The socio-economic patterning of health and smoking behaviour among mothers with young children on income support

The paper is set against the backdrop of the increase in the number of households in the UK in receipt of means-tested benefits. Focusing on women in households with children, it examines two issues: the limitations of conventional measures of socio-economic position and the contribution that alternative measures can make to the analysis of socio-economic variations in health in claimant households. These issues are illustrated by a British survey of mothers caring for young children on income support. The data point to relative disadvantage within this low-income group and the difficulties of capturing its range and degree within conventional socio-economic measures. Analyses examine the contribution which conventional and alternative indicators of socio-economic position make to predicting the odds of poor health and cigarette smoking among mothers in the survey. We conclude that the use of conventional measures may result in an underestimation of the strength of the association between relative disadvantage, poorer health and smoking behaviour within claimant groups, and that alternative measures need to be developed if the scale and health-impact of disadvantage is to be accurately reflected in surveys of health and lifestyles.