Social gradient

How it is used

Made famous by the Whitehall studies of British civil servants and the work of Michael Marmot. Researchers describe a steep or shallow social gradient in health. 'Proportionate universalism' is the idea of acting across the whole gradient, with more effort where need is greater.

Example sentences

1. The data show a clear social gradient in childhood obesity across all five income groups.

2. Policies aimed only at the poorest will not flatten the social gradient.

Common collocations

• social gradient in health
• steep social gradient
• proportionate universalism
• flatten the gradient

Related terms

• health inequalitiesDifferences in health, such as life expectancy or disease rates, between groups of people defined by income, area, ethnicity, gender or other social factors.
• socioeconomic statusA person's or group's position in society based on a combination of income, education and occupation, often used to compare health between social groups.
• social determinants of healthThe conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, such as income, education, housing and employment, which strongly shape their health.
• life expectancyThe average number of years a person of a given age can expect to live if current death rates stay the same, most often reported as life expectancy at birth.

More terms: Social Determinants and Equity

• health equity
• access to healthcare
• vulnerable groups
• food insecurity