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Dimensions of Stratification

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1.Power = ability to get someone to do what you want them to do even if they resist 2. Prestige = respect that attaches itself to particular statuses, causing some statuses to be more highly regarded than others 3. Material Resources = income (money received from paid wages and salaries or earned from investments) and wealth (money and material possessions held by an individual or group)

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Most Unequal Developed Nations

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Hong Kong, Singapore, and United States

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US Income Inequality Facts/Figures

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1992-2003: average CEO received a pay increase around 81% while there was an 8.7% increase for the average hourly worker CEO works a day and a half to earn the amount an average worker would earn in a year Concentration of income from capital gains and the majority of capital gains went to folks at the very top

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US Income Inequality Policies

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Weakening of social safety net 1996: AFDC replaced by TANF (eligible for government subsidies for no more than two years in a stretch, and no more than five years in your lifetime) Decline in minimum wage Tendency to replace progressive taxes(more money earned, larger percentage of that income payed in taxes) with regressive taxes (less money earned, larger percentage of your income you pay in taxes)

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Tax Breaks in 2001 and 2003

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Disproportionately influenced those at the top 400 richest tax payers payed on average 17.5% of their income in taxes Folks between $60,000-$75,000 payed on average 17.4% of their income in taxes Federal tax is supposed to be progressive, but only in theory

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US Income Inequality Consequences

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Widening income inequality increases cost of living and especially cost of housing Widening income inequality increases the cost of social services Widening income inequality reduces overall health of population Widening inequality causes an increase in street crime Widening disparities cause inequalities in education Increase in social distance between folks at top and the rest of the population Widening inequality jeopardizes long term economic sustainability of a region Jeopardizes American Dream

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Social Stratification

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Structuring of inequalities between groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards

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Slavery

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form of social stratification in which some people are literally owned by others as their property

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Caste

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social system in which one's social status is held for life

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Regressive Tax

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The less money you earn, the larger the percentage of your income, you pay in taxes (Example = all sales tax)

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Progressive Tax

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The more money you earn, the larger the percentage of that income you pay in taxes (at least in principle)

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Structured Inequalities

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Social Inequalities that result from patterns in the social structure

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Class

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Usually used to refer to the socioeconomic variations between groups of individuals that create variations in their material prosperity and power

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Income

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Money received from paid wages and salaries or earned from investments

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Wealth

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Money and material possessions held by an individual or group

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Education

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College education has significantly increased in value How much education one receives is influenced by social class of parents Most kids go to public school funded by property taxes (wealthy districts have more resources that poor districts)

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Marx and the Means of Production

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Means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in a society, including not just technology but the social relations between producers (Believes class refers to the means by which people gain a livelihood)

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Capitalists

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People who own companies, land, or stock (shares) and use these to generate economic returns = own the means of production

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Surplus Value

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Source of profit; leftover when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker

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Status

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Social honor or prestige a particular group is accorded by other members of a society. Status groups normally display distinct styles of life - patterns of behavior that the members of the group follow (Status privilege may be positive or negative)

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Pariah Groups

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Groups who suffer from negative status discrimination and are looked down on by most other members of society (Example: Jews in medieval Europe)

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Weber: Class and Status

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Class divisions come from control or lack of control of means of production AND from resources like people's skills and credentials (things that have nothing to do with property) Status is another aspect of stratification

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Davis and Moore: Functions of Stratification

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Stratification has beneficial consequences for society. Social stratification and social inequality are functional because they ensure that the most qualified people, attracted by the rewards bestowed by society, fill the roles that are most important to a smoothly functioning society

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Erik Olin Wright: Contradictory Class Locations

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Three dimensions of control: 1. Control over investments or money capital 2. Control over the physical means of production 3. Control over labor power Between capitalist class and working class are contradictory class locations. Contradictory Class Locations = Positions in the class structure, particularly routine white-collar and lower managerial jobs, that share characteristics with the class positions both above and below them (influence some aspects of production but lack control over others)

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Annette Laureau on Parenting Styles: "Concerted Cultivation" versus the "Development of Natural Growth"

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Social class influences parenting style. Middle-class parents = concerted cultivation = children scheduled in multiple activities and learn teamwork, time management, and assertiveness with adults Working-class parents = the development of natural growth = not schedule in many activities and end up playing freely in the neighborhood with other kids (end up knowing fewer skills)

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Upper Class

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More affluent members of society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks

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Middle Class

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Broadly composed of those working in white-collar and lower managerial occupations Upper and Lower middle class

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Working class

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Broadly composed of people working in blue-collar, or manual, occupations Lower class: comprised of those who work party time or not at all and whose household income is typically lower than $17,000 a year

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Underclass

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Situated at the bottom of the class system, normally composed of people from ethnic minority backgrounds

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Social Mobility

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Movement of individuals or groups between different social positions

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Intergenerational Mobility

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Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another

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Intragenerational Mobility

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Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career

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Exchange Mobility

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The exchange of positions on the socioeconomic scale such that talented people move up the economic hierarchy while the less talented move down

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Structural Mobility

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Mobility resulting from changes in the number and kinds of jobs available in a society

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Opportunities for Mobility

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Child's education is influenced by family background. Higher education is one of the most important avenues to upward intergenerational mobility. Intergenerational mobility is thus rare.

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Downward Mobility

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Less common than upward mobility but has increased in recent years with the recession.

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Absolute Poverty

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Minimal requirements necessary to sustain a healthy existence; can't get enough to eat

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Relative Poverty

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Defined according to the living standards of the majority in any given society; poor compared with the standards of living of the majority

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Poverty Line

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An official government measure to define those living in poverty in the US

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Working Poor

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People who work but whose earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line

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Poverty, Race, and Ethnicity

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Poverty rates much higher among most minority groups, even though more than 2/3 of poor are white Latinos: earn 2/3 what whites earn, experience 3 times the poverty rate of whites Asian Americans: highest income, poverty rate slightly more than that of whites Blacks: Hispanics have somewhat higher incomes than blacks, number of blacks living in poverty

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Feminization of Poverty

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An increase in the proportion of the poor who are female Largely due to single women raising kids alone

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Children in Poverty

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US ranks second among the world's wealthiest nations with respect to its child poverty rate 43% of nation's children live in economically insecure households Economic well-being for racial minority children and children of single mothers is even more dire

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The Elderly in Poverty

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Relatively few persons age 65 and older live in poverty 31.4% of black women living alone and 40.8% of Hispanic women living alone live in poverty Income primarily based on Social Security and private retirement programs

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Homelessness

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People who have no place to sleep and either stay in free shelters or sleep in public places not meant for habitation

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Kuznets Curve

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Formula showing that inequality increases during the early stages of capitalist development, then declines, and eventually stabilizes at a relatively low level

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Culture of Poverty

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Thesis, popularized by Oscar Lewis, that poverty is not a result of individual inadequacies but is instead the outcome of a larger social and cultural atmosphere into which successive generations of children are socialized. The culture of poverty refers to the values, beliefs, lifestyles, habits, and traditions that are common among people living under conditions of material deprivation

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Dependency Culture

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A term popularized by Charles Murray to describe individuals who rely on state welfare provision rather than entering the labor market. The dependency culture is seen as the outcome of the "paternalistic" welfare state that undermines individual ambition and people's capacity for self-help

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Of Total Income Increase in 2010...

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37% went to top .01% [average increase of $4.2 million] 56% went to the rest of the top 1% [average increase of $105,637] 7% went to the bottom 99% [average increase of $80]

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Who brought what income

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Top 1% brought in 23.5% of all income generated Top .01% brought in just over 6% of all income generated

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