2. Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States9
Systems of Stratification
Sociological Perspectives on Stratification
Is Stratification Universal?
Stratification by Social Class
Income and Wealth
Poverty
Life Chances
Social Mobility
Social Policy and Stratification: Executive Compensation

3. A Look Ahead Is social inequality an inescapable part of society?
How does government policy affect the life chances of the working poor?
Is this country still a place where a hardworking person can move up the social ladder?
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4. Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
Social inequality: Condition in which members of society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, or power
Stratification: Structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society
Income: Salaries and wages
Wealth: Encompasses all of a person’s material assets

5. Systems of Stratification
Ascribed status: social position assigned to person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics
Achieve status: social position that person attains largely through his or her own efforts

6. Systems of Stratification
Slavery: Individuals owned by other people, who treat them as property
Castes: Hereditary ranks, usually religiously dictated and tend to be fixed and immobile
Estates (feudalism): Peasants worked land leased to them in exchange for military protection and other services

7. Figure 9-1: The 50 States: Contrasts in Income and Poverty Levels
Note: National median household income was $51,168; national poverty rate, 14.3 percent.
Source: 2009 census data presented in American Community Survey 2010: Tables R1701, R1901.

8. Table 9-1: Human Trafficking Report
Note: Table is incomplete; each tier lists only a sample of all nations classified. Since the Human Trafficking Report is created by the State Department, the level of compliance by the United States, although not listed, would presumably be “full compliance.”
Source: Department of State 2010.

9. Social Classes
Class system: Social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility
Rossides (1997) uses five-class model to describe U.S. class system:
Upper class
Upper-middle class
Lower-middle class
Working class
Lower class

10. Social Classes Upper class: 1% to 2% of U.S. population
Lower class: 10% to 25% of U.S. population
Upper middle class: 10% to 15% of U.S. population
Lower middle class: 30% to 35% of U.S. population
Working class: 40% to 45% of U.S. population

11. Social Classes Factors contributing to shrinking size of middle class
Disappearing opportunities for those with little education
Global competition and advances in technology
Growing dependence on temporary workforce
Rise of new growth industries and nonunion workplaces

12. Sociological Perspectives on Stratification
Sociologists hotly debate stratification and social inequality and reach varying conclusions
No theorist stressed significance of class for society more strongly than Karl Marx

13. Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation
Social relations depend on who controls the primary mode of production
Capitalism: Means of production held largely in private hands and main incentive for economic activity is accumulation of profits
Bourgeoisie: Capitalist class; owns the means of production
Proletariat: Working class

14. Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation
Class consciousness: Subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about change
False consciousness: Attitude held by members of class that does not accurately reflect their objective position

15. Max Weber’s View of Stratification
No single characteristic totally defines a person’s position within the stratification system
Class: Group of people who have similar level of wealth and income
Status group: People who have the same prestige or lifestyle
Power: Ability to exercise one’s will over others

16. Interactionist View
Veblen: those at top of social hierarchy typically convert part of wealth into conspicuous consumption: purchase goods in order to flaunt their superior wealth and social standing
Conspicuous leisure
Behavior judged to be typical of the lower class subject to ridicule and legal action

17. Is Stratification Universal?
Inequality exists in all societies
Functionalist view: Social inequality necessary so people motivated to fill important positions
Does not explain the wide disparity between the rich and the poor

18. Is Stratification Universal?
Conflict view: Human beings prone to conflict over scarce resources such as wealth, status, and power
Stratification major source of societal tension
Leads to instability and social change
Dominant ideology: Set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests

19. Is Stratification Universal?
Lenski’s view: As a society advances technologically, it becomes capable of producing a surplus of goods
Emergence of surplus resources expands possibilities for inequality
Allocation of surplus goods and services reinforces social inequality

20. Table 9-2: Sociological Perspectives on Social Stratification

21. Stratification by Social Class
Objective Method
Class largely viewed as a statistical category
Education
Occupation
Income
Place of residence
Prestige: Respect and admiration an occupation holds in society
Esteem: Reputation a specific person has earned within an occupation

22. Measuring Social Class
Gender and Occupational Prestige
For many years, social class studies tended to neglect the occupations and incomes of women as determinants of social rank
Multiple Measures
Socioeconomic status (SES): Measure of social class based on income, education, and occupation

23. Table 9-2: Prestige Rankings of Occupations
Note: 100 is the highest and 0 the lowest possible prestige score.
Source: J. Davis et al See also Nakao and Treas 1994.

