A Researcher's Guide to the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification

(2003) - Nancy Krieger

Journal: Journal of Public Health Policy
Link::
DOI:: 10.2307/3343389
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Tags:: #paper #SocialClass #NS-SEC
Cite Key:: [@Krieger2003]

Abstract

One key objective of contemporary US public health practice, as stated in Healthy People 201O's overarching goal #z, is "to eliminate health disparities among segments of the population, including differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation" (i). As comprehensive as this list is, however, one category highly relevant to social disparities in health is missing: occupation (z).

Notes

“Not only is occupation the link that binds education and income -in that we attain educational credentials enabling us to be employed in certain jobs, at which we earn a wage or salar” (Krieger, 2003, p. [468])

“NS-SEC is based on a relational analysis of class, rather than on "skill" (io-iz). Key distinctions reflect z different kinds of labor contracts (I z): (a) a "service relationship," in which "the employee renders 'service' to the employer in return for 'compensation' in terms of both immediate rewards (e.g., salary) and long-term or prospective benefits (e.g., assurances of security and career opportunities"); and (b) a "labour contract," in which "employees give discrete amounts of labour in return for a wage calculated on amount of work done or by time worked." Occupations with mixtures of these z types of relationships are deemed "intermediate."” (Krieger, 2003, p. 470)