The impact of social stratification on morbidity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose Socioeconomic status (SES) has been known to be associated with many aspects of social life such as health. We argue that social stratification remains relevant in understanding differentials in health during a pandemic, as countries globally have encouraged or enforced social distancing and remote work measures. Design/methodology/approach By examining data sources and news reports on the COVID-19 pandemic, we aim to highlight the relationship between SES and morbidity, through the ability to adopt social distancing measures and work remotely. Utilizing publicly available data from the Maryland Transport Institute and the US Census, we performed linear regressions on median income, social distancing index and percentage of individuals working from home. Findings Individuals with higher SES are more likely to have jobs that provide opportunities for remote work to be performed, which allows for social distancing. Comparatively, individuals with lower SES are more likely to be involved in jobs that cannot be performed remotely. The linear regression models suggest a positive moderate and significant correlation between median income and social distancing index (R-2 = 0.4981,p-value < 0.001), and a positive weak and significant correlation between median income and remote work (R-2 = 0.2460,p-value < 0.001). Research limitations/implications Governments need to account for SES in policymaking to reduce inequalities in health. Originality/value The paper aims to improve the understanding of social stratification and morbidity through examining data on the COVID-19 pandemic.