What do we call a large group of people who rank closely together in wealth power and prestige?

1 SOCIAL CLASS Social class is a large group of people who rank closely to one another in wealth, power and prestige. Measuring Social Class. 1. Subjective Method – ask people what their social class is.

2 2. Reputational Method –ask people what class others belong to. 3. Objective Method -- rank people according to objective criteria such as wealth, power and prestige.

3 Social Classes in the U.S. 1. Upper class Upper-upper class Lower-upper class 2. Middle class Upper-middle class Average middle class

4 3. Working class 4. Lower class

5 American Class Structure

6 SOCIAL MOBILITY There are three types of social mobility: Intergenerational and Intragenerational Structural Mobility Exchange Mobility

7 Poverty in the U.S. Relative poverty – deprivation of some people in relation to those who have more. Most people who are poor are children Minorities are more likely to be poor than whites although in absolute numbers there are more whites who are poor. Women are more likely to be poor than men. This leads to a situation known as feminization of poverty – women represent an increasing proportion of the poor.

8 Measuring Poverty Absolute poverty –Determined by annual income. –Anything below a determined (absolute) amount is poverty. Relative poverty –Contrasts income groups at the bottom of the stratification structure with those above them.

9 The Distribution of Poverty in the United States

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A Large group of people who rank closely to one another in property, power, and prestige

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A system of ranking people in a hierarchy according to wealth, prestige and power. (As defined by Weber)

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Social Stratification: Power

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The ability to carry out your will despite resistance. Mills coined the term power elite to refer to those who make the big decisions in the U.S. society.

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Social Stratification: Property

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When you add up the value of someone’s property and subtract that person’s debts, you have what sociologists call wealth. Wealth and Income are not the same thing. Wealth is a person’s net worth and income is a flow of money. (examples- rent, interest, allowance)
Some people have a lot of wealthy but little income- like a farmer- he owns a lot of land (wealth) but bad weather combined with high cost of fertilizers, machinery can cause the income to be gone.

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Social Stratification: Prestige

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(respect or regard) Displaying Prestige is still a huge deal in our county- military saluting those who are a high rank, the president enters a room only after all those attending are present, everyone must be standing when he enters. It is proven that many people will pay more for clothes if there is a little symbol on them to represent the brand. Status symbols vary within social class- wealthy can afford certain items like yachts and huge estates.

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that there are just two classes- capitalists and workers- with a membership based solely on a person’s relationship to the means of production.

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Sociologists critisized Marx:

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saying that this theory is to broad. To resolve this problem sociologists Erik Wright (1985) suggests that some people are members of more than one class at the same time. They occupy what he calls contradictory class locations- meaning a person’s position in the class structure can generate contradictory interests. He then modified Marx’s model by saying: 1.) Capitalists- business owners who employ many workers 2.) Petty Bourgeoisie- small business owners 3.) Managers- who sell their own labor but also exercise authority over other employees 4.) Workers- who simply sell their labor to others.

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Sociologists Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert developed a six tier model......

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to portray the class structure of the United States. It starts at the top and on each lower run you find less property, power, and prestige. 1.) Capitalists- Power and Influence cling to this small elite. They have direct access to top politicians, and their decisions open or close job opportunities for millions of people. The super- rich perpetuate themselves in privilege by passing on their assets and social networks to their children. 2.) Upper Middle Class- Class most shaped my education. Almost all members of this class have a bachelor’s degree and many have postgraduate degrees in business, management, law, or medicine. These people manage businesses owned by capitalists or operate their own business. 3.) Lower Middle Class- Members of this class have jobs that call for them to follow orders given by those who have upper- middle class credentials. They can afford mainstream life and many assume they will move up in the social ladder. They often feel insecure and with the threat of the economy might actually go down in the social ladder. People in this class have working jobs like the working class the only difference is that their jobs are more prestige and their incomes are a little higher. 4.) The Working Class- Have less education and lower incomes. There jobs are less secure, more routine, and more closely supervised. One of their biggest fears is being laid off during recession. Most only have a high school diploma and with this it is rare that they will climb the social ladder. They look at themselves as having real jobs unlike the “suits” who force paper on others. 5.) The working Poor- Work at unskilled, low-paying, temporary and seasonal jobs (such as sharecropping, housecleaning...) Most are high school drop outs, illiterate and find it hard to read even the want ads. Depend on food stamps and food pantries.
6.) The Underclass- Concentrated in the inner city, this group has little or no connenction with the job market. Those who are employed- and some are- do menial, low-paying, temporary work. Welfare, if available, food stamps, and food pantries is their main support.

