families with cognitively impaired children can be discussed. This discussion can entail financial support for such families to ensure that their children have access to high-quality medical support. Similarly, this can include education for families on cognitive delays and how to advance the development of children diagnosed with them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, premature birth can significantly affect children’s cognitive development. Although there are many research studies dedicated to the discussion of developmental delays in preterm children, few focus on the family’s socioeconomic status and how it can affect their development. The proposed research will help establish whether the family’s socioeconomic background has an impact on the development of children with cognitive disabilities. The study will focus on observation and the analysis of the progress made by children with developmental issues. It will also collect data on the participating families’ socioeconomic backgrounds and try to determine whether there is a correlation between them and children’s cognitive development. Further research will be required if the proposed study achieves its aim and determines that the family’s socioeconomic background has a meaningful effect on the developmental trajectories of premature children with cognitive delays.

References

Allotey, J., Zamora, J., Cheong-See, F., Kalidindi, M., Arroyo-Manzano, D., Asztalos, E., … Thangaratinam, S. (2017). Cognitive, motor, behavioural and academic performances of children born preterm: A meta-analysis and systematic review involving 64 061 children. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 125(1), 16-25.

Brydges, C. R., Landes, J. K., Reid, C. L., Campbell, C., French, N., & Anderson, M. (2018). Cognitive outcomes in children and adolescents born very preterm: A meta-analysis. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 60(5), 452-468.

Mangin, K. S., Horwood, L. J., & Woodward, L. J. (2016). Cognitive development trajectories of very preterm and typically developing children. Child Development, 88(1), 282-298.

Morawska, A., & Mitchell, A. (2018). Children’s health, physical activity, and nutrition. In M. Sanders & A. Morawska (Eds.), Handbook of parenting and child development across the lifespan (pp. 289-312). Springer.

Introduction

One of the most pressing issues in epidemiology as part of the general medical sciences is the identification of the exact causes underlying the spread of disease. The identification of causal mechanisms, combined with the identification of patterns of spread and development of pathophysiological conditions, is critical to the search for effective therapy. Thus, clarifying the drivers of a particular disease allows preventive work and containment of active epidemiological growth. One such factor is socioeconomic status, which is thought to have a powerful influence on promoting or restraining the spread of pathology.

In a general sense, socioeconomic status should be understood as the position of an individual or small group in the social hierarchy, which is characterized by their education, income, and occupation. Consequently, three key aspects affect socioeconomic status. On the one hand, the level of education determines an individual’s intellectual resources, or worldview, and moral values, and outlook on the world. On the other hand, an individual’s income determines the availability of certain economic goods or the advisability of replacing them with budgetary but lower-quality alternatives. Finally, occupation determines an individual’s qualifications and competence, allows him or her to be an expert in specific fields, and provides accompanying opportunities related to the business sphere: health insurance, travel, social security, and a sense of belonging. All of this together defines socioeconomic status as part of an individual’s self-identification in society.

From what has been said, it seems clear that the components of socioeconomic status have a tremendous impact on both the physical and psychological health of the individual. More specifically, it has been repeatedly shown that there is a correlation between low socioeconomic status and poor health (APA, 2010). At the same time, lower socioeconomic status has traditionally been associated with an increased likelihood of developing psychopathological processes, including dementia and other psychiatric disorders (APA, 2010). On the other hand, higher socioeconomic status determines a person’s higher social responsibility, including through easier abandonment of bad habits (Clare et al., 2014). Consequently, it is reasonable to expect that people of higher socioeconomic status tend to have more secure and safe housing, access to quality food, and access to health care. Notably, it is incorrect to generalize better health outcomes for all people of higher socioeconomic status because the presence of pathologies may be mediated not only by an individual’s socioeconomic environment but also by a range of hereditary and incidental causes.

Finally, it is essential to recognize that socioeconomic status is an important predictor of the development of atherosclerosis. First of all, atherosclerosis is commonly referred to as a chronic disease that affects arterial vessels of the elastic and muscular-elastic type throughout the patient’s body. With atherosclerosis, foci of fatty, mainly cholesterol, deposits are formed in the inner lining of arterial vessels, which causes narrowing of the lumen of vessels up to their complete blockage. Subsequently, sclerosis — a proliferation of connective tissue — and deposition of calcium mineral salts start in such vessels, which are additional aggravating factors of atherosclerosis. However, there is no consensus regarding the influence of socioeconomic status on this pathology of the cardiovascular system. Thus, on the one hand, Garshick et al. (2017) noted an ambiguous relationship between the variables: although in their study, men with higher socioeconomic status had a higher propensity to develop atherosclerosis, the overall conclusion was that there was no overall relationship between status and likelihood of disease. A probable reason for this discrepancy is the prioritization of issues related to patients’ more affordable diets, including poor-quality food. On the other hand, Kestilä et al. (2012) quite clearly showed that patients with lower socioeconomic status ultimately have a higher chance of atherosclerosis. Thus, certain factors of socioeconomic status are definitely independent predictors of atherosclerosis, and this study aims to summarize the scientific evidence available on this issue. The purpose of this research paper is to examine and describe in detail the potential association that has been found between socioeconomic status and the risk of atherosclerosis.

