Inequlity Social Class System Essay Example
Inequlity Social Class System Essay Example

Inequlity Social Class System Essay Example

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  • Pages: 13 (3484 words)
  • Published: January 9, 2018
  • Type: Research Paper
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The working class is described as individuals homo hold regular manual or blue-collar Jobs. The lower class consists individuals who cannot find regular work or make do with low paying work. This class consists primarily of single mothers with dependent children, blacks. And Hispanics. Upper Class The upper class also known as the '1 percent'.

This 1 percent of Americans are now taking In nearly a quarter of the nation's income every year. In terms of wealth the top 1 percent control 40 percent of the united States wealth. These Individuals are at the top of the economic ladder in that they earn more than $250,000 annually (Census Bureau).

It has been reported that between 1979 and 2007 the average income of the bottom 50 percent of American households grew by 6%; the top 1 percent saw their Income Increase by 229% (Center for

...

American Progress). Upper- middle, Lower-middle class The upper middle class holds about 10-15 percent of the U. S.

Population. Its members are very highly educated professionals with great autonomy in the work place. Graduate degrees are very common and educational attainment serves as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Household Incomes vary depending on how many income earners there are within a household.

One-earner upper middle class households may have incomes in the high 5-figure range while married couple household commonly have incomes of $100,000. (Gilbert, 2002; Thompson & Hickey, 2005).

The lower middle class usually Just called middle class consist of 30-35 percent of the population. The individuals in this class often hold college degrees, but lack the graduate degrees needed to advance to higher levels of employment

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The middle class do make comfortable incomes, but have low accumulated wealth, their work is largely self-directed and does not hold a high status If any at all.

Since 42% of all shoulder had two income earners, the annual salary is roughly $32,500 to $100,000.

In terms of education 27% of the people in the middle class had a bachelor's degree or higher( ). This class all share the goal of sending their children to college. Working Class The working class population consists of about 40-45 percent of the U. S. Population. The working class falls at the lowest end of the middle-class spectrum.

These workers are employed in blue-collar industries or are paid by the hour. They typically have lower levels of education.

Secretaries, electricians, and hair stylists are considered embers of the working class. Their occupations require vocational training but generally do not require a college degree, and they likely earn an income above 1 OF 7 reduced the demand for many middle-class, blue-collar Jobs. Globalization has created a worldwide marketplace, pitting expensive unskilled workers in America against cheap unskilled workers overseas. Social changes have also played a role-? for instance, the decline of unions, which once represented a third of American workers and now represent about 12 percent.

Of all the five classes the working class is declining at an alarming rate. Lower Class This class is about 20-25 percent of the U. S. Population.

Low education and disabilities are two of the main reasons individuals struggle to find work or fall into the lower class. The term lower class describes individuals that work easily-filled employment positions. These positions typically have little

economic compensation, and they do not require workers to have a high school education. Lower class households are at the greatest risk of falling below the poverty line if and when a Job holder suddenly becomes unemployed.

Store cashiers, waitresses, and housekeepers may all be considered members of the lower class. Their occupations are largely unskilled and consist of repetitive tasks which only brings in a meager income.

According to the Census Bureau 46. 2 million people (1 5 percent) currently live below the poverty line, or the income level needed to make a bare-essentials living in the United States. This figure depends on a number of factors, but is currently calculated to be an annual income of $23,050 for a family of four. Economic Inequality Economic inequality refers to financial disparity.

It is rare to find a society that every person has equal amounts of financial and material resources. On the other and it is very common to find a society in which there are people with wealth and income that live in extreme luxury while others live in absolute poverty.

There are two main contributing factors to economic inequality, there is wealth which is a measure of the money and material possessions individuals already have. Wealth has the potential to greatly impact the way people live because it can determine what they are able to purchase and what they are able to do at that present time.

Those considered wealthy tend to have much better standards of living than those in lower economic classes. The second important factor to consider is income.

Some people have little or no wealth because they have little

or no income. It is common to find that those with the most wealth and the best standards of living are also those with substantial inflows of money. "Income inequality is a symptom, not a disease. People realize that now. They see the symptom erupting in all directions, but at a visceral level, they can sense deeper pathology at work in their lives.

