chapter 7

the american super rich

1940s: 13,000 people worth > $1 million 2008: 6.7 million millionaire households, 371 billionaires 2013: 5.22 million millionaires

Poverty vs social problems

Social welfare systems Homelessness Lack of basic medical care Educational segregation People turn to nonconventional means to make money.

what is social class according to Max Weber

social class is, "a large group of people who rank close to one another in property, power, and prestige

what is social class according to Karl Marx

social class is, "one of two groups: capitalists who own the means of production or workers who sell their labor

important notes from social stratification

*Systems of Stratification which are the social structures which hold up these ranked orders and it is difficult, if not impossible to change that order. *Structured Inequality may be based on economics, gender, race, religion, age, or another factor. *Power!! Who has it, who doesn't it, and can the power be transferred? *Three key aspects: Class, status, and power—from Max Weber

Social stratification

*the existence of structured inequalities between groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards. While all societies involve some forms of stratification, only with the development of state-based systems did wide differences in wealth and power arise. The most distinctive form of stratification in modern societies is class divisions. *It is structured inequality between groups. *How we divide people into vertical layers (hierarchy)

updating weber ( continue....)

4. The Working Class 30% of the US population Less education and lower incomes Less job security 5. The Working Poor 15% of the US population Unskilled, low-paying (temp or seasonal jobs) Not likely to vote 6. The Underclass No connection to the job market Menial, low-paying, temporary work "The homeless are the 'fallout' of our postindustrial economy. In another era, they would have had plenty of work. They would have tended horses, worked on farms, dug ditches, shoveled coal, and run the factory looms. Some would have explored and settled the West. The prospect of gold would have lured others to California, Alaska, and Australia. Today, however, with no frontiers to settle, factory jobs scarce, and farms that are becoming technological marvels, we have little need for unskilled labor"

Poverty

A full 14.3% of the population in 2009 was in poverty (44 million people); this is the highest rate among the major industrialized nations and the highest here since 1994. 25% of these people are working. 19 million are living in extreme poverty—near starvation levels. Despite the wealth of resources and opportunities in the United States, poverty remains a significant social problem. Sociologists discuss two general types of poverty: absolute poverty and relative poverty. - Absolute poverty, meaning a person literally cannot feed him- or herself in a reasonable way - Relative poverty, a measure relative to a decent standard of living in a given society

Higher education

College graduates earn approximately $20,000 more per year, $650,000 more over a 40-year work life, than nongrads. There is also stratification within college graduates: Degrees emphasizing numerical competency higher incomes Finishing high school is still critical

Weber: Class and status

For Max Weber, position in a stratification system was not based on economics alone: social status was also significant. Weber's multidimensional approach is attractive to those who believe that social prestige and power can be independent of economics. Wealth (property)—economic factors; group with similar life chances; those in the same class are likely to have similar biographies. Prestige—amount of social prestige, which can be based on family, region, occupation, race, religion, gender, and similar factors. This measure of class is really about social esteem: how do others think of you? For Weber, the stratification system was based on wealth and prestige, and while the two are correlated, they are not always the same. Power—the third part of Weber's model of stratification incorporates the ability to carry out one's intentions on society; this measure is less often correlated with the first two but still constitutes an important measure of social inequality.

Functionalist Approaches

Functionalist theorists attempt to understand what role inequality plays in keeping society at equilibrium. Davis and Moore (1945) argued that stratification benefited society by ensuring that the most important roles would be filled by the most talented and worthy people. The problem with this approach is it ignores the importance of group-level analysis when looking at inequality.

Class system

In modern societies, class (economic) systems dominate. Class has a significant impact on many aspects of life, including education, occupation, place of residence, marriage partner, and more. We do see a strong relationship between members of certain social categories or groups and location in a class system. Because class has a strong impact on many life outcomes and choices, what this means is that members of certain groups will have fewer life chances than members of other groups.

how do stratification systems looks today?

In modern, industrialized societies, there is little overt support for rigid systems of inequality. Remaining caste systems appear to be transitioning into class systems. This certainly does not mean that other forms of stratification do not exist, but it does mean that formal or official caste- or race-based systems, and certainly slave systems, are no longer acceptable. From the time of World War II to the 1970s, class boundaries appeared to soften, but they have been hardening since the 1970s.

updating weber

Kahl & Gilbert (1998/2003) developed their six-tier model of the class structure within the US and other Capitalistic Countries. 1. The Capitalist Class 1% of the population Powerful influence-can shape the consciousness of the nation Old vs. New Money 2. The Upper Middle Class Most shaped by education Occupations signify that a person has 'made it' 3. The Lower Middle Class 34% of the US population Technical and lower-level management positions Anticipate moving up the social class ladder

