Sociology Chapter 8 - Social Stratification

The Differences Class Makes

Max Weber said Social stratification affects people's life chances Social standing is linked to: Health, Values, Politics, and Family Life.

Downward Social Mobility

Moving down in class level

Upward Social Mobility

Moving up in class level

Lower Upper or Working Rich

New money. earn it vs. inheriting it. 3-4% of the population.

Ancestry - Social standing

Nothing affects social standing as does birth into a particular family. Has strong bearing on schooling, occupation, and income.

Capitalists

People who own and operate factories and other businesses in pursuit of profits.

Micro-Level analysis of social stratification

Social standing affects everyday interaction. People with different social standing keep their distance from one another 215 Review -

Caste system - Closed Systems

Social stratification based on ascription or birth. Allows little change in position. Example: Born into royalty or a peasant.

Class system - Open Systems

Social stratification based on both birth and individual achievement. Permit much more social mobility. Example: Born into a family that never went to college but you end up going, that improves your standing. 206 - 210

Meritocracy

Social stratification based on personal merit or achievement. Does not exist anywhere in the world.

Davis Moore thesis

Social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of a society. Societies reward positions that are more difficult or important. Example: It's harder to be a doctor then a secretary, its more important and thats way doctors get paid more.

Karl Marx and Class Conflict

Social stratification is rooted in people's relationship to the means of production. He believed that social stratification existed because of the apposing forces of Capitalists and Proletarians.

Upper Upper Class

The blue bloods less then 1% of the populations. Old money

Max Weber on Class, Status, and Power

He viewed social stratification as involving three dimensions of inequality. 1st - Class position - economic inequality 2nd - Status - social prestige 3rd - Power

Power

In the U.S., wealth in an important source of power Small proportion of families that control most of the wealth also has the ability to shape the agenda of the entire society

Schooling - Credential Society

Industrial societies have expanded opportunities for schooling, but some receive much more than others. Affect occupation and income

Race - Social Standing

It is linked closely to social position in the U.S. Social ranking also involves ethnicity

Status consistency

The degree of consistency in a person's social standing across various dimensions of social inequality. Low status consistency means that classes are harder to define than casts.

Alienation

The experience of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness. Karl Marx felt that because of this alienation it was only a matter of time before people rise up and over though the capitalists.

Lower Class

The remaining 20% of the U.S. population. There low income makes their lives difficult. 40 million people or 13.2% of our population are classified as poor by the federal government. 50% complete high school. 1/4 reaches college.

U.S. Income and Wealth Distribution

The richest 20% of families make 47.8% of all income. That same 20% also holds 85% of all wealth in the U.S. The bottom 20% earns less then 28k per year and receive only 4% of the income.

Upper Class

The top 5% of the U.S. The more a families income comes from inheritance the upper the class they are. white Anglo-Saxon Protestant

Social-Conflect Approach in regards to Social Stratification.

This argues that stratification provides some people with advantages over others. Karl Marx was the leader of Class Conflict.

Structural Functional Approach in regards to Social Stratification.

Views social stratification plays a vital part in the operation of society.

Average Middle

Wealth is in a home or retirement account. Most are high school graduates and 50% are college graduates but more at state run colleges.

Proletarians

Working people who sell their labor for wages.

Intragenerational social mobility

a change in social position occuring during a person's lifetime

absolute poverty

a deprivation of resources that is life-threataning

Structual social mobility

a shift in the social position of large numbers of people due to more changes in society than individual efforts

Income

earnings from work or investments

White-collar occupations

higher-prestige jobs that invovle mostly mental activity

Blue-collar occupations

lower-prestige jobs that invovle mostly manual labor

relative poverty

the deprivation of some people in relation to those who have more

Wealth

the total value of money and other assests, minus outstanding debts Note: Wealth is distributed more unequally then income.

Feminization of poverty

the trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor

Intergenerational social mobility

upward or downward socail mobility of children in relation to their parents

Who are the Poor?

• 19% of the U.S. poor are children under 18 • High rates of child poverty amount people of color. • 34.7% African American children • 30.6% Hispanic children • 10.6% non-Hispanic white children • 70% of all the poor are white • 24% are African-American • 59% are women • 41% are men

Mobility: Divorce

• Divorce makes social standing go down • Divorced couples support two households • Men earn more then women • Divorced women lose income and benefits

Occupational Prestige

• Generation income and is an important source of prestige • High prestige given to occupations that require extensive training and generate high income • Less prestigious work pays less and requires less ability and schooling Page 221.

Mobility: Marriage

• Marriage has an important effect on social standing • Married people accumulate about twice as much wealth compared to single and divorced - Double incomes • Compared to singles, married men and women work harder and save more

Inequality in the United States

• U.S. differs from most European nations in never having a titled nobility • With the exception of race, the U.S. has never had a cast system. • U.S. society is highly stratified

Mobility: Race, Ethnicity

• Whites always in a more privileged position • In the 1980's and 1990's More African-Americans became wealthy • Overall income, however, has not changed in three decades • Latinos average income is 61% of whites

Mobility: Gender

• Women have fewer chances because of the type of jobs they hold • Earning gap between men and women is narrowing

Middle Class

40-45% of the U.S. population. Advertising it directed at this group. They are a more racial and ethnic divers group.

Four Principles of Stratification

4th - It involves inequality and Beliefs It's not that we believe the pyramid is real but that we also view it as fair.

Social mobility

A change in position within the social hierarchy

Socioeconomic status (SES)

A composite ranking based on various deminsions of social inequality. 1st - Class 2nd - Status 3rd - Power

Social Stratification

A system by which a society ranks categoeries of people in a hierarchy. Good - Better - Best

Gender - Social Standing

Both men and women are found in families at every social level. However, on average, women have less income, wealth, and occupational prestige then men. Single-Parent families headed by women are three times more likely to be poor then those headed by men.

Conspicuous consumption

Buying and using products with an eye to the "statement" they make about social position

Horizontal Social Mobility

Changing jobs at the same class level

Ideology

Cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangments, including patterns of inequality. Every culture considers some type of inequality fair. This can change with society's economy and technology.

Who is to blame for poverty

Do you blame the poor or society?

Four General Conclusions of Social Mobility

1 - Social mobility over the course of the past century has been fairly high 2 - The long-term trend in social mobility has been upward 3 - Within a single generation, social mobility is usually small 4 - Social mobility since the 1970's has been uneven

Working Class

1/3 of our population. Jobs provide little personal satisfaction. Its all about paying the bills. 50% own their own homes and 1/3 of the children go to college.

Upper Middle

113-200k per year. 2/3 of the children attend college. Many are high prestige occupations.

Ralf Dahrendorfs take on why No Marxist Revolution?

1st - Fragmentation of the capitalist state Not just large families only all the business. May small companies exist and even the large companies have stock holders. 2nd - A higher standard of living. More people are in white color jobs 3rd - More worker organization such as Labor unions provide power 4th - Greater legal protections

Four Principles of Stratification

1st - It's a trade of society, not a reflection of individual differences Example: Is not that rich people like BMW more then poor people.

Four Principles of Stratification

2nd - It carries over from generation to generation. Most people stay in the same social position as their parents.

Four Principles of Stratification

3rd - it's Universal but variable Distance between individuals may very but it's universally applied.