The disease is a lack of accountability, a failure of the responsible institutions, political and otherwise to do their Jobs as a check on the inebriate gluttony of the financial sector of the economy, betted by its pets economists and its legions of fans in the business media, and the disease is also a political system so awash with its proceeds that it can't clear a space to do anything about making whole the victims of this reckless pilferage" (Price, 2011).

Taxes The top one percent of households in the United States received 8. 9% of all pre-tax (Sake, 2003).

Inheritance tax has been all but eliminated due to bankers whom have convince legislatures in many states to eliminate their "rules against perplexities," which means that the trust funds set up in those states can exist in perpetuity, hereby allowing the trust fund to own new business, houses, and much else for descendants of rich people, and even allow the beneficiaries to avoid payments to creditors when in personal debt or sued for causing accidents and injuries. About $100 billion in trust funds has flowed into those states so far (Yale university press, 2010).

The top 10 percent has been earning a larger and larger share of our nation's income. Twenty years

ago, they accounted for 34 percent of our nation's income.

In the past twenty years as tax rates have fallen for the highest earners the income hare of the top 10 percent has grown to 42 percent of our nation's earnings. Education Suburban school districts offer better schooling than the less-well-funded systems in central cities. A 1999 report from the U. S.

Department of Education showed that 27. % of Whites had obtained bachelor's degrees or more, but only 12. 2% of Blacks had reached that level. Blacks tend to take longer to receive their high school certification, increasing their overall disadvantage.

Some of the main reasons for the educational gap between upper and lower class is due to economic, cultural, and social differences which all these combine help to preserve privilege across generations. Policymakers have recognize that unequal school financing across school districts is unfair, and some are taking steps to reduce these inequalities.

But this trend will do little to reduce the major advantages students have from families with more economic resources than other families that have fewer resources if any at all. The ultimate test of an educational system is whether it makes sure that every student, whatever their background, is exposed to the content they need to compete in today's society. U. S.

Schools are failing this most basic test, and in the process wasting the talents of millions of American children, children from all backgrounds.

The reality is that, for most students, the education they receive is largely based on chance, making academic opportunities into a kind of lottery one with profound consequences (Schmidt, 2012). Wealth Concentration Wealth concentration or

concentration of wealth is a process where the newly produced wealth is distributed but goes in the possession of only those people, who are already rich and established individuals/entities. Technology has aided financial lath to remain in the hands of the ruling class, filtering out the impact of the working class, which simply earns wages.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the wealthiest one percent of all American households have 288 times the amount of wealth that the average middle class American family does on average. Gender & Race Inequality Women entering the Job market find their options restricted in important ways.

Particular damaging is occupational segregation or confinement to "sex-typed" Jobs. In 2007, women accounted for 99% service roles that are parallel with the traditional explosives who "serve" . Their husbands (Schaefer, 2010).

Women and minority groups find that they are prevented from reaching their full potential what is referred to the term glass ceiling. Glass ceiling is defined as an invisible barrier that individuals race, gender, or ethnicity. The glass ceiling continues to block women and minority group men from the top management positions in the nations industries (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995).

White privilege refers to the rights or immunities granted to people as a particular benefit because they are white.

White bob seekers have a huge benefit over blacks that may have better qualifications than that of their white counter part. Blacks remain twice as likely to be unemployed, three times more likely to live in poverty and more than six times as likely to be imprisoned compared with whites, according to the group's annual State of Black America report. The

most persistent manifestation of racial inequality in the modern United States has been racial segregation in housing and education. African Americans are far more likely than whites to be economically insecure.

The statistics are grim, in 2006 he median household income of blacks was only 62 percent of that of whites. Blacks were much more likely than whites to be unemployed (black unemployment rates have remained one and a halloo two times those of whites since the sass). The starkest racial disparities in the United States are in wealth (a category that includes such assets as savings accounts, stocks, bonds, and especially real estate). In 2003, the U. S.

Census Bureau calculated that white households had a median net worth of $74,900, whereas black households had a median net worth of only $7,500 (Taylor, 2011).

