Social Class in the United States

1
Chapter 8

• Social Class in the United States
• Is social class an ascribed status OR an achieved
  status???

2
Take the Quiz on page 249!!

• Box 8.1

3
I. Basic Concepts

• A. What is Social Stratification??
•  
• social stratification the hierarchical
  arrangement of social categories based on their
  control over basic resources.
• (a.k.a. structured inequality)
• Examples of basic resources?

4
2 main stratification systems in the world

•  
• CASTE strat. is based on ascribed statuses
•  
• CLASS strat. is based on ascribed and achieved
  statuses
•  

5
WHY DO WE STUDY THIS HEIRARCHICAL ARRANGEMENT?

•  
• Max Weber used the term life chances.
  Currently, William Julius Wilson studies life
  chances.
•  
• Life chances Access to important societal
  resources.
•  
• (Ones access to anything valued in society, such
  as , ed., healthcare).
•  
• Why are these things considered scarce?
•  

6
How do we measure the concept of Social Class?

• Socioeconomic Status (SES) A measure of an
  individuals, familys (or households) social
  class in terms of income, occupation, and
  education.
•  
•  

7
What is the difference between income and
wealth?

•  
• Income the economic gain from employment,
  income transfers (government aid) and ownership
  of property.
•  
• Wealth the total value of an individuals (or
  familys) economic assets (e.g., income, personal
  property, anything income-producing, stocks,
  bonds, paintings, jewelry, cars, planes) less
  debt.

8
Contrasting INCOME and WEALTH, WHICH IS
DISTRIBUTED MORE UNEQUALLY??

•  SEE Figure 8.1 on p. 250!!! (Income
  Distribution)
•  
• In 2001, the richest 20 of households received
  almost 50 of the total income, whereas the
  poorest 20 of all households received less than
  4 of all income.
•  
• The top 5 alone received 22 of all income --
  a sum greater than received by the bottom 40.

9
HAS THE INCOME GAP WIDENED OR BECOME SMALLER IN
THE LAST 20 YEARS????

• See pages 251-252
• Who are the super-rich? (.5 of households) own
  ____ of the nations wealth (avg. 9 million)
• Who are the very rich? (.5 of households) own
  ___ of the nations wealth (1.4 to 2.5
  million)
• Who are the rich? (9 of households) own ___
  of the nations wealth (avg. 400,000).
• Everyone else? (90 of households) own ___ of
  the nations wealth
•  
• NOTE Page 252 --See FIGURES 8.2 8.3!!!!

10
Wealth Inequality in U. S. A.

• In summary, the top 10 wealthiest families have
  about 72 of the nations wealth. The remaining
  90 of families have about 28 of the nations
  wealth.
•  
• The Weberian Model using analysis of the class
  structure - designed by Dennis Gilbert and Joseph
  Kahl, 2003 based on education, occupation of
  head of household, and income of family.
• SEE PAGE 257 Figure 8.6

11
What does Pink-Collar mean?

• Pink-collar occupations Relatively low-paying,
  nonmanual, semi-skilled positions (primarily held
  by women, yet sometimes held by men).
•  
• Examples?
•  

12
Consequences of Social Stratification

•  
• Increases in income correspond to increases in
  CONTROL over ones life via life chances
•  
• Poor physical health mental health and lack of
  nutrition correspond to being monetarily poor.

13
FOCUS -gt Physical health

•  
• The poor have shorter life expectancies (an
  average of 7 years), a higher risk of chronic
  illness (e.g., diabetes, cancer, heart disease)
  and infectious diseases (e.g., tuberculosis).
•  
• Infants of poor families have a greater risk of
  dying (that is, these babies have a higher
  infant mortality rate). WHY???

14
FOCUS -gt Physical health

• disease, accidents, violence, low birth weight
  due partly to inadequate prenatal care, lack of
  exams during pregnancy, etc. more common among
  people who are poor.
•  
• Many high poverty areas lack an adequate supply
  of doctors and medical facilities (example of a
  life chance).

15
FOCUS -gt Physical health

• The poor are LESS likely to have health
  insurance, although this trend is creeping into
  the middle-class (such as the self-employed).
  Low paying jobs are dangerous and hazardous,
  namely manual work.
• Who is the MOST likely age category to NOT have
  health insurance??
• (Hint See Figure 8.7 on p. 265).

16
FOCUS -gt Physical health

• A NOTE on Race In 2001, on-the-job accidents
  have decreased for African- and Anglo-Americans,
  but they have increased for Hispanic-(or Latin)
  Americans.
• It seems that people who have more money and
  other wealth tend to exercise more, maintain
  healthy weight, eat nutritiously, smoke less.

17
FOCUS ---gt Mental health

• (Related to physical health) People in the
  middle and upper social classes are LESS
  psychologically depressed.
•  
• Thus, we see an inverse or negative correlation
  between psychological stress and social class
•   psychological Social Class stress ? status
  
• (measured by SES)

18
Theoretical Perspectives of Social Inequality in
the U. S.

• I. Functionalist Perspectives assert that
  inequality is inevitable and necessary for
  society. Know 5 points of the Davis-Moore
  thesis
• (p. 270).

19
Theoretical Perspectives of Social Inequality in
the U. S.

• II. Conflict Perspectives assert that inequality
  is NOT necessary for society. People with power
  and wealth are able to shape and distribute the
  rewards, resources, privileges, and opportunities
  in society for their own benefit (Kendall, 2005,
  
• p. 270).

20
Theoretical Perspectives of Social Inequality in
the U. S.

• III. Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives focus
  on the ways in which inequality is maintained at
  the micro-level via communication patterns and
  power/deference behavior (i.e., verbal
  nonverbal communication, e.g., clothing, body
  positions, facial expression, eye contact,
  touching, personal space).

21
Theoretical Perspectives of Social Inequality in
the U. S.

• Table 8.A summarizes 3 theoretical perspectives
  (p. 272)
• Lets see the following Web site for poverty
  thresholds http//aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/05poverty.
  shtml