Income and Expenditure  Income is the money that a person gets each week to live on. Income mainly comes from:  Wages that a person is paid for working  Profits from a business if a person is self employed  Benefits that are paid by the government to help people  Money from invested wealth such as interest on bank accounts  Money from selling property that a person owns.  In the UK, roughly one person in six lives on less than 60% of an average person’s income. This level of income is called a low income. People who have to live on a low income may not have enough money to cover the expenditure or cost of an average lifestyle. People on a low income may have enough money for food, for some clothing and for purchases and exciting lifestyles. People who depend on benefits have electronic equipment, and so on, may not be choices that people on low incomes can afford. This may result in low self esteem and a negative self concept.  Key groups of people who have to live on very little money include lone parent families, people who are unemployed, elderly people, people who are sick or disabled, single earners and unskilled couples.  There is a great deal of evidence to show that people on low incomes tend to have worse health than people who are wealthy. People who live in households where no one has a job often have worse health than people who are employed.  This difference in health and length of life is probably caused by the problems that poorer people face such as poor housing, diet, stress from debt and crime and negative thinking about themselves

Environment  People with lower incomes tend to live in more densely occupied housing areas. Research shows that these areas may be more stressful to live in because of the following factors:  Crime – including burglary and personal attacks  Poor travel facilities  More chance of being woken up at night  Noise form neighbours  Vandalism  Busy roads and traffic fumes creating pollution  Litter and rubbish  Graffiti  Living in a stressful environment may have a negative influence in a person’s self image and self esteem.  Possible positive – a good local environment may create a safe setting to play, explore and make friends.  Possible Negative – Poor neighbourhoods may suffer a combination of poor housing high rates of crime, unemployment and family disruption.

Housing  Poor housing may contribute towards a wide range of hazards to physical health and safety as well as having a negative effect on development. Poor housing may be:  Windows kept shut to conserve warmth – resulting in poor ventilation  Damp patch on the wall from broken gutters outside – risk of infection from fungal spores  Poor hygiene maintenance of bathroom facilities – increased risk of skin and other contagious diseases  Overcrowding may increase interpersonal stress and, coupled with other stressors, may lead to poor mental health  Poor maintenance of building – increased accident risk  Possible positive – good housing can provide a comfortable setting to live a healthy life and study.  Possible negative – poor housing can create stress and damage physical and metal health. Overcrowded housing may make it difficult to study.

Culture  The way we behave, the language we speak, the diet we eat, the way that we dress and our lifestyle are all part of our culture. Culture includes the things which make one group different and distinctive from another.  Culture gives us a set of rules or expectations which help us to understand each other, and to know how to react in certain situations. Very often we do not even know that we are working with the culture we are surrounded by; we just do ‘what is normal’ and fit in. Because society is made up of different sorts of people, brought up in different circumstances or places, and following different beliefs and religions, different cultures can be diverse. We tend to follow tend to follow the way we were brought up, and the influences of the people around us.

Gender  Assumptions were and still are made that women were considered to have a lower social status than men. They would look after the children, do the housework, cook, clean and tidy up and any other right jobs around the house. Men did what were considered to be the more valuable administrative, management and labouring jobs.  Women now have equal opportunities in education and employment. However current figures suggests that women’s pay is 18% lower than men’s. Women still hold fewer top jobs and seem to profit less from school teaching – often these jobs are not highly paid. Men often get the more highly paid jobs, such as becoming head teachers, even within areas of work dominated by women. When it comes to domestic work, men still generally do less of the childcare, washing and cooking, although they may do more gardening and maintenance jobs.  Possible positive – some people may not experience disadvantage. Some people may not be discriminated against.  Possible negative – some groups of people may experience disadvantage. In the past, women did not have the same opportunities and men.

Access to Services  Low income and unemployed people may not be bale to access services as well as wealthier people. There is some evidence that in the past doctors spent more time with wealthy and well educated people. It may be that more confident and well educated people can influence doctors to take greater interest in their needs. Wealthier, employed people also seem to take more notice of health education and have healthier lifestyles.  Wealthy people can afford private health care and health checks, so a poor or long term unemployed person may not get their health needs met as effectively as other people.  Possible positive – well off neighbourhoods may have good access to quality health and educational services.  Possible negative – poor neighbourhoods may have less access to good quality health and education.

Education  Everyone goes to school, and colleges are open to everyone. Even so, there is evidence that schools in wealthier districts achieve higher standards and sometimes often more opportunity to their students. Some parents even move house in order to send their children to what they think is ‘a good school’.  Wealthier parents often pay for their children to attend independent/private schools, because they believe this will give their children better qualifications, skills and friends that can help with their career.  Possible positive – good opportunities will support the child’s intellectual development and career needs.  Possible negative –lack of good opportunities might mean that adults do not have the skills they need. Adults without basic skills are more likely to be unemployed.

The Family  The kind of family we are born into can have a great influence on our development.  A family is a social group made up of people who are ‘related’ to each other. Belonging to a family can have many advantages – family relationships can provide a safe, care setting for children.  Family groups can guide and teach children, and they can provide a sources of social and emotional support for adults and older family members as well as children.  Below are some positive influences that the family might provide:  A network of people who can give emotional support and advice  A setting for learning social expectations (socialisation)  A safe environment to support children  Financial help  Belonging to a family group may help people to develop positive self esteem  Practical support such as babysitting or help with household repairs  Care for older relatives  Families may also create stress when there are tensions between family members.

Friends  Friends are very important. Friends can help us to do practical things like housework, find a job, repair a car, choose a new outfit. Friends can also help us emotionally. They can listen to us and protect us if we feel stressed. Friends can help us sort out our worries and help us to have an interesting and enjoyable life. Friends help us with:  Practical tasks  Emotional needs  Social life  People without friends will probably have a harder and less enjoyable life than people with many friends.  Friends influence the things we believe in and the values we hold. Early in life, our family influences us. This influence is called primary or first socialisation. Our friends can influence the way we behave and dress. The friends we mix with during our adolescence can have a long lasting influence on our future. If a person mixes with friends who think it is important to try hard at school, they will probably try hard too. If a person mixes with friends who takes drugs, they may copy what their friends do. Some people feel under pressure to do what their friends do even if its wrong. This is called ‘peer group pressure’.  Possible positive – positive views may guide people to develop self confidence and effective careers.  Possible negative – the beliefs of the people that a person mixes with will influence the individual. If the individual mixes with people who have negative views, they may be socialised into beliefs that could limit their opportunities.

Discrimination  Discrimination is a serious problem because it can:  Harm people’s sense of self esteem and value  Block people from making the most of their lives  Harm people through verbal and physical abuse  Lead to people not getting quality care and services  Possible positive – some groups of people may not be subject to discrimination. Some people may be fortunate enough to grow up in a non discriminatory environment.  Possible negative – some groups such as ethnic minorities, older people and people with disabilities may experience discrimination.