1. Class and Stratification
Sociology
Class and Stratification

2. Lesson Outline Understanding Social Stratification
Social stratification and inequality
Systems of stratification
Social classes in the United States
Theories of Social Class
Socioeconomic status and life chances
Social mobility
Defining poverty
Inequality and the ideology of the American Dream
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

3. Understanding Inequality
Inequality is the unequal access to scarce goods or resources.
It is found in most, if not all, societies.
It is a question of how unequal a society is.
How unequal is the United States?
Can it be seen from space?
West Oakland vs Piedmont
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

4. International Comparison of Poverty Rates among Wealthy Countries
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

5. Understanding Social Stratification
Social stratification is the division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy based on access to wealth, power and prestige. Ex: slavery, caste and social class
Where people rank in stratification system influences every part of their lives in profound ways.
What food they eat, where they shop, clothes they wear, schools they attend, income they earn, how long (and quality of life) they live, occupation.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

6. Social Stratification
Every society has some form of social stratification, but societies group people on different criteria (such as race, class, and gender).
Social stratification is a characteristic of society; it persists over generations, and it is maintained through beliefs (and ideologies) that are widely shared by members of society.
By definition inequality is unequal; this contradicts basic American values.
How are we ok with some having more than others?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

7. Systems of Stratification (Cont’d)
Social class refers to a system of stratification based on access to resources such as wealth, property, power, education and prestige.
Sociologists often refer to it as socioeconomic status (or SES).
By the way, what’s the difference between income and wealth?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

8. Social Classes in the United States
The upper class (capitalist class):
Wealthiest people in a class system
Make up about 1% of the U.S. population
Possess most of the wealth of the country
The ratio of CEO pay to factory worker pay rose from 42:1 in 1960 to as high as 531:1 in 2000, at the height of the stock market bubble.
It was at 411:1 in 2005 and 344:1 in 2007, according to research by United for a Fair Economy.
By way of comparison, the same ratio is about 25:1 in Europe.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

9. Social Classes in the United States
The upper-middle class:
Professionals and managers
Make up about 14% of the U.S. population
Benefited the most from college
The middle class consists primarily of
“White collar” workers
Have a broad range of incomes
Make up about 30% of the U.S. population
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

10. Social Classes in the United States
The working (lower-middle) class:
“Blue-collar” or service industry workers
Less likely to have college degrees
Make up about 30% of the U.S. population
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

11. Social Classes in the United States
The lower class (the working poor):
Many poor people who typically have lower levels of literacy than other classes
Make up about 20% of the U.S. population
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

12. Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

13. CEOs' average pay, production workers' average pay, the S&P 500 Index, corporate profits, and the federal minimum wage, (all figures adjusted for inflation)

14. Distribution of income in the United States, 1982-2006
Top 1 percent
Next 19 percent
Bottom 80 percent
1982
12.80%
39.10%
48.10%
1988
16.60%
38.90%
44.50%
1991
15.70%
40.70%
43.70%
1994
14.40%
40.80%
44.90%
1997
39.60%
43.80%
2000
20.00%
38.70%
41.40%
2003
17.00%
42.20%
2006
21.30%
40.10%
38.60%
From Wolff (2010).
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

15. How unequal are we?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

16. Distribution of Net Worth (assets – liabilities), 2001
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

17. How unequal are we?
The top-earning 20 percent of Americans -- those making more than $100,000 each year -- received percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent made by the bottom 20 percent of earners, those who fell below the poverty line, according to the new figures (late 2010).
That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

18. Families at the $50,000 median level slipped lower.
At the top, the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans, who earn more than $180,000, added slightly to their annual incomes last year.
Families at the $50,000 median level slipped lower.
Lower-skilled adults ages 18 to 34 had the largest jumps in poverty last year.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

19. Americans Vastly Underestimate Wealth Inequality
A recent report shows across ideological, economic and gender groups, Americans thought the richest 20% of our society controlled about 59 percent of the wealth, while the real number is closer to 84%.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

20. Americans Vastly Underestimate Wealth Inequality
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

21. Theories of Social Class
Karl Marx believed that there were two main social classes in capitalist societies:
Capitalists (or bourgeoisie), who owned the means of production
Workers (or proletariat), who sold their labor for wages
He believed that the classes would remain divided and social inequality would grow.
Has social inequality grown?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

22. Theories of Social Class
Max Weber offered a similar model that also included cultural factors.
He argued that class status was made of three components:
Wealth (or Privilege, inherited assets)
Power
Prestige
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

23. Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

24. What does your living room/neighborhood say about you?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

25. Theories of Social Class
More recently, Pierre Bourdieu argued each generation acquires cultural capital (tastes, habits, expectations, skills, knowledge, etc.) that help us to gain advantages in society
This cultural capital either helps or hinders us as we become adults.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

26. Lareau’s “concerted cultivation’ and ‘natural growth’
How does social reproduction (tendency for social classes to remain stable across generations) occur?
Research indicates class more important than race and that child- rearing practices reproduce class-based advantages
Concerted cultivation – involves high levels of extracurricular activities (which prepare children for success in the middle class adult world, but requires time and money, usually by mom)
Accomplishment of natural growth - which emphasizes loving children and providing for them and giving children much more leisure time that is self-directed and unstructured.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

27. Concerted Cultivation
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

28. Theories of Social Class
Symbolic Interactionists examine the way we use status differences to categorize ourselves and others.
As Erving Goffman pointed out, our clothing, speech, gestures, possessions, friends, and activities provide information about our socioeconomic status.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

29. Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

30. Socioeconomic Status and Life Chances
Belonging to a certain social class has profound consequences for individuals in all areas of life including:
Education
Employment
medical care
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

31. Brain and Lung Cancer Statistics
What’s different about how one gets which type of cancer?
Lung cancer is strongly impacted by health behaviors whereas brain cancer is generally viewed as less predictable or preventable
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

32. Social Mobility
Social mobility is the movement of individuals or groups within the hierarchal system of social classes.
America technically has an open system (it is legal and permissible for people to move between classes) but there are structural patterns where people tend to stay very close to the class they were raised in.
If we have an open system, why do we see a lack of opportunities to move between classes?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

33. Poverty
In the United States, the federal poverty line (an absolute measure of annual income) is frequently used to determine who should be categorized as poor.
In 2005, about 37 million people (12.6% of the population) in the United States were considered poor.
Recent estimates show this is now about 14% of the population; and the pop is larger now than in 2005.
Why are we so unaware of the poor?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

34. Number of Poverty and Poverty Rate, 1959-2007
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

35. Poverty
The culture of poverty refers to learned attitudes that can develop among poor communities and lead the poor to accept their fate rather than attempt to improve their situation.
What is missing from this theory?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

36. Inequality and the Ideology of the American Dream
The ideology of the American Dream (that anyone can achieve material success if they work hard enough) explains and justifies our social system, but it has been criticized for legitimizing stratification by telling us that everyone has the same opportunity to get ahead.
This Alger novel features a newsboy who rises to
Newspaper editor.
Are most Americans today likely to achieve upward mobility?
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

37. The Problem with the American Dream
It is predicated on a “meritocracy” (that hard work is justly rewarded).
This notion tells us that success or failure depends on the person, when in reality we know that there are structural advantages and disadvantages that also contribute to an individual’s success or failure.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality

38. Take Away Points:
Inequality is intentional; moreover it is rising. The U.S. now has higher rates of inequality and poverty than other industrialized countries.
It is legitimated by the ideology of meritocracy and the American Dream.
Social class profoundly effects every facet of your life.
Introduction to Sociology: Social Class and Inequality