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Sociology Eleventh Edition Richard T. Schaefer Chapter 9: Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States Slide 2 Systems of Stratification Sociological Perspectives on Stratification Is Stratification Universal? Stratification by Social Class Social Mobility Social Policy and Stratification: Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Systems of Stratification Any stratification system may include elements of more than one type Slide 3 Ascribed status: social position assigned to person without regard for that person’s unique characteristics or talents Achieved status: social position attained by person largely through his or her own effort © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slavery Slide 4 Slavery: most extreme form of legalized social inequality Castes: hereditary systems of rank, usually religiously dictated, that tend to be fixed and immobile © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Castes Estates Slide 5 Estate system: associated with feudal societies in the Middle Ages Class system: social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Social Classes Rossides (1997) uses five-class model to describe U.S. class system Slide 6 Upper class Working class Upper-middle class Lower class Lower-middle class © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Figure 9-1: The 50 States: Haves and Have-Notes Source: 2005 census data presented in American Community Survey 2006:Tables R1701, R2001. Slide 7 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Figure 9-1: The 50 States: Haves and Have-Notes Source: 2005 census data presented in American Community Survey 2006:Tables R1701, R2001. Slide 8 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Figure 9-2: Household Income in the United States, 2005 Source: DeNavas-Walt et al. 2006:31. Slide 9 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation Social relations depend on who controls the primary mode of production Slide 10 Capitalism: economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits Bourgeoisie: capitalist class; owns the means of production Proletariat: working class © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation Exploitation of the proletariat will inevitably lead to the destruction of the capitalist system Slide 11 Class consciousness: subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about change False consciousness: attitude held by members of class that does not accurately reflect their objective position © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Research in Action 9-1: The Shrinking Middle Class Does your family belong to the middle class? If so, in what generation did your family achieve that status, and how? Are your parents struggling to maintain a middle-class lifestyle? Slide 12 For the nation as a whole, what are the dangers of a shrinking middle class? © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Max Weber’s View of Stratification No single characteristic totally defines a person’s position within the stratification system Slide 13 Class: group of people who have similar level of wealth and income Status group: people who have the same prestige or lifestyle Power: ability to exercise one’s will over others © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Interactionist View Interested in the importance of social class in shaping a person’s lifestyle Slide 14 Veblen: those at the top of the social hierarchy typically convert part of their wealth into conspicuous consumption Behavior judged to be typical of lower class is subject to ridicule and even legal action © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Is Stratification Universal? Slide 15 Inequality exists in all societies—even the simplest Functionalists and conflict sociologists offer contrasting explanations © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Functionalist View Davis and Moore state society must distribute members among a variety of social positions Stratification is universal and social inequality necessary to motivate people to fill functionally important positions Slide 16 Does not explain the wide disparity between the rich and the poor © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Conflict View Human beings prone to conflict over scarce resources such as wealth, status, and power Powerful maintain status quo by defining and disseminating the dominant ideology Slide 17 Dominant ideology: set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests Stratification is major source of societal tension and conflict that will inevitably lead to instability and social change © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Lenski’s Viewpoint Slide 18 Economic system change as level of technology becomes more complex Emergence of surplus resources greatly expands possibilities for inequality in status, influence, and power Allocation of surplus goods and services reinforces social inequality © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Table 9-1: Sociological Perspectives on Social Stratification Slide 19 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Measuring Social Class Objective method: class is largely viewed as a statistical category Slide 20 Occupation Education Income Place of residence Prestige: respect and admiration an occupation holds in society Esteem: reputation specific person has earned within an occupation © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Measuring Social Class Gender and Occupational Prestige Multiple Measures Slide 21 Studies of social class tended to neglect the occupations and incomes of women as determinants of social rank Advances in statistical methods and computer technology multiplied the factors used to define class under objective method © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Table 9-2: Prestige Rankings of Occupations Note: 100 is the highest and 0 the lowest possible prestige score. Source: J. Davis et al. 2005:2050–2051. Slide 22 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Wealth and Income Income in U.S. distributed unevenly Slide 23 0.5% of U.S. population receive income of $500,000 or more 90% of nation’s population received income of less than $100,000 in 2005 Compared to people in other countries, U.S. population less concerned about reducing income differentials at bottom of distribution Wealth in U.S. more unevenly distributed than income © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Figure 9-3: U.S. Income Distribution, 2005 Source: Dykman 2006: 48–49, based on data from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internal Revenue Services, The State of Working America 2006/2007, Salary.com, and Forbes.com. Slide 24 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Figure 9-4: Distribution of Wealth in the United States, 2001 Note: Data do not add up to 100 percent due to rounding. Source: Wolff 2002. Slide 25 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Poverty Approximately one out of every nine people in U.S. live below poverty line Slide 26 Absolute poverty: minimum level of subsistence that no family should live below Relative poverty: floating standard by which people at the bottom of a society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison to the nation as a whole © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Poverty Who Are the Poor? Slide 27 Found in urban and rural areas Since World War Two, increasing proportion of poor have been women Not a static social class Wilson and colleagues used underclass to describe the long-term poor who lack training and skills © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Poverty Explaining Poverty Gans argues Presence of poor people means society’s dirty work performed at low cost Poverty creates jobs for those who serve the poor Identification and punishment of poor upholds conventional social norms Existence of poor people guarantees higher status of more affluent Poor often absorb costs of social change Slide 28 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Figure 9-5: U.S. Minimum Wage Adjusted for Inflation, 1950–2006 Note: In 2007 the federal minimum wage was raised to $5.85 with provisions for $6.55 in 2008 and $7.25 in 2009. Some states Legislate different standards. Minima as of 2005 were actually lower in two states (KS and OH) and higher in 16 states (AK, CA, CT, DE, FL, HI, IL, MA, ME, MN, NJ, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA) and the District of Columbia. Source: Author’s estimate and Bureau of the Census 2005a:413. Slide 29 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Figure 9-6: Poverty in Selected Countries Note: Data are for 2000 except for Germany (2001) and Mexico (2002). Poverty threshold is 50 percent of nation’s median income. Source: Förster and d’Ercole 2005:36. Slide 30 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Table 9-3: Who Are the Poor in the United States? Note: Data are for 2005, as reported by the Bureau of the Census in 2006. Source: DeNavas-Walt et al. 2006. Slide 31 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Sociology in the Global Community 9-2: It’s All Relative: Appalachian Poverty and Congolese Affluence Slide 32 Have you ever lived or traveled to a foreign country where income and living standards were very different from those in the U.S.? If absolute measures of poverty, such as household income, are inconsistent from one country to the next, what other measures might give a clearer picture of people’s relative well-being? © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Life Chances Life chances: opportunities to provide one’s self with material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experiences Slide 33 In times of danger, affluent and powerful have better chance of surviving Class affects people’s vulnerability to natural disasters Hope for improvement from Internet hurt by digital divide © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Open versus Closed Stratification Systems Open and closed stratifications systems indicate social mobility in a society Slide 34 Open system: position of each individual influenced by the person’s achieved position Closed system: allows little or no possibility of moving up © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Types of Social Mobility Social mobility: Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another Slide 35 Horizontal mobility: movement within same range of prestige Vertical mobility: movement from one position to another of a different rank Intragenerational mobility: social position changes within person’s adult life © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Social Mobility in the United States Slide 36 Occupational Mobility The Impact of Education The Impact of Race and Ethnicity The Impact of Gender © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Sociology on Campus 9-3: Social Class and financial Aid How many students are receiving some form of financial aid? Slide 37 How many have a scholarship and how many have a loan? Aside from a reduction in individual social mobility, what might be the long-term effects of the shortage of need-based financial aid? © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe The Issue Governments searching for right solution to welfare How much subsidy should they provide? How much responsibility should poor assume? Slide 38 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe The Setting Shifts in U.S. welfare program in 1996 ended long-standing guarantee of assistance to every poor family Most countries devote higher proportions of expenditures to Housing Social security Welfare Health care Unemployment compensation Slide 39 © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe Sociological Insights Slide 40 Many sociologists view debate over welfare reform from conflict perspective Conflict theorists urge policymakers to look closely at corporate welfare: tax breaks, direct payments, and grants the government makes to corporations © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe Policy Initiatives Slide 41 Too soon to see if “workfare” will be successful Prospect for hard-core jobless faded In North America and Europe, people beginning to turn to private means to support themselves Solutions frequently left to the private sector, while government policy initiatives at the national level all but disappear © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.