The Educational Component of Socioeconomic Status

As noted above, education is one of the three most important predictors of socioeconomic status: hence, it is imperative to discuss this component separately. Education should not only be understood as the number of levels of education received — secondary, higher, or academic — but also the quality of that education. It is very likely that, for instance, the same Ph.D. degree can imply a very different level of knowledge among graduates not only of different universities but also of different countries. It is for this reason that citizens of one country often have to validate their degree against the quotations of another country. In other words, education in socioeconomic status is a characteristic of the intellectual development and general erudition of an individual: it shows the level of competencies and skills mastered, as well as the potential development of critical thinking. The question of measuring the educational component of socioeconomic status does not seem difficult. In fact, it is sufficient to ask the patient about the level of his current education — school, college, university — and the number of years that have been devoted to learning. In addition, the specialization an individual has received may be of interest, although this is very indirectly related to the level of socioeconomic status.

There is no doubt that education is essential in covering the basic and higher-order needs of the individual. The significance and value of receiving an education — especially a university education — can be viewed from several perspectives. First, education is positively correlated with greater employment opportunities, as shown by Yadav et al. (2020). The logic behind this thesis is that a trained individual has competencies not only in his or her own narrowly defined area of interest but also in related areas. Consequently, an individual educated as a nurse administrator can work competently in all related fields. Second, a strong correlation has been found between the quality of education received (not just quantity) and income (Assari, 2018). It follows that academic learning is very likely to have a favorable effect on an individual’s income growth, and thus its importance cannot be denied. Finally, very intriguing data show that educational attainment is associated with an individual’s civic responsibility (Evans et al., 2019). In this sense, it should be noted that an educated individual is more likely to be aware of the need to exist in an equal, secure, and stable society, and therefore his actions as a citizen can be directed toward the realization of these principles.

This is enough to determine the potential relationship between the educational component of socioeconomic status and the risk of atherosclerosis. It is very likely that the lower the level of education a person has, the less he or she is aware of the natural and pathogenic processes occurring in his or her body. At the same time, a low level of education correlates positively with a low level of critical thinking; therefore, it is possible to say that these individuals are less likely to assess their own health and to seek the advice of a reliable health care professional. In addition, the less educated a person is, the lower his or her average income tends to be: as a result, lack of education may be associated with being forced to buy cheaper, lower-quality food instead of healthy food. As a result, a low level of education becomes one of the central predictors of socioeconomic status, which in turn affects the increased risk of developing pathological processes in the cardiovascular system.

The academic community has long studied the association between education as a component of socioeconomic status and atherosclerosis. Numerous studies have found that low educational attainment correlates with a higher likelihood of disease among a sample (Van Rossum et al., 1999; Kestilä et al., 2012; Redondo-Bravo et al., 2019). Based on these confirmations, it is acceptable to say that education is an important predictor of the development of atherosclerosis or, to put it differently, positively correlates with the prevalence of this cardiovascular pathology. This means that individuals with a low level and quality of education are very likely to have a higher propensity to get atherosclerosis. In other words, one important step — which can be initiated by the individual in order to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis — is to obtain a reliable and high-quality education, although this is certainly not an absolute guarantee.

The Occupational Component of Socioeconomic Status

In addition to the educational component, an individual’s profession is also critical to socioeconomic status. The profession should be understood as such a social characteristic of a person, which unambiguously indicates his or her belonging to a particular category of people who are engaged in a similar type of labor activity. By carrying out work activity within the framework of professional activity, an individual receives this material compensation expressed in the form of wages, bonuses, and bonus accruals. However, the occupation has not only economic overtones but also makes it possible to meet the intellectual, emotional, cognitive, and cultural needs of the individual. More specifically, when a person chooses a professional vector of development — be it management, accounting, medicine, or science as examples — he or she is able to realize his earlier academic education skills and feel meaningful to society. In general, it should be recognized that a sense of belonging to a work team, collective, or company as a whole is extremely important to an individual’s social needs, as it tends to increase his or her perceived psychological and economic security. Studies often measure the occupational component of socioeconomic status. For this, it is traditionally sufficient to conduct a qualitative structured or semi-structured interview to determine the professional direction, seniority, and career path of an individual. However, it is fair to admit that occupation as a component of socioeconomic status has severe limitations for research. More specifically, the occupation of respondents always severely limits sample sizes, as it does not take into account such cohorts as children and adolescents, the unemployed, and the elderly. Moreover, although a person’s occupation may be related to his or her income and education, occupational activity alone, in isolation from other factors, cannot be a reliable indicator of an individual’s socioeconomic status.

