Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation.
Examinations of socioeconomic status often reveal inequities in access to resources, plus issues related to privilege, power and control.
Adapted from APA’s Socioeconomic Status Office publications
What You Can Do
- Children, Youth and Families & Socioeconomic Status
Learn how socioeconomic status affects psychological and physical health, education and family well-being.
- Education & Socioeconomic Status
This fact sheet explains the impact socioeconomic status has on educational outcomes.
- Ethnic and Racial Minorities & Socioeconomic Status
Learn how socioeconomic status affects the lives of many racial and ethnic minorities.
- Violence & Socioeconomic Status
This fact sheet explains how exposure to violence affects education, employment and other socioeconomic factors.
Getting Help
News
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Social rank 'linked to immunity'
April 10, 2012, BBC
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Are rich people more unethical?
February 27, 2012, CNN
Monitor on Psychology Articles
- Driving out cancer disparities
March 2012
- The recession's toll on children
September 2010
- Children in poverty
November 2009
- A ladder of health
October 2009
- The price of affluence
January 2009
- APA adds an Office and Committee on Socioeconomic Status
January 2008
Books
APA Offices and Programs
- Socioeconomic Status Office
The Office on Socioeconomic Status is responsible for directing, overseeing, facilitating and promoting psychology’s contribution to the understanding of SES and the lives and well-being of the poor.
