Social position can affects a person's risk for health problems as well as the quality and quantity of health care. Hollingshead developed an index for social position for a "nuclear family" based on each spouse's occupation and education. The author was at Yale University.
|
Scale |
Status |
Score |
|
occupation |
higher executive, proprietor of a large concern, major professional |
9 |
|
|
business manager, proprietor of a medium-sized business, lesser professional, administrators |
8 |
|
|
administrative personnel, proprietor of a small independent business, minor professional |
7 |
|
|
owner of a small business, technician, semi-professional |
6 |
|
|
clerical and sales worker, small farm owner, smaller business owner |
5 |
|
|
skilled manual employee, craftsman, tenant farmer, smallest business owner |
4 |
|
|
machine operator, semi-skilled worker |
3 |
|
|
unskilled worker |
2 |
|
|
farm laborer, menial service worker |
1 |
|
education |
graduate professional training |
7 |
|
|
standard college or university graduate |
6 |
|
|
partial college training |
5 |
|
|
high school graduate |
4 |
|
|
partial high school training |
3 |
|
|
junior high school (7th to 9th grade) |
2 |
|
|
less than 7 years of schooling |
1 |
where:
• The prestige of certain occupations may depend on one's perspective. A locomotive engineer (scored 4) is viewed by some as a very prestigious position.
• A retired person is scored as if he or she were still working.
social status score for a person =
= ((occupation scale score) * 5) + ((education scale score) * 3)
where:
• 5 is the factor weight for occupation
• 3 is the factor weight for education
social status score for a couple with 1 spouse working =
= (social status score for working spouse)
social status score for a couple with both spouses working =
= ((social status score for one spouse) + (social status for other spouse)) / 2
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 8
• maximum score: 66
• The higher the score, the higher the ranking in social position.
|
Social Score |
Social Class |
|
8 - 19 |
unskilled laborers, menial service workers |
|
20 - 29 |
machine operators, semi-skilled workers |
|
30 - 39 |
skilled craftsman, clerical and sales workers |
|
40 - 54 |
medium business and minor professional, technical |
|
55 - 66 |
major business and professional |
Differences from the 2 factor index:
(1) The point assignment and scoring is reversed.
(2) There are 9 levels for occupation vs 7.
(3) The weighting factors for occupation and education are different.
(4) I did not see a category for the unemployed.
Limitations:
• The "nuclear" family has changed a bit since 1975, with divorce and same sex relationships coloring the mix.
• I am not sure how a part-time worker would be classified.
• I am not sure that a traditional houseperson should be left out of the scoring. Managing a large household can be like a running a small business, while social networking can raise the couple's social status.
Specialty: Emergency Medicine, Critical Care
