1. Social Stratification

2. Social Stratification
DEFINITION: the ranking of individuals based on the unequal distribution of power, prestige & property
Access to scarce resources & social rewards
Resources & Rewards:
Ex: Education, stable job and bank loan

3. Social Stratification
In most cases, power, prestige & property occur together; however, this is not always true
EXAMPLES?

5. Social Stratification
Property:
Net worth and/or wealth
Objective measurement
Wealth Distribution in America
Power:
Capacity to influence people & events in order to obtain wealth & prestige
Subjective measurement

6. Social Stratification
Prestige:
An individual’s status among his peers and in society
Subjective measurement

7. Social Stratification
Which careers do you think are most prestigious? Least prestigious? Do you agree??

8. Socioeconomic Status
DEFINITION: a rating that determines an individual’s relative position within the system of stratification
Three Factors:
Education
Occupation
Income

9. Systems of Stratification

10. Caste System Position based on ascribed status
Fixed, closed boundaries
Not much potential for social mobility
Endogamy; exogamy not permitted
Status consistency

11. Class System Position based on achieved status Open boundaries
Greater potential for social mobility
Endogamy not required; exogamy allowed
Less status consistency

12. Social Class
DEFINITION: a group of people who share similar levels of wealth, influence and status (SES)
Sociologists use THREE methods to determine one’s social class

13. Social Class Objective Method: analyzes “hard” facts
Subjective Method: asks people what they think of themselves
Reputational Method: asks what people think of others

14. Social Mobility

15. Social Mobility
Definition: the movement between or within social classes or strata
An important feature of the open class system

16. Types of Social Mobility
Horizontal Mobility: movement within a social class or stratum
Does not involve any major change in a person’s wealth, power, or prestige
Most common

17. Types of Social Mobility
Vertical Mobility: movement between social classes or strata
Can be upward or downward

18. Types of Social Mobility
Intragenerational Mobility: a change in social position that occurs during a person's lifetime

19. Intergenerational Mobility: form of vertical mobility in which status differs between generations in the same family
Much more realistic in today’s world
A quick lesson on social mobility

20. Example
Michelle, who began her career as a high-tech factory worker and through increased experience and taking specialized courses in her field became an entrepreneur, starting her own highly successful “dot.com business. Michelle’s advancement is an example of WHAT?

21. Upward intragenerational mobility

22. Sarah’s father is a carpenter who makes good wages in good economic times but is often unemployed when the construction industry slows to a standstill. Sarah becomes a neurologist, earning $350,000 a year, and moves from the working class to the upper-middle class. Between her father’s generation and her own Sarah has experienced WHAT?

23. Intergenerational upward mobility

24. Mike was a very successful day-trader on Wall Street
Mike was a very successful day-trader on Wall Street. However, during the recent economic crisis, Mike lost his job. In order to cope with this, Mike turned to gambling and alcohol. After a year of unemployment, Mike was left with nothing in his bank accounts, and his house was foreclosed on.

25. Downward intragenerational mobility

26. The Johnson family owned a very successful hardware store in the suburbs. It had been in their family for the last 70 years, and made them the wealthiest family in town. However, over the last two decades, multiple Home Depot and Lowes stores opened up which forced the Johnson family to close up their shop. What was once seen as a thriving family business, has fallen apart over the last generation

27. Downward Intergenerational Mobility

28. Social Class in the United States

29. What do you think the median income is for the U.S.?
What % of the population makes $100,000 and up in the U.S.?
What do you think the poverty level is for a family of 4 in the U.S. (the gross yearly income that is considered at the poverty level)?
Which ethnic group do you think has the highest % below poverty level? (White, Black, Asian or Hispanic)
Which age group has the highest % below poverty? (below 18, 18-64, 65+)

30. What do you think the median income is for the U.S.?
$50,050
What % of the population makes $100,000 and up in the U.S.?
25.6%
What do you think the poverty level is for a family of 4 in the U.S. (the gross yearly income that is considered at the poverty level)?
$23,050