The desire to realize one’s skills within the framework of professional activity is a very legitimate human desire, especially if one takes into account the significance of employment. As it was with the educational component, it is reasonable to consider the profession as part of the socioeconomic status from different sides. Thus, the significance of the profession consists of the individual’s skill development and general mental and physical skills, as shown by Gyansah & Guantai (2018). More specifically, university education can never accurately convey the practical activities of actual work; therefore, the implementation of work will always involve some on-the-job training. Consequently, through training, qualification, and retraining programs, as well as participation in business MICE trips, the worker is able to raise the level of their own knowledge and skills qualitatively. The second most obvious advantage of the profession is the growth of income and bringing profits into the household, which ultimately leads the country to faster economic growth. This is fully justified by strategies to reduce unemployment among the population in order to raise the level of national GDP (del Amo González et al., 2018). Finally, work performance, as it has been studied, is positively correlated with the personal growth of the worker if the working conditions prove to be constructive (West, 1991). Based on the above, it is pertinent to conclude that occupation has a significant contribution to the quality of life. If an individual performs work activities within his or her own interests, it enhances the quality of life through economic well-being, satisfaction with educational needs, and stimulation of personal growth.

In general, it should be said that the influence of occupation as a component of socioeconomic status on the risk of atherosclerosis is a multifactorial function. In this discussion, occupational characteristics of the work performed should be taken into account, such as wage level, activity directions, working conditions, job satisfaction, and resulting occupational stress. It is assumed that the more favorable, comfortable, and safe for the individual the work activity performed, the lower the probability of developing atherosclerosis. This thesis is justified by the fact that if the level of wages received is comfortable if the working schedule is adequate and if there is no severe load leading to stressful states — in the absence of hereditary predisposition — the individual should not be prone to the development of pathology of the cardiovascular system. On the contrary, if the professional activity does not correspond to the personal interests of the individual, it becomes the cause of dissatisfaction with life and a high level of work stress. The constant pressure of such factors can cause general health depression and the formation of atherosclerosis in particular. Consequently, it is appropriate to generalize that the low level of a professional component in socioeconomic status — insecure work, work stress, low salary — are predictors of disease development.

It is legitimate to expect that the academic community has had time to study this factor in the socioeconomic status system as well. For example, one consequence of Adler & Stewart’s (2010) study was to discover the deleterious effect of stress mediated by low socioeconomic status on a high risk of health impairment. For the disease in question, this can be approximated as confirming the hypothesis of a positive correlation between external stress exposure to workload and the development of an atherosclerotic condition. Consequently, an appropriate strategy to inhibit this effect is to revise the corporate human resource management policy or to change the occupation, if acceptable. Similar findings were found in a qualitative study by Shavers (2007), who assessed inequality problems as a function of socioeconomic status. More specifically, the author found that — although employment typically improves an individual’s quality of life — unsuitable working conditions and low job satisfaction can have detrimental effects on a worker’s health, including causing atherosclerosis. In a general summary, academic research recognizes the usefulness of work performance in increasing quality of life but shows that poor and unsafe working conditions can be predictors not only of low socioeconomic status but also of high risk for atherosclerosis.

The Income Component of Socioeconomic Status

Finally, the sense of financial security of the individual, expressed as income, is of unconditional importance within the framework of the question under discussion. Terminologically, income is defined as the totality of all funds received for carrying out work activities. Consequently, the very fact of receiving income is associated with the performance of work, and therefore it is appropriate to consider income as compensation for the time and resources spent. It is also noteworthy that income itself is not an indicator of pure financial security and awareness of the individual. In this sense, it is necessary to distinguish between income and profit in particular, understanding income as part of income, devoid of expenses. For society, however, the level of income is important because historically, it has been established that an individual’s highest income is associated with his or her increased attractiveness and social significance. From an individual’s point of view, an increased income allows one to expand the horizons of financial possibilities and to receive more material — those for which one should pay in money — if one wants to. Consequently, income cannot be associated with wealth because income does not mean the level of accumulated values. Moreover, unlike the level of education or the vector of labor activity, income is a purely quantitative measure expressed in local currency: dollar, euro, sterling, peso, or other currencies. Accordingly, the ideal strategy for measuring this component of socioeconomic status is to survey respondents to find out their income level. Typically, this can either be an exact number or an interval range. In this sense, it is worth noting that individuals often tend to exaggerate their income for reasons of greater attractiveness or to hide accurate data; therefore, the collection of this component may be accompanied by distortions.

A very striking parallel can be drawn between an individual’s income and his or her quality of life. As an indicator of belonging to a certain socioeconomic class, income has a significant impact on health. More specifically, an individual’s increased income, as shown by Kautonen (2017), allows him or her more financial opportunities. This applies to access to health services, purchasing better food, and living in safer urban areas. If one considers the concept of “quality of life” as a symbiosis of the physical and psychological elements of human health, it is reasonable to state that increased income stimulates both of these components. In other words, the presence of increased income opens up new horizons for the individual and qualitatively improves his or her standard of living.

