Switzerland: being poor is extremely dangerous for your health

Low social status in Switzerland is extremely dangerous for health

Nine out of ten people with a tertiary degree feel healthy. On the contrary, only two out of three people with compulsory schooling have no symptoms. This also applies to people with a migration background, especially the first generation.

People with low social status are more affected by risk factors for cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, and back pain than people with high social status. Here’s what the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) found in its assessment of the 2017 Swiss Health Survey (SGB) released on Tuesday.

In the health sector, what is known as a social gradient generally applies: The more unfavorable the social situation, the worse the state of health. This relationship is determined by factors such as level of education or income; immigration status can also play a role. Health-related behavior or use of health care also differs based on social status, which in turn has an impact on health.

“This social gradient can also be clearly identified in Switzerland,” writes the FSO.

One in three uneducated people has high blood pressure

The relationship between education and health is more than clear in the self-evaluation of the respondents: Only two-thirds of people without post-compulsory education describe their health status as good or very good.

On the contrary, it is eight out of ten for people with upper secondary education and nine out of ten for people with tertiary education. “This difference in social status can be seen in most indicators of physical health,” according to the FSO.

The main risk factors for cardiovascular disease are high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity, insufficient physical activity, and tobacco use. For example, people with high cholesterol are 5.2 times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people with normal cholesterol levels.

People without post-compulsory qualifications suffer from high blood pressure significantly more often than people with an upper secondary or tertiary education (31 percent compared to 22 and 14 percent, respectively). They are also more likely to have high cholesterol levels (19 percent versus 15 and 12 percent) and more likely to have diabetes (8 versus 5 and 4).

The longer in Switzerland, the sicker

First-generation migrants from eastern, southeastern and southwestern Europe feel particularly ill. This is generally associated with low social status, especially a minimal level of education. The proportion of people who rate their health status from “moderate” to “very poor” is 16 percentage points higher among first-generation migrants from southwestern Europe than among the population without a migration background, with the same gender and structure old.

The fact that the first generation fare worse than the second is obviously not generally related to the fact that these people were born abroad and their children were not. Immigrants apparently only experience deteriorating health in Switzerland. “The longer migrants stay in Switzerland, the worse their health,” observed the FSO.

Migration affects the mind and makes you fat

It is clear that migration exerts a special pressure on the soul: almost all population groups with a migratory background are at increased risk of suffering from high psychological stress and depression. This is particularly clear for first-generation people from Southwest Europe (plus 9 percentage points) and first-generation people from Eastern and Southeast Europe (plus 6 percentage points).

“Some of the differences can be traced back to social differences, but the lack of social support in particular also has a clear influence,” explains the FSO.

As in the general population, the weight of immigrants is also correlated with the level of education and social status. The proportion of overweight people increases in almost all population groups with a migratory background, even among the second generation (plus 9 percentage points). For migrants, however, “the specific factors of migration and lifestyle” are clearly more important than their social status. (sda)