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Observations of a positive association between socioeconomi position (SES) and health are not new, extending back to the: 12th century (Antonovsky 1967; Syme and Berkman 1976). Inquiry into these matters is found in the 1826 investigation of Vil lerme into the relationship between rent level and mortality in Paris and in Farr's work in 1851 on differences in mortality in England by occupation (Susser et al. 1985). Since these early reports, variations in disease risk by level of SES have been noted but seldom explained. Indeed, the ubiquitous nature of these findings paradoxically has led to the exclusion of SES as a subject of inquiry. Instead of being the subject of investigation in its own right, SES is often seen as a background characteristic similar to age and sex, a characteristic that must be included in analyses but that is seldom addressed directly. The purpose of this paper is to refocus attention on the …