H. Graham et C. Blackburn, THE SOCIOECONOMIC PATTERNING OF HEALTH AND SMOKING-BEHAVIOR AMONG MOTHERS WITH YOUNG-CHILDREN ON INCOME SUPPORT, Sociology of health & illness, 20(2), 1998, pp. 215-240
The paper is set against the backdrop of the increase in the number of
households in the UK in receipt of means-tested benefits. Focusing on
women in households with children, it examines two issues: the limita
tions of conventional measures of socio-economic position and the cont
ribution that alternative measures can make to the analysis of socio-e
conomic variations in health in claimant households. These issues are
illustrated by a British survey of mothers caring for young children o
n income support. The data point to relative disadvantage within this
low-income group and the difficulties of capturing its range and degre
e within conventional socio-economic measures. Analyses examine the co
ntribution which conventional and alternative indicators of socio-econ
omic position make to predicting the odds of poor health and cigarette
smoking among mothers in the survey. We conclude that the use of conv
entional measures may result in an underestimation of the strength of
the association between relative disadvantage, poorer health and smoki
ng behaviour within claimant groups, and that alternative measures nee
d to be developed if the scale and health-impact of disadvantage is to
be accurately reflected in surveys of health and lifestyles.