Generational Inequalities Generational influences the demographic of where one lives and potently may live because families influence subsequent generations through differential fertility, survival, migration, marriage patterns, as well as through direct transmission of socioeconomic rewards, statuses, and positions. High rates of intergenerational persistence amplify the costs and benefits of one's socioeconomic position and may lead to higher inequalities when averaged across generations, and sustain family lineages.

Not only are rates of intergenerational mobility relatively high, but also implies are unable to extend their influence by more than a single generation. In two-generation approaches to family influence parents directly affect their children, just as they themselves have been affected by their own parents.

Parental wealth at midlife is largely transformed into the human capital of the next generation making possible the next generation's turn at wealth accumulation. At the bottom of

the socioeconomic distribution are extreme disadvantages for both individuals and families over more than one generation.

Institutionalized subjugation, such as slavery ensures intergenerational continuity at the bottom or even outside of a system of social stratification even when such subjugation is removed, its effects may persist through new institutions of subjugation, through such deep human and physical capital deprivation that upward mobility is nearly impossible, or through extreme segregation that isolates the nominally free from mainstream systems of wealth acquisition and mobility. Generational poverty is defined as having been in poverty for at least two generations.

An education is usually the only way one can break the cycle of generational poverty (Payne, 1996). Effects of Inequality Social inequality encompasses relatively long-lasting differences between groups of people and has considerable implications for individuals, especially "for the rights or opportunities they exercise and the rewards or privileges they enjoy" (Grab, 1997, between advantaged and disadvantaged groups of people. It is also important to take into considerations issues of status, power, housing, and health, as well as the relationship between these factors and economic well-being.

The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don't need to rely on government for parks or education or medical care or personal security they can buy all these things for themselves.

With this type of thinking they become more distant from ordinary people, losing whatever empathy they may once have had. Health According to the World Health Organization, health is broadly defined as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the

absence of disease or infirmity" (World Health Organization, 2000).

Research on physical health generally shows that individuals from lower socioeconomic status (SEES) have worse lath than do those from higher socioeconomic status. In general class differences in health are smaller in older age than they are in younger age.

Older individuals who were previously employed in skilled, white-collar work have fewer health problems and lower rates of mortality than those who were employed in unskilled, blue-collar work (Pamper, 1998).

Regarding mental health, older people with lower levels of education and income tend to report more depressive symptoms than do those with higher levels of education and income. Such a strong and consistent relationship between SEES and health exists because people with lower levels of income, lower levels of education, and low paying Jobs are more likely to experience malnutrition, to lack knowledge of health care practices another contributing factor is they are more often exposed to dangerous working and living environments, all of these things negatively affect health status. Housing The structural factors that the U.

S. Government uses to evaluate housing problems include whether a household has adequate heating and cooling systems, plumbing, and kitchen facilities; whether it has structural defects; and whether there is equipment in need of repair. The U. S. Government also assesses housing on the axis of whether it is overcrowded, and on whether there are excessive shelter costs. Between one-quarter and one-third of older people spend over 30 percent of their income on housing, and people in this situation are not thought to have enough money available to spend on food, medical expenses, transportation, and clothing.

The North American

news constantly reports of older people dying from the summer heat or the winter cold. There are also subgroups of older people, the very old 85 and up, black older adults in particular, that are at heightened risk of occupying poor housing (Gallant & Legacy, 1995). National Low Income Housing Coalition (INLINE) quoted a finding by a congressional commission that there were almost two million fewer units of housing affordable to low-income households than there were such households in 2004 (Delaware, 2004).

In 2003 the U. S. Conference of Mayors reported that applicants waited an average of twenty months for public housing, however the survey also revealed that 59% of the surveyed cities had stopped accepting applications for at least one assisted housing program (Hunger and Homelessness Survey,2004).

High housing costs also contributed to the homelessness problem. The city officials estimated that low-income households spent an average of 45% of their of current income affordable and appropriate.

In 2003 the median monthly housing cost for renter households was $651; the median monthly housing cost as a percent of current income was 30. 1%. In other words, half of renters paid more than 30.