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Definition

- Slavery

- Caste

Endogamous, No mobility, Ascribed status

- Class

Exogamous, Mobility, achieved status

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Opportunity structuresClass of Family of OriginEducationRace/EthnicityGenderSocial networksHard Work
Luck

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Consequences of Social Class: Physical Health

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The lower the person’s social class the more likely that individual is to die before the expected age. The main reason is medical care. Health care in the United States is not a citizen’s right but a commodity for sale. The second reason is lifestyles. People in lower class are more likely to smoke, eat a lot of fats, be overweight, abuse drugs and alcohol, get little or no exercise and practice unsafe sex. The third reason is life is hard on the poor. The persistent stresses they face cause their bodies to wear out faster.

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Consequences of Social Class: Family Life

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EX- upper class work a lot so not much time with family, patterns of communication-Choice of husband of wife: In the upper class choice of husband/wife affects not only them but also the entire family- parents in this class play a strong role in their children’s mate selection.
- Divorce: children in the lower class are more likely to grow up in broken homes.

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Consequences of Social Class: Education

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Education increases as one goes up the social ladder. Children of the capitalist class bypass public schools and go into private schools.

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Consequences of Social Class: Religion

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Patterns of worships also follow class lines: The lower classes are attracted to more expressive worship services and louder music, while middle and upper classes prefer more “subdued” worship.

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Consequences of Social Class: Politics

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The higher that people are on the social class ladder the more likely they are to vote for republicans. Most members of the working class believe that the government should intervene in the economy to provide jobs and to make citizens financially secure. They are most likely to vote Democratic. People toward the bottom of the class structure are also less likely to be politically active.

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Consequences of Social Class: Crime/ Justice system

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The White collar crimes of the more privileged classes are more likely to be dealt with outside the criminal justice system, while they police and courts deal with the street crimes of the lower classes.

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When a person has the same levels of wealthy, power, and prestige

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When a person ranks higher on one level of social class and low on another level

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Social Mobility: Intergenerational mobility

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Refers to a change that occurs between generations when grownup children end up on a different rung of the social class ladder from the one occupied by their parents. -Upward Social Mobility: If the child of someone who sells used cars graduates from college and buys a Saturn dealership.
-Downward social mobility- If a child of the dealership’s owner parties too much, drops out of college, and ends up selling cars.

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Social mobility: Structural mobility

Definition

Changes in society that cause large numbers of people to move up or down the class ladder.

Ex- Computer invented offered new jobs, some people took advantage of these new jobs and were hired while others sat back and did nothing and did not advance in the social ladder.

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Social Mobility: Exchange mobility

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When large numbers of people move up and down the social class ladder, but, on balance, the proportions of the social classes remain about the same.

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-The government figures out the poverty line by taking a low cost food budget and multiplying to by 3.-This poverty line was created in 1965-It does take into account family size and cost of living.
-This line has been criticized for being too low, many think it should be increased by 50%.

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Demographics of Poverty: What is the biggest subgroup living in poverty?

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Demographics of Poverty: Least likely to live in poverty?

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Demographics of Poverty: Feminization of poverty

Definition

the association of poverty with women, especially single parent households headed by women.

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Demographics of Poverty: The more education a person has....

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The least likely they are to live in poverty

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Demographics of poverty: what percent of the poor live in the inner city?

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Demographics of Poverty: The greatest predictors of Poverty are...?

Definition

Race, Ethnicity, Education, and sex of the person who heads the family.

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Demographics of Poverty: Why are people poor?

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1.) Social Structure- the components of the social structure play a strong contributing factor in the poverty rate. 2.) Characteristics of Individuals- people are poor because of their own attitudes 3.) Culture of poverty- people are poor because of their culture (values, norms, etc.)
Sociologists tend to focus on components in the social structure to explain poverty.

Term

Definition

Social mobility is achieved and is based on an individual’s merit, effort, ability and talent rather than on ascribed traits or social connections

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