Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Social Class and Family Relationships Ascribed statuses  Statuses a person is born with, such as his or her sex, race and ethnic background, and social class Social class is less visible than sex, race, or ethnicity but has a big effect on our lives

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Life Experiences Influenced by Class Standing Health status, health insurance, and access to health care Gender expectations Values that parents socialize in their children How parents interact with their children College experience Dating and premarital sexual experiences Likelihood of and age at first marriage Income and spending patterns Hobbies and pastimes Stress and coping

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe What Is Social Stratification? Social stratification  Hierarchical ranking of people within a society on the basis of specific coveted resources, such as income and wealth Meritocracy  System in which economic and social rewards such as income, occupation, or prestige are obtained on individual merit rather than inheritance

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Caste and Class Systems in a Comparative Perspective Caste system -System of social stratification that is based upon ascribed characteristics one is born with, such as race, ethnicity, or family lineage Social mobility -Movement in the stratification system based on individual effort or achievement Social class -System of social stratification that is based both on ascribed statuses and individual achievements

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Conceptualizations of Class Karl Marx  Bourgeoisie -Capitalist class that owns the means of production  Proletariat -Individuals who must sell their labor to the owners in order to earn enough money to survive

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Conceptualizations of Class Max Weber  Wealth -Value of all of person’s or family’s economic assets, such as income, real estate, stocks, bonds, and other forms of economic worth, minus debt  Prestige -Esteem or respect a person is afforded  Power -Ability to achieve goals, wishes, and desires even in the face of opposition from others

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Social Class in the United States Socioeconomic status (SES) -Vague combination of education, occupation, and income  Upper class -Very small but tremendous influence -Example: The Social Register, Class or Caste?  Upper middle class -Highly educated professionals -May delay childhood or be childless

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Social Class in the United States  Middle class -Values home ownership -May sacrifice for the social mobility of children  Working class -Works in routine jobs that require conformity -Conformity affects child rearing  Working poor -Wages are low and unemployment is high -Lack of benefits such as health insurance  Underclass -Chronic poverty and homelessness

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Figure 5.1 Percent Change in Real Average After-Tax Income: 1979–2006

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Families in Poverty Studying poverty  Cross-sectional data -Data collected at only one point in time rather than following trends over time -May create an unrealistic perception What do we mean by “poor”?  Poverty line -U.S. government’s official method of calculating how many people are poor and assessing how it changes from year to year

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe TABLE 5.2 Weighted Average Poverty Thresholds in 2009 by Size of Family

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Families in Poverty Comparative studies  Relative poverty -Some people lack basic resources relative to others in their society -Characteristic of most developed countries  Absolute poverty -Lack of resources such as food, housing, and clothing that is life-threatening and commonplace -Characteristic of at least 60 low-income countries or half the world’s population -Example: “Nalim” in Bhutan

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe TABLE 5.3 People and Families in Poverty by Selected Characteristics, 2008

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Figure 5.2 Poverty Status by Age: 1968–2009

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Figure 5.3 Poverty Status of People by Race and Hispanic Origin:1966–2009

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe TABLE 5.4 Extent of Poverty Across 17 Developed Countries

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Causes of Poverty Individualism -Meritocracy -Result of personal failings, and the poor generally have only themselves to blame for their predicament Social structuralism -Result of economic or social imbalances within the social structure that serve to restrict opportunities for some people

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Causes of Poverty Culture of poverty -Poor have developed a subcultural set of values, traits, and expectations as a direct result of the structural constraints associated with living in isolated pockets of poverty Fatalism -Attributable to quirks, chance, luck, inevitable human nature, illness, low intelligence, or other forces over which people have little control

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Consequences of Poverty Children -Inadequate health and nutrition -Lower-quality home environment -Parental stress and mental health problems -Fewer resources for learning -Housing problems -Poor-quality neighborhood

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Figure 5.4 Pathways from Poverty to Adverse Child Outcomes

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Figure 5.4 (continued) Pathways from Poverty to Adverse Child Outcomes

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Families and Their Social Worlds, Second Edition Karen Seccombe Social Policy and Family Resilience Earned Income Tax Credit  Federal tax credit for low-income working families  Enacted in 1975  Lifts millions of adults and children out of poverty each year  Considered one of the country’s largest sources of assistance for poor and low income families