Marx and class

Karl Marx was very interested in class relations in capitalist societies. Class was determined solely by one's relation to the means of production. For Marx, class was determined solely by the relationship of a group to the means of production. What this means is that you either owned the factories and the equipment or you did not. You were either a member of the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie) or you were a worker (the proletariat). Proletariat and bourgeoisie Group membership utterly determined life chances. Ultimately, the proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie, ending the reign of capitalism.

updating marx

Marx argues there are just two classes. This categorization is too broad. Erik Wright (1985) suggested that people can belong to one or more class at the same time. This is a contradictory class location "position in the class structure that generates contradictory interests" (Henslin, 2012 p. 258) Wright (1985) adds two more classes to Marx's theory 1. Capitalists: Business owners with many employees 2. Petty Bourgeoisie: Small business owners 3. Managers: Sell their labor but have authority over others 4. Workers: Sell their labor to others

Measuring poverty

Poverty is calculated using a formula from the 1960s, whereby the poverty line is based on an income three times the cost of monthly groceries. 2013: $22,350 for a family of 4 We should think, for a moment, about how the poverty line is calculated. In the 1960s, when food made up one-third of the typical family's budget, it was decided that the value of nourishing food for a family multiplied by three made sense as a guideline for demarcating poverty. Today, when food makes up a much smaller portion of the budget, there is a lot of concern that this formula is no longer valid. People have many more expenses but often do not qualify as living in poverty. Housing is now by far the largest single expense for most people, but is not taken into account at all. Thus, our current measures of poverty may well underestimate the actual numbers of those living in relative poverty.

3 basic models of stratification

Slavery—ownership of certain people May be considered less than human and are owned as property. Their legal rights are limited, certain relationships are prohibited, and, as you might imagine, social power is essentially nonexistent. Caste—status for life societal groupings are based on deeply held cultural ideals and boundaries. The Indian caste system exemplifies this societal form of stratification, having both cultural and economic impacts. Caste systems are rigidly based. They are characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers and are sanctioned by custom, law, and religion. Class—positions based on economics People are divided according to economic markers such as income, wealth, ownership, and so on. There are many different characterizations of what constitutes class

what is social class?

Social class is some mixture of: Wealth Income Education Occupation

the explanations of poverty

Sociologists have many empirical explanations for poverty, but by and large they all fall under one of two themes: In the first vein is the culture-of-poverty thesis, which holds that poverty, or more specifically a culture that aligns with poverty, is transmitted intergenerationally via socialization. In other words, poor people teach their children how to be poor, and this is what they know. This perspective then finds blame in the pathological culture of the poor. In the second vein we find theories that suggest that the deck is stacked against the poor; these approaches are sometime referred to as social exclusion. They live in neighborhoods with terrible schools, no jobs, high crime rates, and so on. In other words, there are social structures that make it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to get ahead. These circumstances have an effect on individuals, as they feel a lack of hope and a lack of possibilities, which appears to outside observers like giving up. Blaming the victim (culture-of-poverty arguments) Blaming the system (social exclusion, structural arguments)

Women, children and the elderly in poverty

Sociologists often discuss what is called the feminization of poverty. Because of social changes, including divorce and the increasing normalization of single parenting, there are more female-headed households today than throughout modern U.S. history. Of these families, 29.3% were poor in 2009, compared to only 5.8% of married households. In 2009: 15 million children lived in poor families 43% lived in "economically insecure" families Health care is the single biggest problem for the elderly when it comes to economics.

The American Middle Class

The United States understands itself as a middle-class society. This fits with strongly held ideologies, including classlessness, meritocracy, and the work ethic. Middle-class ideologies tend to promote the reproduction of inequality.

Race and wealth

Though race is not an actual component of class, there is a clear intersection. Research shows that nonwhites generally have less wealth and education than other social groups. Nonwhites are also much more likely to experience discrimination when buying homes. There are, of course, exceptions to the statement that nonwhites have less wealth and education, but the reality is that there is a very obvious connection between race or ethnicity and wealth. To ignore this by focusing only on individuals' accomplishments or failures is to miss ongoing group-level inequality.

characteristics of stratification system

Three primary characteristics of this group ranking: Systems of inequality are organized around groups with a shared characteristic. The social location of a group is significant in terms of the life chances of members. Rankings of groups change only very slowly.

Social mobility

opportunities are not evenly distributed across social groups. Class systems allow for more movement than slave or caste systems. Even so, it remains quite difficult to achieve upward, intergenerational social mobility