Social Stratification in the United States

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Social Stratification in the United States

• Tahu Kukutai
• Department of Sociology
• Stanford University
• tkukutai_at_stanford.edu

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What is social stratification?

• The study of systematic inequality between groups
  of people

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The 3 axis of inequality

• RACE
• GENDER
• SOCIAL CLASS

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America the Beautiful
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What does the U.S. symbolize?

• Land of opportunity
• rags to riches anyone can become rich,
  famous, the President (or at least the Governor
  of California)
• Jobs and education are available to all (who want
  it)
• Social class is achieved, not ascribed
• Individuals decide what class to belong to
• Open mobility between classes
• Meritocracy
• skill effort rewards

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Rags to Riches ?
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What are the key features of social class?

• WEALTH
• Valued possessions cash, land, buildings,
  property
• Income money from employment, shares etc.
• Tends to be intergenerational
• POWER
• Ability to carry out ones will, even if opposed
  by others
• Who has power???
• PRESTIGE
• Respect given to people with valued positions or
  resources

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Occupational Prestige

• What kinds of jobs are prestigious and why?
• Ratings by Americans about the prestige of
  different occupations
• Physician 82
• Lawyer 76
• School Teacher 60
• Computer Programmer 51
• Secretary 46
• Baker 34
• Taxi Driver 22
• Shoe Shiner 9
• ALC Professor ?
• Sociology Professor ?
• Class in the New York Times

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5 social classes in the U.S.

• UPPER CLASS
• Alice Walton -
• Walmart Heir

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Upper Class Facts

• Q. What of Americans belong to the upper class?
  
• 0.5
• Extent of wealth?
• Top 1 owns more than one third of ALL net worth
  in the U.S.
• 50 U.S. stocks, 60 bonds corporations,
  property, inheritances income mostly from
  investments not employment
• Source of power?
• Ownership of resources - money makes money
• Economic power and political power intertwined
• Source of prestige?
• family name resources (old Rockefeller,
  Carnegie, Walton, Getty new Gates)

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Corporate Class

• Ken Lay Jeff Skilling
• Former Enron CEOs

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Corporate Class Facts

• Q. What of Americans?
• 0.5
• Extent of wealth?
• A lot, but not as much as the upper class
• Usually not major owners of companies
• median CEO salary 10.8 million
• President of the U.S. 400,000 (why do it then??)
• Q. Source of power?
• Heads of companies, government
• Q. Source of prestige?
• Position of influence

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Middle Class

• The Cosby Show
• Americas first black middle class TV family

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Middle Class Facts

• Q. What of Americans?
• 43
• Q. Extent of wealth?
• Some
• Ownershipown home
• Incomemid to high income
• Engineer, 58,000
• Teacher, 34,000
• ALC Professor, ??
• Source of power?
• Limited within context of occupation
• Source of prestige?
• Some more than others, White collar job

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Working Class

• Photograph from a book

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Working Class Facts

• Q. What of Americans?
• 43
• Q. Extent of wealth?
• Little
• Ownershiplittle or no property
• Incomemid to low
• Factory worker, 24,000
• Machine operator, 23,000
• Q. Source of power?
• Limited, sometimes collective power through
  unions
• Q. Source of prestige?
• Very little, Blue collar jobs

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Lower Class

• Homeless man in New York - one of thousands

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Lower Class Facts

• Q. What of Americans?
• 13
• Q. Extent of wealth?
• Very little, usually none
• Ownership none
• Income low
• Poverty rate in 2001 9.9
• Only about 1/3 of poor get welfare
• Q. Source of power?
• Limited to none
• Q. Source of prestige?
• Limited to none

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Distribution of Wealth

Wealth Class 1998 Wealth Class 1998 Net Worth
Top 1 38.1 10,204,000
Next 4 21.3 1,441,000
Next 5 11.5 623,500
Next 10 12.5 344,900
Next 20 11.9 161,300
Middle 20 4.5 61,000
Bottom 40 0.2 1,900
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How do Americans perceive social stratification
in their own country?

• Mixed optimism
• A general belief in meritocracy
• (what does this mean again?)
• A general belief that mobility and opportunities
  to advance have increased

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Importance of Education
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Better off over Generations
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Trap of Poverty?
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American Dream for Everyone?
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American Dream for all?
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Racial gaps in the labor market
Race Unemployment, 2000
Hispanic or Latino 9.3
White 4.3
Black 11.8
American Indian 12.4
Asian 5.1
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 10.9
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Gender gaps in the labor market

• More men work full time than women, but comparing
  men and women who work
• Median Income
• Male 29,458
• Female 18,957
• For every dollar men make, women make 64 cents

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Why does the gender gap exist?

• Education?
• Women make up over 50 of students in college
• Men and Women with a BA (1999)
• Male 47,126
• Female 34,455
• Men work more hours?
• Women in full-time work earn less than men with
  the same educational qualification

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Revisiting the American Dream

• Land of Opportunity?
• rags to riches or the rich get rich?
• classes tend to reproduce themselves (e.g.
  occupational wealth inheritance, legacy admits)
• are all jobs open and equal for everyone?
• clearly not
• Social class is achieved or ascribed?
• between 40 to 60 of parental income advantage
  passed on to children
• A meritocracy?
• barriers to channels of upward mobility (e.g. a
  good education)

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America the Beautiful?
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Or is it more complicated?
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And our very own Palo Alto A tale of two cities