The value of human life as regarding matters of health, security, value to the community, etc., may vary according to the economic and social status of the person considered. The evaluation of human life in the sense of the degree of pollution or disease which is considered acceptable may be based on commercial considerations. In societies where the social unit is important and not the individual, individual interest will be sacrificed towards the common good. In an elitist society the individual good may be sacrificed simply because it is considered more expendable than that of the elite.
In the USA, group life insurance whose premiums were subscribed to by corporations, paid executives' survivors two or three times the principal paid to employees' survivors; about $25,000 to $50,000 for employees; $100,000 to $250,000 for executives. In many countries, juries awarding damages for loss of life through negligence and other punishable acts, discriminate between values for deceased infants, children, adults and aged, and for able-bodied or infirm, and sometimes for sex and race. In Pakistan, for example, the surviving members of a woman's family are paid half the amount received by the survivors of a man's family.