Class and Stratification in the United States

1
Chapter 7

• Class and Stratification in the United States

2
Social Stratification

• Hierarchy of social groups based on control over
  resources.
• Sociologists examine social groups that make up
  the hierarchy in a society to determine how
  inequalities persist over time.

3
Life Chances

• Access to resources such as food, clothing,
  shelter, education, and health care.
• Affluent people have better life chances because
  they have greater access to
• quality education
• safe neighborhood
• nutrition and health care
• police protection

4
Systems of Stratification

• Open system - boundaries between hierarchies may
  be influenced by peoples achieved statuses.
• Closed system - boundaries between hierarchies
  are rigid, peoples positions are set by ascribed
  status.
• No stratification system is completely open or
  closed.

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Open and Closed Systems Differ in the
Availability of

• Social MobilityProcess of changing one's social
  class.
• Intergenerational
• Intragenerational

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Slavery

• Throughout recorded history 5 societies have been
  slave societies
• Ancient Greece
• Roman Empire
• United States
• Caribbean and Brazil.

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Characteristics of Slavery in the U.S.

• It was for life and was inherited.
• Slaves were considered property, not human
  beings.
• Slaves were denied rights.
• Coercion was used to keep slaves in their place.

8
Caste System

• Status is determined at birth based on parents
  ascribed characteristics.
• Cultural values sustain caste systems and caste
  systems grow weaker as societies industrialize.
• Vestiges of caste systems can remain for hundreds
  of years after they are officially abolished.

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In Caste Systems

• Perpetuation of class is assured because
• Persons must follow the same occupations as their
  parents
• Persons must marry within their own caste
• One may not have any social relations with
  members of other castes

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The Class System

• A type of stratification based on the ownership
  and control of resources and on the type of work
  people do.
• Horizontal mobility occurs when people experience
  a gain or loss in position and/or income that
  does not produce a change in their place in the
  class structure.
• Vertical mobility is movement up or down the
  class structure is.

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Is stratification unfair? It creates inequality.

• In the U.S. we view stratification as unfair if
  it is based upon ascribed statuses. Why?
• It runs counter to our value of equal opportunity.

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U.S. culture values achievement more than
inherited wealth and status, and our occupations
are not directly inherited. Yet, people tend to
have occupations of a status similar to that of
their parents.

• How does this come about?

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The influence of family on social class

• As a general rule, children have occupations of a
  status similar to that of their parents because
  the familys status and income determine
  childrens aspirations and opportunities.

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Marxian Criteria for Class Structure

• Ownership of the means of production.
• Employing others.
• Supervising others on the job.
• Being employed by someone else.

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Marxs View of Stratification
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Max Weber Wealth,Prestige, and Power

• Wealth is the value of a persons or familys
  economic assets, including income, personal
  property, and income-producing property.
• Prestige is the regard with which a person or
  status position is regarded by others.
• Power is the ability of people or groups to
  achieve their goals despite opposition from
  others.

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Socioeconomic Status (SES)

• A combined measure that, in order to determine
  class location, attempts to classify individuals,
  families, or households in terms of factors such
  as income, occupation, and education.

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Weberian Model of the Class Structure

• Upper Class - comprised of people who own
  substantial income-producing assets.
• Upper-Middle Class - based on university degrees,
  authority on the job, and high income.
• Middle Class - a minimum of a high school
  diploma or a community college degree.

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Weberian Model of the Class Structure

• Working Class - semiskilled workers, in routine,
  mechanized jobs, and workers in pink collar
  occupations.
• Working Poor - live just above to just below the
  poverty line.
• Underclass - people who are poor, seldom
  employed, and caught in long-term deprivation.

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Webers Multidimensional Approach to Social
Stratification
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Stratification
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Middle Class and the American Dream

• Four factors have eroded the American Dream for
  this class
• Escalating housing prices
• Occupational insecurity
• Blocked mobility on the job
• Cost of living squeeze that has penalized younger
  workers, even when they have more education and
  better jobs than their parents.

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Pink-collar Occupations

• Relatively low-paying, nonmanual, semiskilled
  positions primarily held by women, such as
  day-care workers, checkout clerks, cashiers, and
  waitpersons.

