Social, material and health characteristics of the study sample for low and high socioeconomic status (SES) at different life ages (%)
| Age 16 (n=991) | Age 21 (n=988) | Age 30 (n=980) | Age 42 (n=1001) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Low SES (n=376) | High SES (n=611) | Low SES (n=621) | High SES (n=364) | Low SES (n=421) | High SES (n=551) | Low SES (n=346) | High SES (n=646) |
| Gender (men) | 53.99 | 50.90 | 56.2* | 45.6 | 55.82* | 49.18 | 56.94* | 49.54 |
| Social adversities | ||||||||
| Residential instability | 20.74 | 19.15 | 21.90 | 18.68 | – | – | – | – |
| Illness (parental/close one) | 37.78* | 27.21 | 26.23 | 31.11 | 22.56 | 20.85 | 47.08* | 40.53 |
| Death of close one | – | – | 27.85 | 26.46 | 17.36 | 18.96 | 39.77 | 36.18 |
| Separation (parental/own) | 30.32* | 17.84 | – | – | 8.45 | 7.52 | 38.89* | 32.08 |
| Social isolation | – | – | – | – | 18.91* | 9.42 | 17.29* | 12.58 |
| Violence/threat | – | – | – | – | 18.07* | 11.33 | 17.68* | 11.61 |
| Low decision latitude | – | – | – | – | 40.57* | 13.11 | 41.67* | 13.12 |
| Material adversities | ||||||||
| Unemployment (parental/own) | 19.33* | 7.72 | 8.99 | 6.58 | 14.39* | 6.35 | 15.19* | 3.53 |
| Spousal unemployment | – | – | – | – | 41.58* | 25.88 | 10.32* | 3.83 |
| Poor material standard | 35.90* | 25.20 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Residential crowding | 11.70* | 4.91 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Low income | – | – | 11.31* | 29.38 | – | – | – | – |
| Low cash margin | – | – | 32.58* | 18.96 | 34.20* | 12.68 | 18.68* | 5.58 |
| Financial strain | – | – | – | – | 29.50* | 17.49 | 29.33* | 17.41 |
| Functional somatic symptoms† | 3.49 (2.59) | 3.27 (2.57) | 3.01 (2.66)* | 2.50 (2.21) | 4.14 (2.99)* | 3.40 (2.85) | 4.82 (3.56)* | 3.93 (3.12) |
*p<0.05 (χ2 test, t test for health outcome).
†Mean and SD in brackets.