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Essentials of
Sociology
9th Edition
Chapter 8: Social Class
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Social Class in the United States
Chapter Overview



Components of Social
Class

Poverty Line

Who Are the Poor?
Sociological Models of
Social Class

Consequences of
Social Class

Dynamics of Poverty
Why Are People Poor?
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Social Class in the United States
What is Social Class?
Social Class
A large group of people who rank
closely to one another in wealth,
power, and prestige.
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Social Class in the United States
Components of Social Class
Wealth – Value of a Person’s Assets
Wealth consists of property and income
Wealth and income not necessarily the
same
Power – ability to get your way despite
resistance
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Social Class in the United States
Components of Social Class
Prestige – respect given to one’s occupation
Jobs that have greater levels of prestige:
1. Generally pay more
2. Entail more abstract thought
3. Require more education
4. Have greater autonomy
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Social Class in the United States
Figure 8.1 Distribution of the Property of Americans
Source: By the author. Based on Beeghley 2008.
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Social Class in the United States
Status Consistency and
Status Inconsistency
Status Consistency: when a person has the same levels
of wealth, power, and prestige they are status consistent
Status Inconsistency: when a person ranks higher on
one level of social class and low on another level they
are status inconsistent
People who are status inconsistent are more likely to be
politically active
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Social Class in the United States
Sociological Models of
Social Class

Updating Marx:
Marx argued that
there just two classescapitalists and
workers.
Figure 8.4 Marx’s Model of the Social Classes
Source: By the author.
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Social Class in the United States
Sociological Models of
Social Class
Sociologist Erik Wright suggests that some people are
members of more than one class at the same time.
They occupy what he calls contradictory class
locations.
 i.e. Mechanic-turned-business owner
Wright identified 4 classes:
1) Capitalists
2) Petty Bourgeoisie
3) Managers
4) Workers
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Social Class in the United States
Sociological Models of
Social Class
Gilbert and Kahl-Updated Weber’s model
 Capitalist Class
 The Upper Middle Class
 The Lower Middle Class
 The Working Class
 The Working Poor
 The Underclass
 Social Class in the Automobile Industry
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Social Class in the United States
Figure 8.5 The U.S. Social Class Ladder
Source: By the author. Based on Gilbert and Kahl 1998 and Gilbert 2008; income estimates are modified from Duff 1995.
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Social Class in the United States
Consequences of Social
Class
 Family Life
 Choice of Husband or Wife
 Divorce
 Child Rearing
 Education
 Religion
 Politics
 Mental Health
 Physical Health
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Social Class in the United States
Three Types of
Social Mobility
1. Intergenerational Mobility - a change that occurs
between generations – can be either upward or
downward
2. Structural Mobility – a change in the social
structure that causes a large number of people to
move either up or down the social class ladder
3. Exchange Mobility – a change in the social
structure that causes a larger number of people to
move up and down the social class ladder at the same
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time
Social Class in the United States
The Poverty Line
 The government figures out the poverty line by taking
a low cost food budget and multiplying it by 3.
 This poverty line was created in 1965.
 It does take into account family size and cost of living.
 This line has been criticized for being too low, many
think it should be increased by 50 %.
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Social Class in the United States
Who are the poor?
Geography: There is a clustering of poverty in the
South. The rate of rural poverty (16 %) is higher than
the national average of 13 %.
Race Ethnicity: 9 % of whites are poor, followed by
Asian Americans at 11 %. The rate of poverty among
Latinos is 21 % and among African Americans it is
25%. Overall, 41 % of all of the poor are whites
(largest group in the U.S.).
Education: Only 3 out of 100 people who finish college
end up poor.
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Social Class in the United States
Who are the poor?
 The biggest subgroup living in poverty in the U.S. are
children
 The group least likely to live in poverty are the elderly
 Feminization of Poverty – the association of poverty
with women, especially single parent households headed
by women
 The more education a person has, the least likely they
are to live in poverty
 42 % of the poor live in the inner cities
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Social Class in the United States
Figure 8.9 Births to Single Mothers
Note: Based on a sample of all U.S. births in the preceding 12 months.
Source: Dye 2005.
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Social Class in the United States
Figure 8.7 Patterns of Poverty
Source: By the author. Based on Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009:Table 687.
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Social Class in the United States
Dynamics of
Poverty
 Culture of Poverty
 Most Poverty is short-lived – people are constantly
moving in and out of poverty
 Number of Poor Relatively Stable
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Social Class in the United States
Why are people poor?
Two competing points of view:
1) Social Structure – the components of the social structure play a
strong contributing factor in the poverty rate
2) Characteristics of Individuals – people are poor because of their
own attitudes
Sociologists tend to focus on components in the social
structure to explain poverty
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Social Class in the United States
Welfare Reform
The U.S. welfare system was restructured in 1996. The
maximum length of tie that someone can collect
welfare is now 5 years. This has caused some
controversy.
Welfare rolls plummeted, dropping by 60 %.
3 out of 5 are still in poverty or back on welfare after
coming off out of the system.
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Social Class in the United States