It is evident that income as the third component of socioeconomic status under consideration also has a significant influence on the development of atherosclerosis. In this context, it should be particularly emphasized that cardiovascular disease is the most frequent cause of death in clinical cases. Consequently, how often an individual seeks medical care to control his or her health may determine the risk of developing atherosclerotic conditions. In furtherance of this theme, it should be shown that the frequency of visits to clinical facilities is directly mediated by an individual’s income level. As a rule, poor and low-income citizens cannot afford to visit a doctor, which means that medicine is complex for them to access. This, however, also works on a national scale, when poor and only developing countries demonstrate low availability of medicine and, as a consequence, high incidence of atherosclerosis. In contrast, those individuals with higher incomes are traditionally more likely to seek quality medical care and have excellent insurance coverage. Consequently, these patients should be somewhat less likely to be found to have embryonic forms of atherosclerosis. As a general result, low income as a component of socioeconomic status may be a predictor of the prevalence of atherosclerosis.

Similar theses are found in the works of the academic community. In fact, since income level seems to be a more intuitively understandable quantitative measure than education and occupation, a large number of authors tend to emphasize this component of socioeconomic status. For example, a study by Eisner et al. (2011) clearly showed that low income is positively correlated with the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In turn, this pathogenic disease of the respiratory system leads to insufficient vascular tissue activity and, consequently, to the development of atherosclerosis. To put it differently, since patients with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have an increased chance of developing atherosclerosis, low income can be considered as a significant predictor of these pathologies. At the same time, Thurston et al. (2014), who studied the probability of developing atherosclerosis in economically disadvantaged women, came to a similar conclusion. In other words, for women with a stable low income, who can be considered a vulnerable social group, the risk of disease caused by cardiovascular lesions, namely atherosclerosis, increases. As a general result, low income has been academically postulated as a significant predictor of the development of atherosclerosis in patients.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be reiterated that socioeconomic status is an essential descriptive characteristic that takes into account the qualitative and quantitative features of an individual or small social group, whether family and household. Socioeconomic status is at the same time a complex measure that includes such factors as education, occupation, and income. This research paper has consistently shown what each of these components is individual. In short, education should be understood as the level of education received — school, college, university — and its quality. An occupation is a characteristic that determines the direction of an individual’s labor activity, which brings him or her profit. Finally, income should be considered the totality of material values received, but it should not be equated with wealth.

Based on the articles studied, it is appropriate to draw the general conclusion that a low level of socioeconomic status is a description of an individual living disadvantaged. In particular, a low level of education is traditionally associated with a lack of qualifications and high competence, and it also characterizes a lack of developed critical thinking. At the same time, the low occupational part of the socioeconomic status is expressed in the constant pressure of work stress, low life satisfaction as a consequence of unwanted work, and low wages. Low finances also lead to a decrease in socioeconomic status due to the inability of individuals to make the desired purchases and receive quality services.

A positive correlation was found between low socioeconomic status and the risk of atherosclerosis in all components. Thus, when analyzing the sources, it became apparent that low education predicted the development of atherosclerosis due to the patient’s low medical awareness and lack of critical thinking as such. The low occupation was also a predictor of atherosclerosis, as constant work stress and high stress inhibited the cardiovascular system. Finally, low income meant less availability of quality health care services and incomplete insurance packages, which also increased the risk of atherosclerosis.

There are several intriguing findings among the readings. First, Thurston et al. (2014) showed that economically disadvantaged women are prone to atherosclerosis risks regardless of these ethics. At the same time, older women have been shown to be more prone to atherosclerosis than older men, even despite similar levels of socioeconomic status (Van Rossum et al., 1999). Finally, Redondo-Bravo et al. (2019) showed a surprising and contradictory finding that income level and atherosclerosis risk are unrelated, although other studies have stated otherwise.

In a general summary, it should be emphasized that low socioeconomic status is unequivocally associated with a greater likelihood of having atherosclerosis. Low availability of medicine, intake of low-quality food, lack of academic awareness — and even the fact that such a disease exists — as well as the constant pressure of work stress and low level of economic security of an individual or a household, form a low socioeconomic status. In turn, these become direct causes of the development of the pathogenic condition known as atherosclerosis.

References

Adler, N. E., & Stewart, J. (2010). Preface to The Biology of Disadvantage: Socioeconomic Status and Health. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1186(1), 1–4.

APA. (2010). Aging & socioeconomic status[PDF document].

APA. (2010).Children, youth, families and socioeconomic status [PDF document].

Assari, S. (2018). Blacks’ diminished return of education attainment on subjective health; mediating effect of income. Brain Sciences, 8(9), 176-184.

Clare, P., Bradford, D., Courtney, R. J., Martire, K., & Mattick, R. P. (2014). The relationship between socioeconomic status and “hardcore” smoking over time – greater accumulation of hardened smokers in low-SES than high-SES smokers. Tobacco Control, 23(e2), e133–e138.

del Amo González, M. P. L., Benítez, V., & Martín-Martín, J. J. (2018). Long-term unemployment, income, poverty, and social public expenditure, and their relationship with self-perceived health in Spain (2007–2011). BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1-14.

