The Effects of Social Stratification on Health

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between social stratification and health inequality through a mixed-methods experimental design that integrates quantitative modeling with qualitative analysis. Using national survey data, census records, and administrative health databases from 2019 to 2021, alongside interviews and focus groups with participants from diverse socioeconomic strata, the research identifies robust associations between structural disadvantage and adverse health outcomes. Quantitative findings revealed that lower socioeconomic status, limited education, and occupational precarity were strongly correlated with higher morbidity, reduced life expectancy, and limited access to preventive healthcare services. Concentration indices confirmed that health disparities were disproportionately concentrated among the poorest quintiles, while geospatial clustering highlighted elevated obesity prevalence and infant mortality in deprived neighborhoods. Regression modeling further established that income inequality significantly predicted disparities in preventive service usage and chronic disease prevalence. Complementary qualitative analysis illuminated the lived experiences of exclusion, discrimination, and chronic stress, which reinforced the statistical evidence of inequality. Taken together, the study demonstrates that health inequality is systematically produced by entrenched forms of social stratification that intersect with race, gender, and geography to deepen disadvantage. These findings underscore the necessity of equity-driven policy interventions, including redistributive social protections, expansion of universal healthcare, and targeted support for marginalized communities. The research contributes to the growing body of scholarship emphasizing that health disparities are structural rather than individual in nature, highlighting urgent societal and policy implications for reducing inequality in an era of widening socioeconomic divides.