1% of their income on rent more than what the federal government considers affordable and appropriate. The median monthly housing cost for owner households was $758; the median monthly housing cost as a percent of current income was 18. 2% lower Han that of renters. However, almost a quarter of owners paid above 30% of their income for housing (Census Bureau, 2004).

The extremely impoverished people are the closest to being forced into homelessness these are the individuals who do not own

their housing and can barely afford to pay their housing costs, or can only afford to stay in the very worst housing.

HUT found that 10. 9 million people inhabited the 4. 9 million households in the worst-case housing classification in 1999. This number included 1. 4 million elderly and 3.

6 million children. A report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (INLINE), compared the Fair Market Rent; the U.

S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's estimate of what a household seeking modest rental housing must expect to pay for rent and utilities to the median hourly wage.

The hourly wage needed to pay the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $15. 37 but the median hourly wage in the United States is only $14. 00 more than a quarter of people in the United States earn less than $10. 00 per hour, and the federal minimum wage was $5. 15. The report stated that rents continued to rise faster than incomes did in 2004.

Crime There are many factors including unemployment, population density, minority population, age distribution and locality in the U. S. That all correlate with crime and affect poverty as well. Poverty can lead to high levels of stress that in turn may lead individuals to commit theft, robbery, or other violent acts. The degree of minority population in an area is also correlated with poverty due to the disproportional amount of minorities living in impoverished urban areas. In addition, racism towards minorities can lead to lower wages and fewer Jobs, resulting in higher poverty rates ND thus committing crimes, and the cycle continues.

Sociological Perspectives There are

four views when talking about sociological perspectives. The functionalist view, conflict view, feminist view, and the interactions view. All these theories and there contributors have different views of which these social economic points have and continue to affect our society. Functionalist view The functionalist view on stratification is that in our society it is necessary to have inequality to motivate people to fill society important positions. That the poor satisfy positive functions for many non-poor individuals.

When it comes to discrimination functionalist think it is both functional and dysfunctional in our society.

On the issue on gender stratification the functionalist view is that sex differentiation contributes to overall society stability. Conflict View Conflict theorists view stratification as a major source of societal tension and theory to explain racial subordination. Exploitation theory is also known as Marxist class theory named after the theorist Karl Marx who viewed exploitation of the lower class as a basic part of the capitalist economic system, meaning racism keeps minorities in low-paying Jobs.

The conflict view on gender inequality is that the relationship between males and females is that of unequal power, with men dominating women.

Interactions View Interactions stress the importance of social class in determining a person's lifestyle. On the topic of racial inequalities the interactions believe the contact hypothesis as a means of reducing prejudice and discrimination. The contact hypothesis states that in cooperative circumstances, interracial contact between people of equal status will reduce prejudice. Interactions study gender role on a micro level of everyday behavior.

Every day we reinforce traditionally masculine and feminine actions by "doing gender".

For example girls playing with baby dolls, or pretending to

cook in their play kitchen, boys playing in the dirt with their toy trucks. Conclusion Economists came up with the theory "marginal-productivity theory' in a nutshell, this theory associated higher incomes with higher productivity and a greater contribution to society. America has long prided itself on being a fair society, where everyone has an equal chance of getting ahead, but the statistics suggest otherwise.

The chances of a poor citizen, or even a middle-class citizen, making it to the top in America are small.

With youth unemployment in America at around 20 percent, with one out of six Americans desiring a full-time Job not able to get one, with one out of seven Americans on food stamps and about the same number suffering from "food insecurity' given all this, there is ample evidence that something has blocked the "trickling down" effect from the top 1 percent to everyone else.

The rules of economic globalization are designed to benefit the rich. They encourage competition among countries for business which drives down taxes on corporations, and undermines hat used to be viewed as the "core" labor rights, which include the right to collective bargaining.

If there was equality and fairness for each American across the board things might look different; Governments would compete in providing economic security, low taxes on ordinary wage earners, good education, and a clean environment things most workers care about. Of all the costs imposed on our society by the top 1 percent, perhaps the greatest is this: the erosion of our sense of identity, in which fair play, equality of opportunity, and a sense of community are so important.

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