sociology chapter 4 - social class inequality & poverty

point in time counts

1 night estimates of sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations; occurs during the last week of January each year

in 2017, over ____ of ppl experiencing homelessness were children

1/5th

underclass

10%; work part time, unemployed or have inconsistent and unreliable work opportunities; often rely on public assistance to meet basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing part of the lower class

upper middle class

14%; well educated individuals who typically have jobs as business managers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and some small business owners part of the privileged class

working poor

15%; typically employed in insecure and low wage jobs such as janitorial and cleaning staff, manual labor, landscaping, restaurant support, and other service industries part of the lower class People who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force but whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level.

There were ___ women (4.8%) and __ blacks (less than 1%) on the Fortune 500 List of CEOs

24;3

the official poverty threshold in 2018 was ____ for a family w. 2 adults & 2 kids

25100

working class

30%; have probably only completed high school or a trade school; typically work as office support (secretaries and administrative assistants), retail sales workers, factory workers, and low paid craftspeople part of the majority class

middle class

30%; likely to have a high school diploma as well as some college experience; typically work as teachers, nurses, master craftspeople (plumbers, electricians, carpenters), and lower level managers part of the majority class

in 2017, how many ppl were in poverty & how many children

39.7 mil ppl, 12.8 mil children

only about ____ of children will earn higher incomes than their parents

50%

how many ppl are currently homless in the u.s.

500,000

Median household income in the US in 2015

56,516

racial wealth gap

Drastic and growing difference in wealth accumulation between Black and White individuals

characteristics of the poverty population

Household Type: Those in households headed by single mothers are much more likely to be poor than in married-couple or single-father families. Low Education: In the U.S., there is a high rate of poverty for adults who have not completed high school. Lack of Paid Work: In the U.S., those with no earnings are substantially more likely to be poor than are those with earnings in the bottom third of the distribution. Disability Status: For people aged 18 to 64 with a disability, the 2017 poverty rate was 24.9%, or 3.8 million people living in poverty. Race: The poverty rate is approximately two times higher for African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans than it is for Whites and Asian-Americans. Region: The South has the highest poverty rate. The poverty rate is lowest in the Northeast. Concentrated Neighborhood Poverty: High-poverty neighborhoods are Census tracts where at least 40% of the population is poor. Poor Black people are much more likely to live in high-poverty neighborhoods than are Whites. However, Whites have experienced increases in concentrated poverty. Child poverty: In 2017, 12.8 million children (under 18 years of age) lived in poverty.

sheltered homeless

People staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens

unsheltered homeless

People whose primary nighttime residence is a public or private place not designated for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation (for example, the streets, vehicles, or parks).

chronically homeless individual

Person with a disability who has been continuously homeless for 1 year or more or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last 3 years where the combined length of homelessness in those occasions is at least 12 months

horizontal mobility

a change in occupation within the same social class the movement of an individual from one social position to another of the same rank

stratification

a system that puts people into a hierarchy System by which a society ranks categories of people in social hierarchy - i.e., structured social inequality ■ Social stratification is universal, but variable ■ Inequality is a social problem, not an individual problem ■ Also involves belief systems: i.e. Inequalities are rationalized as fair Stratification is the study of who gets what in society, and why

cumulative advantages

advantages built up over generation and contribute to social class inequality

income

amount of money and individual earns from employment or investments

meritocracy

belief that personal responsibility and individual effort are the sole determinants of success

high poverty neighborhoods

census tracts where at least 40% of the population is poor

intragenerational mobility

changes in social position within a person's adult life

intergenerational mobility

changes in the social position of children relative to their parents

poverty threshold

establishes minimum income level required to obtain the necessities of life

social class

group of individuals who share a similar socio-economic position based on income, wealth, education, and occupation

social class is often defined by a combination of

income, wealth, education, and occupation

structural mobility

mobility that is inevitable from changes in the economy

social mobility

movement from an ascribed social class position to a new achieved social class position

absolute poverty

poverty measure that considers the basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, and clothing. those without those necessities are considered poor

relative poverty

poverty measure that takes into account the relative economic status of people in a society by looking at how income is distributed

Dennis Gilbert's model of the class structure

privileged classes: capitalist class (1%) upper middle class (14%) majority classes: middle class (30%) working class (30%) lower classes: working poor (15%) underclass(10%)

Among the 31 most developed nations in the world, the United States has the _______-highest GINI index, behind only Chile

second high GINI Index = greater income inequality

the income of most workers has remained _____ while the CEO pay has ____

stagnant; skyrocketed

GINI Index

statistical measure used to compare inequality across countries

capitalists

the 1%; class that makes money from things they own such as business, real estate, stocks, and bonds part of the privileged class

vertical mobility

the movement of an individual from one social position to another of a different rank

wealth

total amount of money that you possess, or would possess if you sold off your assets