The intersectional effects of sex and socioeconomic status on risk of mortality in industrializing England

Objectives

Intersectionality posits that multiple levels of marginalization interact to produce patterns of frailty and mortality, both today and in the past. To investigate how mortality during industrialization was selective with respect to sex and socioeconomic status (SES), this study analyzes data from four burial grounds dated to the 18th–19th centuries in England: St. Bride's Fleet Street, Coach Lane, St. Peter's Collegiate Church, and New Bunhill Fields.

Materials and Methods

St. Bride's was considered the high SES group, and Coach Lane, St. Peter's, and New Bunhill Fields were separately and collectively analyzed as the low SES groups. Sex (in individuals aged 18+ years) was modeled as a covariate affecting the Gompertz model of mortality, and SES (in individuals for whom age could be estimated) was modeled as a covariate affecting the Siler and Gompertz models of mortality.

Results

The results indicate that sex influenced risk of mortality among adults in the high SES group. High SES males faced lower risks of death compared to high SES females. The results also suggest that SES influenced risk of mortality across all ages. High SES individuals were at reduced risks of death compared to low SES individuals.

Conclusions

Increased mortality risks among individuals of low SES was likely due to the low standards of living common in the impoverished areas of cities in industrializing England. However, in accordance with intersectionality, the benefits of high status were unequally distributed among adults in the high SES group, suggesting that men were the primary beneficiaries of the protective aspects of high SES.