Question

Please can someone explain briefly or with example the following:

Class affects more than our lifestyle. It impacts physical & metal well-being. How so?

How do class differences have a significant impact on how we live?

Answer 1

• Sociologists agree that social class, determined by education, income, and occupation levels, impacts families and shapes lives and opportunities. Poor families have fewer material resources and opportunities, and often live in neighborhoods and school districts that are less desirable.
• Class affects whether someone is going to be accepted into a particular kind of school, their likelihood of succeeding in that school, the kinds of jobs they have access to, the kinds of friends they make, in essence, the degree of status, power and perks people enjoy or lack in their daily lives.
• Because lower ranking people have fewer resources and opportunities than those of relatively high rank, they tend to believe that external, uncontrollable social forces and others' power have correspondingly greater influence over their lives. Success for them, therefore, depends on how well they can "read," rely on and help out others.
• By contrast, those who enjoy more resources and greater class status live in contexts that enhance their personal power and freedom larger and safer living spaces, the means to buy high-priced goods and experiences, and education that provides access to influential people, ideas and venues. These conditions give rise to a more self-focused approach to life.
• Having more space, material goods, money and free time makes it easier for wealthy people to buy their way out of problems, take a vacation when things get stressful, or otherwise avoid or mitigate everyday stresses.On the other hand,taking a vacation to de-stress one self is not that easy for someone belonging to a lower class since they do not have that much money to splurge.
• People in lower ranks also feel embarrassed to interact with higher class people because of the lack of enough money and having a different lifestyle.People belonging to a particular social class mostly tend to interact and befriend people from similar class.
• Physical and mental well being does gets affected especially for lower class people since they cannot afoord higher or expensive education for their children.good medical treatments in private hospitals or even sometimes going to good expensive restaurant. The lack of opportunities definitely makes people feel stressed out all the time.
• Some of them lack good employment opportunities which makes the gap between social classes even bigger thus leading people towards taking extreme steps like suicide,when they cannot cope with the lack of money.
• Poorer neighborhoods tend to have fewer grocery stores and more fast food chains than wealthier neighborhoods, increasing nutrition problems and the risk of conditions, such as heart disease. Similarly, poorer neighborhoods tend to have fewer recreational facilities and higher crime rates than wealthier ones, which decreases the feasibility of routine exercise.
• Members of different classes encounter different stressors—lower class people likely face more financial stress as it pertains to day-to-day sustenance and well-being, while upper class people might experience stress from the intense social pressures associated with elite circles.