[A research into the determinants of socio-economic differences in health]

The aim of this article is to explain the permanence and even the aggravation of health social inequalities, which concerns all age groups. One can regroup the causes of these inequalities into four main categories of inter-dependant variables, acting in synergy with a cumulative effect :1. accumulated capital, i.e. cultural, social, economical and health, acquired during the adult age; 2. conditions of employment and work; 3. conditions and atmosphere of daily life; 4. style and way of life. The worries, stresses and anxieties, compounded together with the whole of the above variables which, acting back on themselves, will therefore emphasise, whether favourable or not, their effects on the state of health of the individuals concerned. The social inequalities of health are, therefore, the results of the whole group of inequalities; practically all are hierarchically identical. An aggravation of the socioeconomic differences of all types leads, as a result, to inequality of health and social reproduction which is always pregnant in our society. This explains socio-economic differentials in health and mortality from one generation to the next.