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Underclass

• Those who are poor, seldom employed, and caught
  in long-term deprivation that results from low
  levels of education and income and high rates of
  unemployment.

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Median Income by State
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Income and Wealth

• Income - wages, salaries, government aid, and
  property
• Wealth - value of economic assets, including
  income and property.
• Wealth can generate income.

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Income inequality is higher in the United States
than in most nations.

• Why do you think this might be the case?

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How can we measure income inequality?

• One way is to look at the way income is
  distributed.

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Income distribution in the United States

• Richest 20 receives 50 of all income
• Next 20 receives 23 of all income
• Next 20 receives 15 of all income
• Next 20 receives 9 of all income
• Poorest 20 receives 3 of all income

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What do we mean by income distribution? Lets say
we have ten people in a room. How much income
inequality do we have in the room?

• Person 1 income is 20,000
• Person 2 income is 60,000
• Person 3 income is 25,000
• Person 4 income is 110,000
• Person 5 income is 80,000
• Person 6 income is 200,000
• Person 7 income is 15,000
• Person 8 income is 250,000
• Person 9 income is 40,000
• Person 10 income is 50,000

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How can we measure inequality?

• In addition to income, we might also look at the
  way wealth is distributed.
• The richest 20 of the U.S. population currently
  hold 84 of all wealth.

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Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity in the
United States
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Defining Poverty

• Sociologists distinguish between absolute and
  relative poverty.
• Absolute poverty exists when people do not have
  the means to secure the most basic necessities of
  life.
• Relative poverty exists when people may be able
  to afford basic necessities but are still unable
  to maintain an average standard of living.

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U.S. Population Without Health Insurance
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Official Poverty Line

• The federal income standard that is based on what
  is considered to be the minimum amount of money
  required for living at a subsistence level. This
  is 19,157 for a family of four.

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Distribution of Poverty in the U.S.
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Distribution of Poverty in the U.S.
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Feminization of Poverty

• The trend in which women are disproportionately
  represented among individuals living in poverty.
• Women bear the major economic and emotional
  burdens of raising children when they are single
  heads of households but earn 70 and 80 cents for
  every dollar a male worker earns.
• More women than men are unable to obtain regular,
  full-time, employment.

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What are the causes of poverty?

• The Culture of Poverty A set of values that
  emphasizes living for the moment, rather than
  thrift, investment in the future or hard work is
  what keeps the poor from upward social mobility.
• Changing labor market De-industrialization. If
  there are no good jobs available, then we dont
  need to psychoanalyze people to figure out why
  they are poor.
• Job Deskilling A reduction in the proficiency
  needed to perform a specific job that leads to a
  corresponding reduction in the wages for that
  job.

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Functionalist Perspective Davis-Moore Thesis

• Societies have tasks that must be accomplished
  and positions that must be filled.
• Some positions are more important for the
  survival of society than others.
• The most important positions must be filled by
  the most qualified people.

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Functionalist Perspective Davis-Moore Thesis

• The positions that are the most important for
  society and that require scarce talent, extensive
  training, or both must be the most highly
  rewarded.
• The most highly rewarded positions should be
  those that are functionally unique (no other
  position can perform the same function) and on
  which other positions rely for expertise,
  direction, or financing.

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Meritocracy

• A hierarchy in which all positions are rewarded
  based on peoples ability and credentials.

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Conflict Theorys Response?

• Can we really rank positions in terms of their
  value to society?
• Even if we could, do the rewards attached to
  positions really reflect their value to
  society?
• Is there a scarcity of talent?

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What are symbolic interactionists interested in
with respect to inequality?

• How are inequality and unequal status
  symbolically communicated in interactions between
  people?
• The use of deference
• Judith Rollins study, page 221

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Sociological Explanations of Social Inequality in
the U.S.
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U.S. Stratification in the Future

• Many social scientists believe that trends point
  to an increase in social inequality in the U.S.
• The purchasing power of the dollar has stagnated
  or declined since the early 1970s.
• Wealth continues to become more concentrated at
  the top of the U.S. class structure.
• Federal tax laws in recent years have benefited
  corporations and wealthy families at the expense
  of middle and lower-income families.