Health and social inequities in the Federal Republic of Germany

The close relationship between social class and health status makes for the fact that indicators of health are supposed to tell something about the general conditions of life in the social structure of a particular country. This is one reason why trends in health and social inequities are to the foremost interest of the sociologist. Because the epidemiological literature in the Federal Republic does not allow one to consider trends over time, this paper tries to construct indicators from official statistics which have been regularly collected. The set of indicators discussed include data on mortality, age-at-death, morbidity as well as data related to health care and health risks. This discussion shows that, despite improving life expectancy and age-at-death figures, the major social class differential in health status has remained relatively stable over time, with a minor trend toward reduction in some figures. Since official statistics focus mainly on persons who are integrated in the labour market, only some groups with special risks may be detected. More information is certainly needed on disadvantaged groups with probably high health risks like the unemployed and those who subsist on welfare payments.