Eisner, M. D., Blanc, P. D., Omachi, T. A., Yelin, E. H., Sidney, S., Katz, P. P., Ackerson, L. M., Sanchez, G., Tolstykh, I., & Iribarren, C. (2011). Socioeconomic status, race, and COPD health outcomes. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (1979), 65(1), 26–34.

Evans, M., Evans, R., & Vemic, A. (2019). Youth civic engagement and formal education in Canada: Shifting expressions, associated challenges. In A. Peterson, G. Stahl, & H. Soong (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of citizenship and education (pp. 1-17). Palgrave Macmillan.

Gyansah, S. T., & Guantai, H. K. (2018). Career Development in Organizations: Placing the Organizations and Employees are on the same pedestal to enhance maximum productivity. European Journal of Business and Management, 10(14), 40-45.

Kautonen, T., Kibler, E., & Minniti, M. (2017). Late-career entrepreneurship, income and quality of life. Journal of Business Venturing, 32(3), 318-333.

Kestilä, P., Magnussen, C. G., Viikari, J. S.., Kähönen, M., Hutri-Kähönen, N., Taittonen, L., Jula, A., Loo, B.-M., Pietikäinen, M., Jokinen, E., Lehtimäki, T., Kivimäki, M., Juonala, M., & Raitakari, O. T. (2012). Socioeconomic status, cardiovascular risk factors, and subclinical atherosclerosis in young adults: The cardiovascular risk in young Finns study.Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 32(3), 815–821.

Redondo-Bravo, L., Fernández-Alvira, J. M., Górriz, J., Mendiguren, J. M., Sanz, J., Fernández-Friera, L., García-Ruiz, J. M., Fernández-Ortiz, A., Ibáñez, B., Bueno, H., & Fuster, V. (2019). Does Socioeconomic Status Influence the Risk of Subclinical Atherosclerosis? A Mediation Model.Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 74(4), 526–535.

Shavers, V. L. (2007). Measurement of socioeconomic status in health disparities research.Journal of the National Medical Association, 99(9), 1013–1023.

Thurston, R. C., El Khoudary, S. R., Derby, C. A., Barinas-Mitchell, E., Lewis, T. T., McClure, C. K., & Matthews, K. A. (2014). Low Socioeconomic Status Over 12 Years and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Stroke (1970), 45(4), 954–960.

Van Rossum, C. T. M., Van De Mheen, H., Witteman, J. C. M., Mackenbach, J. P., & Grobbee, D. E. (1999). Socioeconomic status and aortic atherosclerosis in Dutch elderly people: The Rotterdam Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 150(2), 142–148.

West, T. W. (1991). Impact of the information technology profession. Cause/Effect, 14(1), 5- 8.

Yadav, A. K., Sahni, B., & Jena, P. K. (2020). Education, employment, economic status and empowerment: Implications for maternal health care services utilization in India. Journal of Public Affairs, 21(2), 1-11.

Education refers to the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and information during ones lifetime and may be provided by teachers, parents or by oneself. This paper describes education and its effects on the gender and socioeconomic status on the US minority ethnic communities.

Teachers teach in many subjects including mathematics, reading, history, science, and other specialized professions such as law, astrophysics, zoology among others. The formal learning takes place in several institutions and higher learning centers like universities and colleges. Informal forms of education also exist like from the museums, libraries, and the internet and also involve the life experiences. Right to education is regarded as one of the basic human rights among other rights. The educators use various systems ranging from training, teaching and giving instructions to the learners. Levels of education are the primary, secondary, higher education, adult education, alternative education, indigenous education system and the emotional / human education systems (Wag staff).

The higher education rates and advanced levels is important to attain higher economic growth in the different USA ethnic communities like the African Americans, Hispanics, Latin Americans, etc since education has a lot of the positive impacts on the learners, that is, the behavior modification that the learners experience in the course of learning is very vital in adulthood. Learners are able to acquire the basic desirable habits in the learning environment right from preschools until adulthood. The disadvantaged groups including the Hispanics and the Blacks lack access to this basic introduction which would affect them in their adulthood and they may not be able to develop the needed attitudes to face life positively.

Education also opens up the learners’ minds to conceptualize things fast and provide the necessary solutions thus individuals would be able to undertake educational researches to find solutions for hard problems in the society. Individuals would therefore be able to provide expert advice and leadership to the community in hard situations (i.e. during economic downturns) hence the minority groups who fail to attain higher education levels may not attend to their own problems.

Education benefits the learners enormously on the area of entrepreneurship since they are able to learn the necessary entrepreneurial and management skills and hence would be able to identify viable opportunities and also navigate their companies in the current competitive environment. Educated persons would be able to identify the strengths, the weaknesses, opportunities, and the threats facing his / her business where the poor marginalized blacks and Latin Americans (with minimal education background) are unable to fathom (Sola Asa).

