Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Chapter 8 Structural Sources of Societal Change: Economic and Demographic In Conflict and Order: Understanding Society, 11 th edition 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.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Globalization and the Structural Transformation of the Economy Two fundamental turning point in human history –The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution which began around 8000 B.C. –The Industrial Revolution which began in the 1780s

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy Resulting from Globalization The Changing Nature of Jobs in the U.S. –The demand for workers has shifter from physical labor to cognitive abilities in the U.S. –Technological changes has led to a loss of jobs –The Internet is revolutionizing how business is transacted.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy Resulting from Globalization Job Insecurity –With declining profits, companies downsized. –The movement of capital and jobs to other countries caused a decline in jobs. –The least secure are minorities, women and the working poor. –Job insecurity is heightened by mergers

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Figure 8.1 – The Number of Parents Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment Nearly Tripled between 2000 and 2003 (Parents Unemployed Longer than 26 Weeks, Annual Averages) Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, January 2000-December Calculation by Children’s Defense Fund.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy Resulting from Globalization Declining Middle Class –The middle class is declining and the gap between the haves and have-nots is expanding. Loss of jobs in the well-paid industrial sector Companies moved to new localities Even workers who remain in the declining manufacturing industries experience a decline in their standard of living

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy Resulting from Globalization The Increase in the Working Poor –About 1/7 th of all poor people work full-time for the entire year. The New Poor –Are more trapped in poverty

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 The New Immigration and the Changing Racial Landscape Fourth Wave 1965-today immigrants from the Third World, especially Asia and Latin America Third Wave mostly Southern and Eastern Europeans Second Wave 1840s-1850s mostly Irish and Germans First Wave mainly English-speaking Britons

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Figure 8.3 – U.S. Population by Race, 1980, 1990, 2000, and Projected 2050 Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Available online:

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Consequences of the New Immigration Increasing Diversity –More than 1/4th of the people in the U.S. are African American, Latino, Asian or Native American. –Racial Minorities are increasing faster than the majority population. –African Americans have lost their position as the most numerous racial minority. –Immigration now accounts for a large share of the nation’s population growth. –New patterns of immigration are changing the racial composition of society.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Consequences of the New Immigration (continued) The Reaction of the Hosts to the New Immigrants –Do immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens? –Are immigrants a drain on society’s resources? –Will the increasing proportion of non-whites, fueled by immigration, lead to a blurring of racial lines or heightening of tensions among the races/ethnic groups?

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Immigration and Agency The effects of migration on immigrants: ethnic identity or assimilation? –Assimilation The process in which individuals or groups adopt the culture of another group, losing their original identity Three effects of the new immigration –An increased bifurcation between the haves and the have-nots –Increased racial diversity –Heightened tension among the races

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 The Aging Society The Demographics of an Aging Society –In 2000 there were more than 35 million Americans age 65 and older there were 4.3 million Americans age 85 and older Older women outnumber men by a ration of 3 to 2 Racial/ethnic minorities are underrepresented among the elderly

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Figure 8.6 – U.S. Population Age 85 and Older, 1900 to 2050 (in Millions) Source: Frank B. Hobbs with Bonnie L. Damon, “65+ in the United States.” Current Population Reports, P23-290:2-8.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Problems of an Aging Society Inadequate income from pensions or Social Security The high cost of elderly healthcare