1. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

2. W HAT IS S OCIAL S TRATIFICATION ? For tens of thousands of years, humans lived in small hunting and gathering societies. Stratification based on Gender & Age As societies became more complex, major changes came about. Changes elevated certain categories of the population by giving them more power, money, and prestige.

3. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION Structured inequality of access to rewards, resources, and privileges that are scarce and desirable within a society. Inequality of an entire category of people, who have different access to social rewards as a result of their status in a social hierarchy.

4.  Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences.  Children born into wealthy families are more likely than children born in poverty to experience good health, achieve academically, succeed in life’s work and live a long life.  Titanic lower strata did not die because of personal failing

5.  Social stratification persists over generations.  In all societies, parents pass their social position on to their children.  Social stratification is universal but variable.  In some societies, inequality is mostly a matter of prestige; in others, wealth or power is the key dimension of difference. More importantly some societies display more inequality than others.  Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs.  Any system of inequality gives some people more than others and the society also defines the arrangements as fair.

6. S OCIAL I NEQUALITY  Social Inequality  condition in which members of a society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, and power Wealth: All of a persons material assets (land, auto, home, jewelry) ** Which is the cause and which is the effect?** Inequality or stratification

7. ALL SOCIETIES HAVE SOME STRATIFICATION FOUR GENERAL SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION  Slavery  Caste  Estate  Social Class

8. S LAVERY  Ownership of some people by others (due to debt, crime, war).  Examples Ancient times- Greece and Rome captives of war. USA and Latin America- Workforce in 1800s. Present Day- Outsourcing??

9. CASTE SYSTEM  Status is determined by birth and is life long (ascribed).  A pure caste system is closed because birth alone determines one’s destiny, with little or no opportunity for social mobility based on effort.

10. CASTE IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA Impossible to maintain the caste system unaltered in contemporary India. Introduction of new professions Wageworkers are hired on the basis of qualifications (achieved status) rather then caste Authorities actively try to level out differences between castes through quotas for various castes in the public sector. Urbanization makes it difficult to classify the people one meets. Moving to city where no one knows you, one can escape stigma of caste

11. The Untouchables http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15elGwkFUYE

12. Dowry Deaths in India http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HGN59gKch8

13. E STATES S YSTEM  European society- Feudalism and Middle Ages  Peasants work land leased to them from Nobles.  In return the Peasants get military and other services (use of farming tools).  Wealth and power came from business not just land and agriculture.  Estates system grew into Class System.

14. CLASS SYSTEM Open system based on money or material possessions (achieved).

15. SOCIAL MOBILITY – A CHANGE IN ONE’S POSITION Ascribed vs Achieved status Caste system – position at birth determines (or mostly so) “Class” system like ours, there is considerable mobility - one can achieve status, $, power Are we a true meritocracy? Meritocracy - Social stratification based solely on merit

16. Exploitation: …the utilization of a subordinate group, by a group in a superordinate position for its own economic or other advantage (surplus of wealth)

17. MAX WEBER Believed that social class is more than just differences in material wealth. Other defining characteristics: Power – ability to achieve one’s goals and control others, even against the will of others Political Status Prestige– degree of respect, favorable regard, or importance according to an individual by members of a society Social Status Wealth (Property) – accumulated economic resources Economic Status

18. DO WE NEED TO HAVE STRATIFICATION?

19. HOW DO FUNCTIONALISTS VIEW SOCIAL STRATIFICATION? Society’s positions must be filled. Some positions are more important than others. The more important positions are filled by qualified people.

20. HOW DO CONFLICT THEORISTS VIEW SOCIAL STRATIFICATION? No society can exist unless it is organized. Leadership means inequalities of power. Human nature is self-centered so there are injustices in how the power is divided and used.

21. MODERN SOCIETY AND CONFLICT  Limited amount of resources in society.  Not evenly distributed.  Conflict Theory addresses how those with resources attempt to hold onto them and how those with limited resources try to obtain them.

22. MARX DID NOT BELIEVE THE PEOPLE IN POWER ARE THERE BECAUSE OF SUPERIOR TRAITS. Do you agree or disagree?

23. S OCIAL C LASS IN THE U NITED S TATES

24. DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY Income- wages or salary from work and earnings from investments. Wealth- the total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debts. Wealth includes stocks, bonds, and real estate— is distributed even less equally than income. Occupational Prestige In addition to being a source of income, work also provides social prestige. We commonly evaluate each other according to the kind of work we do, respecting some and looking down on others.