Education on the other hand is very important since students learn a wide range of lessons that would impart vital life skills to them. Learners are able to know the current life threats such as HIV/AIDS scourge. They learn about pregnancy and means to avoid unwanted pregnancies. All these are important in the current socioeconomic environment of which the minority groups may easily fall victim due to lack of education (Feyisetan BJ).

Education system is very important in imparting the legal knowledge to the learners. The current business environment needs legal experts who would help in resolving conflicts like the court cases in addition to protection of the copyrights, patents, wills executions, etc require advanced legal knowledge which the minority groups lack. The advantaged individuals (whites) are also able to defend their rights and understand the existing regulations and the impacts of the new legislations like the labor laws. Learners would also understand their other human rights i.e. right of religion, right of cooperation, right of movement, right of expression among others.

Education programs have been globalized and learners are engaged in learning the foreign languages to be able to exist comfortably in the foreign countries. Individuals would be able to do business (globally) with ease and exchange culture with foreigners. Commodities and services would be able to cross borders to new markets and the foreign direct investments and mergers / acquisition would be done by investing partners who are more advantaged (than the marginalized).

Education systems have also trained learners to become competitive farmers who would engage in improved farm product quality and improved productivity. Farmers would be introduced to the current scientific farming like the genetically modified products. This has been instrumental in solving the current food crisis among those who gain access to learning facilities while the few races who do not gain higher education fail to liberate themselves from food crises. Also jobs created are minimal and most of them remain unemployed. The marginalized Hispanics and blacks remain practicing traditional subsistence farming due to lack of proper education.

Education is the key to solving unemployment problem in the current economies. The increased unemployment rates among the Latin Americans and blacks are caused by their uneducated nature and remain unaware of the available opportunities and also do not possess the needed qualifications. The advantaged races in America would be willing to enter into self employment since they have access to capital providers like the banks and friends unlike the disadvantaged thus they are able to start profitable ventures and reduce the unemployment levels (Kincheloe and Steinberg, 2007).

Another benefit of education is on the family planning by the educated white women who are aware of the techniques unlike the black women who may not read the basic instructions hence end up having many unplanned children. This affects the population problems among the poorer races hence overpopulation complexities like health problems affect them a lot.

Education in all levels ranging from the lower grades to the university level is important in reducing gender disparities and empowering women since they learn to socialize with other learners from diverse backgrounds and this is very vital in fostering tolerance to culture differences and corporation among the learners. This is needed for economic and social interdependentness especially for women in resolving the conflicts and gender related violence through dialogue. This is not true among the black American women and other small ethnic groups since they do not access full education.

Education systems also offer special education skills to the learners like the skills for the blind, the deaf, the lame and the mentally retarded individuals. The learners are taught the Braille, the dolphin pen etc that would go along way in empowering them socially and economically. Disabled learners from the minority races have minimal access to these services and therefore most of them fail to exploit their full potential (Bbigbola).

Statistics by the USA bureau of statistics on the incomes of the educated black women and men are demonstrated below:

Median Annual Income, by Level of Education, 1990–2006:

Statistics above reveal that educated men are paid higher than women of the same education level. This indicates adverse gender disparity among the blacks and other smaller ethnic minorities. The wage rate generally is lower in comparison to those of the majority ethnic groups with the same education level.

Gender and ethnicity has also been addressed by the education systems whereby currently all individuals regardless of their gender or the ethnic background can venture into any education specialization like engineering, law, anthropology among others without reservations (Kincheloe and Steinberg, 2007). This has attempted to close inequality gap and reduce the gender related aggressions but the minorities encounter other problems that may result in drop outs and this affect them once they become adults. The ethnicity mentality among the blacks has also not been rooted out since most people from disadvantaged backgrounds have not fully attained higher education in the current society.

Educated persons in urban environment are able to secure formal employment where they are paid attractively as compared to those in the rural setting where job vacancies are minimal and are poorly paid. Educated individuals in rural areas do not have access to many investment opportunities like the stock markets which are found in cities therefore they lack diversification means in real estates.

Standard of education in rural areas is quite low compared to the education in cities and this brings disparities in the learning levels. The rural folks practice farming as an additional vocation; their educational needs are wanting and they should be upgraded to help solve the complex problems in the environment.

Education system has also enabled medical doctors to carry out intensive researches into the cause of the incurable diseases like AIDS. This has made the health care very unaffordable among the poor minorities who do not have adequate education and hence the death rates and suffering among them is still alarming (Dunn A.). In addition, infant mortality has not achieved considerable decline among the blacks as compared to those from the whites.

Education has tremendous socioeconomic benefits for the minorities but more efforts need to be input in education by the government for all the community groups in USA to realize comparable benefits.

References

Dunn A, (2004). Malaria knowledge Programme: policy Brief. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine UK;

Ewoigbokhan SE: Morbidity Data and their Interpretation for Nigerian Children.Paper presented at a seminar on Applied Research on Child Health. 2000.