24. In 2009, half the population controlled more than 97% of wealth
Income and Wealth
Income in U.S. distributed unevenly
During recession of 1999–2001, median household wealth of Hispanic and Black Americans fell 27% while white households’ wealth grew 2 percent
Wealth in the U.S. is much more unevenly distributed than income
In 2009, half the population controlled more than 97% of wealth

25. Figure 9-4: Distribution of Wealth in the United States, 2001
Source: Data for 2009 in DeNavas-Walt et al :40; Bureau of the Census 2010d: Table H-3.

26. Research Today 9.1: Precarious Work
Has the trend toward increasing reliance on precarious work touched your family or friends? Has anyone you know been unemployed longer than six months?
Looking forward to your own career, can you think of a strategy for avoiding precarious work, frequent job loss, and long-term unemployment? 26

27. Poverty
Absolute poverty: Level of subsistence that no family should live below
Relative poverty: Floating standard people at the bottom of a society are judged as being disadvantaged compared to others

28. Underclass: long-term poor who lack training and skills
Who Are the Poor?
In 2009, about 36% of poor working adults worked full-time, compared to 65% of all adults
Feminization of poverty
Since W. W. II, increasing proportion of poor in U.S. have been women
Underclass: long-term poor who lack training and skills

29. Poverty Not a static social class
Gans: poverty and the poor satisfy positive functions for many non-poor groups
Society’s dirty work performed at low cost
Creates jobs that serve the poor
Upholds conventional social norms
Guarantees higher status of more affluent
Absorb costs of social change

30. Figure 9-4: Poverty in Selected Countries
Note: Data are averages for mid-2000s, as reported in Poverty threshold is 50 percent of a nation’s median household income.
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2009a.

31. Table 9-3: Who are the Poor in the United States?
Source: Data for 2009, as reported by the Bureau of the Census; DeNavas-Walt et al. 2010:15.

32. In times of danger, the affluent have a better chance of surviving
Life Chances
Max Weber saw class as being closely related to people’s life chances
Life chances: Opportunities to provide material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experience
In times of danger, the affluent have a better chance of surviving

33. Social Mobility
Social mobility: Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another

34. Open Vs. Closed Stratification Systems
Open system: Position of each individual influenced by the person’s achieved status
Closed system: Allows little or no possibility of moving up
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35. Types of Social Mobility
Horizontal mobility: Movement within same range of prestige
Vertical mobility: Movement from one position to another of a different rank
Intragenerational mobility: Social position changes within person’s adult life

36. Social Mobility in the United States
Occupational Mobility
The Impact of Education
The Impact of Race and Ethnicity
The Impact of Gender

37. Figure 9-5: Intergenerational Income Mobility
Source: Mazumder 2008:10.

38. Sociology on Campus 9.2: Social Class and Financial Aid
How important is financial aid to you and your friends? Without these types of aid, would you be able to cover your college expenses?
Aside from a reduction in individual social mobility, what might be the long-term effects of the shortage of need-based financial aid? 38

39. Executive Compensation
Looking at the Issue
In 1965, top executives earned 24 times the average worker’s pay
By 1980 the gap widened to 40 times the average paycheck
By 2009, the gap was 300 times the average

40. Executive Compensation
Applying Sociology
Functionalist: compensation reasonable given the potential for gain
Conflict theorists: question compensation and process that determine executives’ pay
DiPrete: corporations report executives’ compensation relative to peer compensation
Public comparisons of executive compensation within industries may influence board decisions

41. Executive Compensation
Initiating Policy
Law now mandates companies publish “summary compensation tables” with retirement packages and “golden parachute”
In 2009, White House appointed Treasury Department official to look into executive compensation
Critics worry companies will just develop new ways to inflate executives’ pay