25. RULE OF CUMULATION If someone is economically wealthy, he or she probably also has a good education, good health, and secure employment.

26. S CHOOLING Industrial societies make schooling widely available to prepare workers for specialized tasks. Schooling affects both occupation and income A college degree or other advanced study is needed for most (but not all) of the better-paying white-collar jobs. Most blue-collar jobs, which bring lower income and social prestige, require less schooling.

27. A NCESTRY Family is our point of entry into the social system and has a strong bearing in schooling, occupation, and income. Research suggests that at least half of our country’s richest individuals—those worth hundreds of millions of dollars or more –derived their fortunes mostly from inheritance.

29. M IDDLE C LASS A TTITUDES 36% of those earning $15,000 a year call themselves middle class 49% of those with incomes between $35,000 and $49,999 call themselves middle class 71% of those with incomes above $75,000 call themselves middle class

30. H OUSING Number of families or primary individuals who live in mobile homes or trailers: 6.8 million Percentage change in the number of Americans living in mobile homes between 1980 and 1990: +52% Number of US households earning less than $10,000/year: 7.6 million Number of affordable housing units available: 4.4 million Number of gated communities in America: approx. 20,000 (housing approximately 8.4 million people) Number of gated communities in 1950: 2,500 Interesting Fact: In 1995, homeowners earning more than $100,000 a year received a total of $28.9 billion dollars in federal income tax deductions on mortgage interest payments. The entire 1996 budget of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development was only $19 billion

31. T HE D IFFERENCE C LASS M AKES Health Children born into poor families are three times more likely to die from disease, neglect, accidents, or violence during their first years of life than children born to rich families.

32. POVERTY IN THE US

33. The Extent of U.S. Poverty The line of poverty is described as-the income needed “to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet on the assumption that no more than a third of the family income is used for food.” 38.1 million Americans as of 2008 Below $18,000 a year for a three person family

34. Working poor are common Federal Minimum Wage = $7.25 (since 2008) In tipping industry, wage is $2.13 with tips equaling &7.25 Do the math… 7.25 x 8hrs x 5 days x 52 weeks

35. Living Wage Minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs (for an extended period of time or for a lifetime). These needs include shelter (housing) and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition. Living wage differs from the minimum wage in that the latter is set by law and can fail to meet the requirements of a living wage - or is so low that borrowing or application for top-up benefits is necessary. http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/counties/36059

37. W EALTH AND P OVERTY US Median Household Income  $ 51,017, Net Worth  $121,000 Average Household of Top 1% of Wage Earners Median Income  $380,000, Net Worth  $ 8,400,000 Average Net Worth of Bottom 40% of Wage Earners  $1,900

38. Definition of Middle Class in Terms of Income  $32,653 to $48,979 Percentage of US Children Who Live in Poverty  20% Percentage of US Adults Who Live in Poverty  12% Percentage of Single Mothers Who Live in Poverty  37.4 % Rank of the US among the seventeen leading industrial nation with the largest percentage of their populations in poverty  1 Portion of US stock owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans  9/10 Minimum Wage  $7.25 Bill Gates hourly wage  $650,000 / hr)

39. E XPLAINING P OVERTY People counted among the officially poor in the United States are far better off than the poor in other countries. Millions of people in the United States have too little income to lead healthy lives. Almost 42 % straddle the fence Both government and individuals share this responsibility.

40. W HOSE TO B LAME ? Blame the Poor This view sees society offering plenty of opportunity to anyone able and willing to take advantage of it. Thus, anyone who is poor either cannot or will not work. Blame Society Another position holds that society is primarily responsible for poverty. Weighing the Evidence Many people are idle not because they are avoiding work but because there are not enough jobs.

41. The Working Poor The working poor command the sympathy and support of people on both sides of the poverty debate. 20% of poor heads of households worked at least fifty weeks of the year and yet could not escape poverty.

42. RELATIVE VERSUS ABSOLUTE POVERTY People living in rich countries generally focus on relative poverty, some people lack resources that others take for granted. Relative poverty cuts across every society, rich or poor. Absolute poverty, a lack of resources that is life threatening. Human beings in absolute poverty lack the nutrition necessary for health and long-term survival.