Download Week 4

Class, Race, and Families
Defining social class
Income distribution and economic restructuring
Poverty
Race, ethnicity, and class
Main points on selected racial-ethnic groups
Hispanics
African Americans
Asians
Defining Social Class
• Class: relationship to means of production
(economic, power)
• Status: common lifestyle and identity
(social, prestige)
Rich get richer; middle, working,
and lower classes get poorer:
Income Shares of Each Fifth and Top 5% of
Families, 1980 - 2002
100%
80%
Share of
income
Top 5%
60%
Highest Fifth
40%
4th Fifth
3rd Fifth
20%
2nd Fifth
0%
1980
1990
1995
Year
2002
Lowest Fifth
Economic Restructuring
(1970’s and beyond)
• Technological changes
– New jobs and skills
– Workers replaced with machines
• Loss of skilled and semi-skilled jobs to
developing countries – “outsourcing”
Economic Restructuring
• Without college = Low paying jobs:
service and unskilled
• Nonstandard employment = contingency
workers; no security, benefits
• Stagnating wages, esp. men
• Entry-level jobs hardest hit
• Housing prices rise
Income advantage for married couples;
growing disadvantage for single mothers:
Racial-Ethnic Group
•
•
•
•
Race = genetic
Ethnicity = cultural
Racial-ethnic group = elements of both
Related to class: involves economics,
status, power
Race gaps in income and net worth:
Median Family Income and Net Worth,
by Race, 2001
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
White
60,000
Nonwhite
40,000
20,000
0
1
Income
2
Net Worth
Race gaps in assets owned:
% Who Own Home, Vehicle, or Business Equity, by
race, 2001
100
80
60
White
40
Nonwhite
20
0
Home
Vehicle
Business Equity
Puerto Ricans
• U.S. Citizens (47% live here)
• Most economically disadvantaged
Hispanic group
• Highest unemployment
• High rate of informal marriage - related
to men’s deteriorating employment
Cuban American families
•
•
•
•
First came to US to escape Castro
Most were upper/middle class, educated
Welcomed by US
Immigrant enclaves – preserved own culture;
mutual support
• Supported each other; built businesses;
enjoyed some financial success
• 2nd wave (1980’s “), boat people:” thought to
be “undesirables” (not true)
African American Families
• The stereotype: Unmarried mother & kids,
female kinship, on welfare
• The reality:
– 69% of children born to unmarried moms
(27% of whites)
– 56% of households headed by women (22%
of whites)
– 22% live in poverty (7% of whites)
African American Families:
2 Recent Trends
• Decline in marriage
• Rise of middle class
Explaining the decline
I. Economics: Black women consider economics in
decision to marry
• 1990’s: young Black men had high rates of:
–
–
–
–
Unemployment
Dropping out of school
Violent crime, imprisonment
Drug addiction
• Result: fewer “eligible” men
Explaining the decline
II. Cultural response to economic probs.
• African traditions:
– Reliance on large kin networks
– Cooperation and sharing
– Less emphasis on formal marriage
– Marriage after children
• “Fathers” vs. “Daddies”
Rise of Black Middle Class
•
•
•
•
•
Since 1960’s
Opportunities for education
Expansion of service sector
Incomes still lower than whites
Assets MUCH lower than whites
– Less likely to inherit wealth, own a home
Asian American Families
• Generally: prosperous group - pool
economic resources, emphasize family
loyalty and honor
• Very different experiences among
different groups and generations
– Later SE Asians less likely to prosper
• Fewer skills
• Less assistance
• Poor economy on arrival