Week 10 Class II

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Week 10 Class II

• STRATIFICATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND WORLDWIDE
• Chapter 9

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Stratification by Social Class

• Wealth and Income

• Income and wealth in the United States are
  distributed unevenly.
• The richest fifth of the population accounts for
  50 of after-tax income.
• The bottom fifth of the population accounts for
  only 3 of after-tax income.

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Source ablongman p 194

• Inequality of US income

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Source ablongman p 194

• Inequality of US income

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Source ablongman p 194

• Inequality of US income

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Source ablongman p 194

• Inequality of US income

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Source ablongman p 194

• Inequality of US income

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Source ablongman p 194

• Inequality of US income

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Income Vs. Wealth Stratification
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Stratification by Social Class
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Stratification by Race/Ethnicity
Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic
Origin 1967 to 2000
Source Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Robert W. Cleveland,
and Marc L. Oemer. 2001. Figure 1 in Money Income
in the United States 2000. Current Population
Reports Series P60-213. Washington, DC U.S.
Government Printing Office. Also accessible at
http//www.census.gov/hhes/www/income00.html.
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Stratification by Social Class
Figure 9.4 The Growing U.S. Income Gap, 1989-1998
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Stratification by Social Class

• Poverty

• Approximately one out of every nine people in the
  United States lives below the poverty line.
• Sociologists distinguish different types of
  poverty
• --Absolute poverty is the minimum level of
  subsistence that no family should live below.
• --Relative poverty is a standard by which people
  are defined as being disadvantaged when compared
  to the nation as a whole.

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Stratification by Social Class

• Poverty

• Who are the poor in the United States?
  children women the elderly
• A majority of the poor live in rural areas.

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Stratification by Social Class

• Life Chances

• Webers Analysis
• Life chances are opportunities to obtain
• material goods,
• positive living conditions, and
• favorable life experiences.
• Occupying a higher position in a society improves
  your life changes and brings greater access to
  social rewards.

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Social Class Simulation