Fevisetan BJ, Sola Asa, Ebigbola, J. (2000). A mothers Management of Childhood Diseases in Yoruba Land; The Influence of Cultural Beliefs, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 1999 Cal, Maryland: National Population Commission (England)

Hodge RW (1964): “Occupational Prestige in the United States, 1925–1963”. American Journal of Sociology 1964, 70.

Joe L. Kincheloe, Shirley R. Steinberg (2007). Cutting class: socioeconomic status and education‎. New York: Rowman & Littlefield

Wag staff A: Socio economic Inequalities in Child Mortality; Comparisons across Nine Developing Countries. Bulletin of the WHO 2000, 78(1):19-29.

Introduction

This quantitative correlational study aimed to determine the relationship between the quality of care for minority children of low socioeconomic status and their language and literacy development. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS) were used to address this task (Ruzek et al., 2014). According to Ruzek et al. (2014), these scales are used to evaluate “the extent to which adults provide frequent stimulating and sensitive interactions” for children to work with “a variety of age-appropriate objects” and to guarantee the focus on children’s health and safety concerning their environment” (p. 121). Thus, the role of ECERS was to use a reliable and valid test that assessed the academic performance of young students in a synthesis of family and socioeconomic characteristics and the overall cultural diversity of the family. The role of FCCERS was also driven by the need for a reliable and valid assessment tool that assesses not only the quality of early childhood learning but also the parameters of their environment, including family, hygiene, teachers, and interactions. In other words, the ECERS and FCCERS covered the need for generalized observation of the sample in this study. The target population included parents of minority children of low socioeconomic status. Minority status in this study was defined according to ethnic characteristics and included families belonging to different non-White racial or ethnic groups, as described by Cabrera (2013). A sample of 31 parents was drawn from the target population, but only 29 parents ended up participating in the experiment based on data collection.

When the study was initially conceived, the goal was a larger sample size and a sample that would include teachers. However, the rapid and unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic led to decreased accessibility as schools across the country switched to an online model, leading to the need to prohibit on-site study. A non-probability, purposive sampling technique was used to recruit only participants from the target population. The study site for the project was Alps Road Elementary School in Clark County, Georgia. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between childcare and language and literacy development in socioeconomic minority children.

Population and Sample

The target population for this study is parents of low socioeconomic minority children who attend elementary school in urban areas of Clarke County, GA. The urban elementary school, Alps Road Elementary, was chosen as the study site. The students at this school are from an ethnically diverse community, and the diversity score is 0.35. This school’s total number of students was 425 by 2022, with a social and ethnic minority enrollment rate of 94% (PSR, 2022). The enrollment of black students at this school is higher than the Georgia state average, and the gender composition of the children is roughly similar: 51% girls and 49% boys. Up to 92% of the students at this school are eligible for free lunch, which means that the percentage of families with lower incomes in this population is slightly higher than the state average. In other words, the selected population is ethnically diverse with a significant inclusion of various socioeconomic minorities. This fully satisfied the chosen focus of the study because it allowed us to examine the quality of care for children from socioeconomic minority groups concerning their language and literacy development.

A primary sample of 31 parents of students was drawn from this population. The sample was drawn from parents who met the given ethnic identity and income criteria. More specifically, any parent in the sample was a parent of an ethnic minority child, had an annual income below $39500, and had concerns about their child’s education quality. A nonprobability purposive sampling technique was used to select participants from the minority group. The purposive sampling technique was used instead of probability sampling because only parents belonging to a socioeconomic minority group need to be recruited (Neuman, 2014). Parents whose children were eligible for free lunch were included in the study. Parents were then contacted via email to inform them of the study and obtain their consent to provide the assessment results and answer the survey questions. After contacting the school principal, permission to use the email was obtained from the parents. Of the 31 parents, only two could not complete the questionnaire fully, so their results were excluded from further analysis; thus, the number of participants in the final sample was reduced to 29.

Research Procedures

Before beginning the study, the researcher sought approval from the North Central University Institutional Review Board while providing county approval and permission to conduct the study. After approval, informed consent forms were provided to parents and teachers to sign before the study began. Parents were also provided with FERPA permission forms for the researcher to access their children’s educational assessments (archived ORF assessments). However, personally identifiable information was to be kept confidential. After receiving the signed forms, the questionnaires were emailed to parents with instructions for completion within three days. Completed questionnaires were collected and stored in a digital folder. The data was submitted by teachers with parental permission after signing the informed consent forms. After all, data were collected and sorted, statistical analysis procedures were used, including correlational data processing and a Cronbach’s Alpha criterion validity assessment. This allowed us to judge the prevalent patterns in the sample and determine the relationship between quality of care for a given socioeconomic group and literacy and language development.

