7 Social Class In The United States: Stratification in a Modern Society This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program

In Promises I Can Keep, Why Poor Women Are Putting Motherhood Before Marriage, Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas interviewed women from poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia to find out why unmarried women choose to have children.

Social Stratification Social Stratification is the ranking of people and the rewards they receive based on objective criteria, often including wealth, power and/or prestige All societies have some form of social stratification or ranking but it can vary a great deal

Social Stratification Social stratification in the U.S. includes income and wealth Income is the money you take in Wealth is all of your material possessions, including income

Social Stratification Income distribution relates to how income is arranged, sociologists often look at quintiles of the population The poorest 20% of the U.S. population earns 3.4 percent of all income The top 20 percent earned 50 percent of income The top 5 percent receives 6 times as much income

Income Distribution in the United States

Social Stratification Wealth distribution includes stocks, bonds, and many other items The wealth distribution is more unequal than the income distribution The top one percent of the population holds more wealth than the bottom 90% Wealth inequality has increased over time Wealth Inequality in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

Millionaires in the United States in 2006 Source: The Geography of American Poverty, U.S. Census Bureau, www.Census.gov, February 7, 2008.

Poverty Sociologists have several definitions of poverty Transitional poverty is a temporary state of poverty that occurs when someone loses a job for a short time

Poverty Sociologists have several definitions of poverty Marginal poverty is a state of poverty that occurs when a person lacks stable employment Residual poverty is chronic and multigenerational poverty 8:20/9:50

Poverty Sociologists also distinguish between Absolute poverty is poverty so severe that one lacks resources to survive Relative poverty is a state of poverty that occurs when we compare ourselves to those around us Near poor are people who live above the poverty level, but close to it

Components of Social Stratification Power is the ability to carry out your will Delegated power means given or assigned responsibilities and power Power elite is a small group who hold immense power Military leaders, high ranking political officials, and corporate leaders Prestige refers to the level of esteem associated with our social standing

Class Structure in the U.S. Sociologists commonly talk about 6 major classes Upper/Elite class is a class very small in number that possesses significant wealth This class makes up about 1 percent of the population. Elite class members attend expensive boarding schools and hold exclusive club memberships

Class Structure in the U.S. Social classes in the U.S. include the Upper Middle class which is a social class that consists of high-income members of society who are well educated but do not belong to the elite membership of the super wealthy This group makes up about 15 percent of the population and is made up of highly educated professionals and owners of businesses

Class Structure in the U.S. The largest class is the Middle class is a social class that consists of those who have moderate incomes About 34 percent of Americans belong to the middle class They include white collar workers –teachers, nurses, and some well paid blue-collar occupations such as factory foremen

Class Structure in the U.S. Another large class is the Working class which is a social class generally made up of people with high school diplomas and lesser levels of education The working class makes up about 30% of the U.S. workers. Most working class individuals are paid on an hourly basis and usually do manual labor or pink collar jobs

Class Structure in the U.S. The bottom class is the Lower Class which often feels the affects of poverty Members of the lower class often live paycheck to paycheck The lower class are among the 37 million who live in poverty in the U.S. Blacks and Hispanics disproportionately live in poverty

Social Structure in the U.S, Finally part of the lower class is The Urban Underclass which encompasses the homeless and chronically unemployed Many in this class make up what sociologists call the urban underclass This group tends to have few opportunities, poor schools and weak social structures 8:40/10:10

Poverty in 2008 by Race and Age

Poverty in 2008 by Race and Age

Poverty in 2008 by Race and Age Source: Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Cheryle Hill Lee, “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008,” Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau.

Other Factors Influencing Social Stratification Neighborhoods and Social Class Children who grow up in poor neighborhoods are more likely to be involved in crime and at increased risk for poorer health, lower educational attainment Education and Social Class Education is very unequal in the U.S. Urban and rural schools have fewer resources than suburban schools

Social Mobility Social mobility is the ability to change social classes Horizontal mobility refers to moving within the same status category Vertical mobility involves moving from one social class to another

Social Mobility Other types of social mobility Intragenerational mobility occurs when an individual changes social standing, especially in the workforce Intergenerational mobility refers to the change that family members make from one social class to the next through generations

Social Mobility Social mobility relates to the structure of U.S. society Structural mobility occurs when social changes affect large numbers of individuals (economic booms, recessions) Exchange mobility is a concept suggesting that, within the U.S. each social class contains a relatively fixed numbers of people

Functionalism and Social Stratification Functionalists believe that systems find equilibrium or balance so stratification must be the result of some kind of functional balance Davis and Moore assume that stratification is inevitable and aids in the functioning of society

Functionalism and Social Stratification Functionalists believe that systems find equilibrium or balance so stratification must be the result of some kind of functional balance They believe in the meritocracy argument which states that those who get ahead do so based on their own merit

Functionalism and Social Stratification Functionalists believe that systems find equilibrium or balance so stratification must be the result of some kind of functional balance Davis and Moore assume that each society has important positions that must be filled The more important the position, the more we reward those who choose to pursue it (for example, doctors)

Functionalism and Social Stratification Functionalists believe that systems find equilibrium or balance so stratification must be the result of some kind of functional balance In order to get someone to fill the position, society rewards individuals to fulfill the position The rarer the skill the longer the education and the greater the reward 9:00/10:30

Top 5 Reasons My Students Think People Get Ahead in the United States

Conflict Theory and Social Stratification Conflict theorists focus on the struggle for limited resources Tumin provides a critique of the functionalists Davis and Moore – for Tumin social inequality is rooted in a system that is more likely to reward those who come from the higher classes and who have the resources to obtain better jobs

Conflict Theory and Social Stratification Tumin also suggests that The societal importance of the job does not seem to be the only basis for financial rewards – police officer vs. professional athlete – why does the athlete make so much more money Groups with power will try to maintain or increase their power The wealthy try to maintain the status quo so training remains in their hands

Symbolic Interactionism and Social Stratification Symbolic interactionists are interested in how people perceive poverty and wealth The higher our socioeconomic status (SES) the less we believe that social class matters Individuals from the working class tend to have lower expectations about future earnings and job opportunities than higher classes

Social Policy: Welfare for the Poor For many years, welfare was an entitlement program – a program offering assistance to which a person who met certain standards. This changed in 1996 when Bill Clinton signed the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program into law.

Social Policy: Welfare for the Poor TANF Highlights. Time limits for receiving benefits Two years at a time, Five years in a life time. Limitation of payments to teen mothers with more than one child. Teen mothers must remain in school to receive assistance. Attending job training is required to receive benefits.

Social Policy: Welfare for the Poor Disadvantages of TANF Many mothers who receive TANF still live below the poverty level Payment limits may be hurting children Short duration of TANF prevents people from receiving long-term training like college The program prevents people from improving their economic position by training them for low wage jobs

Social Policy: Taxes and Social Insurance The US has two types of taxes Progressive – taxes increase as incomes rise Traditionally this would be income taxes Regressive – taxes that fall more heavily on the poor Sales taxes What are the justifications for both these taxation schemes

Social Policy: Taxes and Social Insurance The US has two primary types of social insurance. Social security – income for the elderly and disabled. Created during the great depression. Medicare – health insurance for the elderly and disabled. You must pay into social insurance to be eligible for benefits.