McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 4-1 Chapter Four l Social Class and Families

4-2 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Definition of Social Class l Two views l A person’s relationship to the means of production l A way of ordering people in a society according to degrees of: l Power = Ability to force a person to do something against his will l Prestige = Honor and status in society l Privilege = Advantage or benefits enjoyed, often related to income or wealth

4-3 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved American Social Classes Today l Upper Class l Middle Class l Working Class l Lower Class

4-4 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Upper-Class Families l Amassed wealth, privilege and often prestige l Recognized as cultural and social elite l Owners or senior managers of large corporations, banks and law firms l Many wives do not work- volunteer and attend social events instead l Little research available on this class

4-5 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Secure, comfortable income- live well l Can afford nice house, car, college education for children, etc. l Professionals and medium-sized business owners Middle-Class Families

4-6 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Doctors, lawyers, engineers, CPA’s and corporate executives l Jobs have prestige and fringe benefits l Educated mainly at public schools and university (advanced degrees) l Women are generally underrepresented at this income level Middle-Class Families

4-7 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Working-Class Families l Income provides reliably for minimum needs for a modest lifestyle l Modest home or apartment l Car l Public college education for children

4-8 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Blue collar workers l Union workers, construction workers, small farmers, nurses, Mom and Pop business owners l More vulnerable to periods of unemployment l Contingent workers = may not work whole week, no fringe benefits Working-Class Families

4-9 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Lower-Class Families l Tenuous connection to economy - reliability of providing decent life in question l “Working poor” - low-paying jobs l Frequently unemployed l Live in substandard housing

4-10 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Semi-skilled and unskilled workers = low-wage workers ($5-$7/hr) l Factories, construction, warehouses, retail, fast food, delivery l Some on cash assistance from government l Others are homeless Lower-Class Families

4-11 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Changing Concepts of Social Class l Women’s employment is used to distinguish class when added to men’s employment (dual income families) l Single-parent, female-headed families do not fit traditional conceptions of class l Standard of living drops when marriage ends- education, friends, interests stay the same

4-12 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Families and the Economy l Effects of current economic restructuring l Effects of prosperity of 1950s and 60s l Unequal distribution of income l Effects of dual income

4-13 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Impact of Economic Restructuring l Technological changes l Different types of jobs and skills l Workers replaced with machines l Loss of skilled and semi-skilled jobs to developing countries

4-14 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l No college education = low paying service and unskilled manual labor jobs l Nonstandard employment l Contingency workers without job security and benefits l Prosperity of 1950’s and 60’s l Good incomes, jobs available l Youth expected to earn more than parents Impact of Economic Restructuring

4-15 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Stagnating wages, especially for men l Result of fourfold increase in oil prices in 1970s l Entry-level jobs hit hard l Work often done by young parents with high school education Impact of Economic Restructuring

4-16 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Unequal Distribution of Income l Increasing gap between college educated and non-college educated l Distribution of family income l Proportion of the total income of all families in the nation that each family receives

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4-18 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Unequal Distribution of Income l Income inequality among families increased for three reasons: l Growing inequality in the earnings of men l The growth of single-parent families l The movement of middle-class women into the workforce

4-19 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Decreased in US in 50s and 60s l Increased from 70s through mid-90’s l “Poverty line” l Official government income level l Calculated as enough money to buy food for an “economy” diet for family, multiplied by three Trends in Poverty

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4-22 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Prospects for Dual-Earner Couples l Having two incomes helps counter other effects of economy l Changes in variation of family structure l Two earners help keep families at higher income level l Families with no husband- serious effects on level of income l Persistent poverty hits single mothers and children hardest

4-23 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Lower-Class Families l Women-centered kinship l Help members survive hardships of poverty l Chronic unemployment of men l Compression of generations l Cost of kin networks l Kinship networks can perpetuate poverty- difficult to leave home, accumulate savings l Must share with others

4-24 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Working-Class Families l More segregation of men and women, including roles of husband and wife l Strict division of labor l men’s place in the workplace l women’s place in the home l Migration to suburbs and changes in economy have weakened this idea

4-25 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Changing attitudes toward gender roles l women’s work outside the home becoming more accepted l regardless of work, some women still define themselves as primarily wives and mothers l most women in working class have incorporated paid employment into their idea of wife’s “proper” role Working-Class Families

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4-27 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Middle-Class Families l Primacy of Conjugal family l family is core l income is spent on children and parents l More independent of kin l Kinship has strong vertical ties (generation to generation) l Women do kinship work

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4-29 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Upper-Class Families l Family task is to preserve and increase wealth l Historically tied to arranged marriages l To increase land, wealth and power l Families still try to influence marriage choice

4-30 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Until recently, vast majority of wives did not work outside home l Men work, women in charge of home work: entertaining and socializing l More likely to hire help to get housework and other home work done l Socializing done for work benefit, not family benefit l Less likely to keep kinship ties Upper-Class Families

4-31 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Social Class and the Family l Changes in economic roles have altered family lives l Women’s participation in labor market is important for economic stability l dual-earner couples more likely to have reliable income l birthrates declined, women more able to work

4-32 McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Rise in divorce rates l Kinship l In lower class, more important than father of children Social Class and the Family