Data Collection and Analysis

Scores from the Likert scales adopted for the ECERS and FCCERS tests were taken for further analysis. The collected numerical data were analyzed using SPSS v. 23 and MS Excel, traditionally used for statistical analysis. A Spearman rank correlation analysis was conducted to determine the magnitude and direction of the correlation between the quality of care and language and literacy skills to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses. Additional correlation analyses were conducted to determine the effect of caregiving on literacy and language. Correlation analyses provided results to test the hypotheses formulated for this study (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017; Neuman, 2014). Correlation analysis was chosen to provide insight into the relationship between quantitative variables related to the same group of participants. To put it another way, this type of statistical tool allows us to assess the strength and direction of a potential relationship between two or more variables; the test results show what may be happening to one of the variables while the other is increasing. Meanwhile, Spearman’s rank correlation was chosen because ECERS and FCCERS are Likert questionnaires that give ordinal or rank scores. The coefficient of determination (R2) was used to represent the effect size for statistically significant outcomes. R2 values range from 0 to 1 — the specific number corresponds to the percentage of the variance of all data covered by the mathematical model constructed; thus, the highest number in this range corresponds to the more robust model.

Assumptions

The present study included several critical assumptions, the statement of which was an essential part of the overall validity of the results. The first assumption was that a nonparametric purposive, nonprobability-based parental sample was more appropriate than a probability-based sample because it was necessary to focus only on children from low socioeconomic minority backgrounds. To mitigate the adverse effects of this assumption, the researcher avoided self-selection in the study, which can be defined as a situation where participants decide on their participation in the study before they are recruited. Another assumption was that the correlational research design was maximized to address the research questions and hypotheses (Neuman, 2014). This assumption was also related to the premise that the regression analysis could demonstrate the prediction of relationships rather than the degree of association. Possible negative consequences were mitigated by reconciling the questions, hypotheses, and research methods.

Limitations

The study design also had several limitations; the main one was that only a certain number of participants were included, based on the chosen setting. The small sample size may have affected the reliability of the results, so an attempt was made to address this limitation by changing the focus of the study to examine correlations related to the Clarke County setting. The small sample size was due to limitations associated with COVID-19. It is known that small samples can cause undesirable bias in results, so steps were taken to minimize this effect. In addition, the questionnaires were self-administered by parents, which may have been their increased bias toward their children. Parents could not objectively assess their children’s level of knowledge and socioeconomic status, so their ratings might have been inflated compared to reality. Another limitation is that the scales used in the questionnaires were taken from research related to the topic of this study. However, the purpose of this study may have differed from the purpose of the selected studies (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017). In other words, the limitation was determined by the possibility of valid extrapolation of previously published scales by other authors for this experiment. This limitation was addressed by adapting the scales and questionnaires to fit the purpose of this study.

Delimitations

The first delimitation focused only on the language and literacy development of low socioeconomic minority children. This choice was based on the literature on the issue. To mitigate the effects of this distinction, the research questions were framed in terms of the existing literature. The second distinction was related to the choice of variables to study using correlational analysis (Hoy & Adams, 2016). To mitigate the negative potential of this distinction, variables were chosen based on the purpose of the study and information in the studied literature on the issue.

Ethical Safeguards

The study received approval from North Central University’s Institutional Review Board before data collection. Ethical issues that were considered included protecting participants from harm and protecting participants’ confidentiality and anonymity. Parents and teachers included in the study and represented children from low socioeconomic minorities signed informed consent forms. The data collected was coded with identification numbers and securely stored digitally (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017). These aspects met the requirements of The Belmont Report 1976 to demonstrate respect for the individual and guarantee the use of informed consent forms (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). In addition, the study was based on the principle of fairness and social benefit, which was also a criterion of The Belmont Report 1976. Finally, maximum efforts were made by the researcher to ensure the well-being of all parties involved in the experiment. Thus, the researcher ensured an unbiased and objective analysis of the data without subjective interpretation by verifying the data by the assigned supervisors.

Conclusion

Chapter three discusses the appropriate methodology and research design, focusing on the quantitative correlational design chosen for this study. This study addressed the problem of delayed language and literacy development in children from low socioeconomic backgrounds due to a lack of proper care by caregivers. This quantitative correlational study aimed to determine the relationship between the quality of caregiving among low-socioeconomic status minorities and their language and literacy development. The chapter also provides details regarding the sample, instruments, and operational definitions of the variables. Research procedures and approaches to data analysis focus on correlational analysis (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017). Assumptions, limitations, and distinctions are also listed in this chapter, along with ethical concerns; the following chapter presents the study results.

References

Cabrera, N. J. (2013). Positive development of minority children. Social Policy Report, 27(2), 3-22.

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (1979). The Belmont report [PDF document]. Web.

Edmonds, W. A., & Kennedy, T. D. (2017). An applied reference guide to research designs:

Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Hoy, W. K., & Adams, C. M. (2016). Quantitative research in education: A primer (2nd ed.). New York, NY: SAGE Publications.

Neuman, W. L. (2014). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (7th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

PSR. (2022). Alps Road Elementary School. Public School Review. Web.

Ruzek, E., Burchinal, M., Farkas, G., & Duncan, G. (2014). The quality of toddler child care and cognitive skills at 24 months: Propensity score analysis results from the ECLS-B. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(1), 12-21.