31. Which age group has the highest % below poverty?
Which ethnic group do you think has the highest % below poverty level? (White, Black, Asian or Hispanic)
Black 27.6%, Hispanic 25.3%, White 12.8%, Asian 12.3%
Which age group has the highest % below poverty?
below 18= 21.9%
18-64=13.7%
65+ = 8.7%

32. A Middle Class Society? Everyone stands equal under the law
We celebrate individuality
We interact mostly with people like ourselves
Most do not know “superrich” or those in “poverty”
The U.S. Is an affluent society
Belief that everyone is financially comfortable
Socioeconomic status (SES) reflects money (income, wealth & power), occupational prestige and schooling

33. Distribution of Income and Wealth in the United States

34. Social Stratification & Birth
Ancestry
Born to privilege or poverty makes a big difference
Gender
More poor families are headed by women
Race and ethnicity
Disparity still exist when comparing majority and minority groups on social and financial variables
Religion
Members of protestant denominations (Episcopalians and Presbyterians) are identified as the most affluent

36. 18940: $101,000
18940 tax returns: $159,000
US: $55,775
PA: $55,702

37. Social Classes The upper class 5 % of the population The middle class
The working class
33% of the population
The lower class
The remaining 20% of people

38. Upper Class The upper-uppers The blue bloods
Membership almost always based on ascription
They have “old money”
They are set apart by the amount of wealth their families control
Much time devoted to community activities
The lower-uppers
The working rich people
The “new rich” by “old money” standards
Can still find themselves excluded from certain organizations and clubs

40. Middle Class More racial and ethnic diversity Upper-middles
$80,000 to $160,000 yearly income
Education is important
High occupational prestige
Involvement in local politics
Average-middles
Less prestige in occupation
Few white collar, or high-skilled blue collar jobs
Income provides modest security
50% kids attend state-sponsored colleges

41. Working Class Marxist “industrial proletariat”
$25,000 to $40,000 annual income
“Blue-collar” routine jobs with less satisfaction
Half own their own homes
Fewer children go to college (only one-third)
Vulnerable to financial problems caused by unemployment or illness

42. Lower Class 31.1 million Americans classified as poor in 2000
Others are “working poor” minimum wage jobs
Half complete high school, one in four attend college
Own homes in less desirable inner city neighborhoods or rural south

44. The Difference Class Makes
Health
Amount and type of health care
Cultural values
Vary with position
Politics
Conservative or liberal
Degree of involvement
Family and gender
Type of parental involvement
Socialization practices
Relationships and responsibilities

45. Social Mobility Upward College degree or higher-paying job Downward
Drop out of school, losing a job or divorce
Structural social mobility
Changes in society or national economic trends
Intragenerational mobility
Change in social position during one person’s lifetime
Intergenerational mobility
Upward or downward movement that takes place across generations within a family

46. Myth Versus Reality Among men, mobility has been fairly high
Long-term trend has been upward
Intergenerational mobility is small, not dramatic
Social mobility since the 1970’s has been uneven
Income, race, ethnicity and gender effects social mobility

47. The American Dream? Earnings have stalled for many workers
Many persons need to hold more than one job
More jobs offer little income
Young people are remaining at (and returning to) home
Middle-class slide
Median income doubled between ; Grown only 25% since

48. Global Economy and U.S. Class Structure
Global economic expansion
Jobs changed from manufacturing to service work
Creates upward mobility for educated people
Investments for those with money
“Downsizing” in companies effects “average” workers

49. Affluenza

50. Extent of Poverty Poverty Relative (in relation to others)
Absolute (life threatening)
Poverty threshold (line)
Three times the income needed to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet
Adjusted for family size and cost of living
Extent of poverty in America
11.3% (31.1 million) are so classified
Another 12.3 million are near poor at 125% of poverty threshold

51. Demographics of Poverty
Age
In 2012, 21.8% of all children were poor, contributing to high infant mortality rate
Race and ethnicity
Half of all poor are white
In 2012, 35% of all African Americans and 33% of all Latinos lived in poverty, in relation to population numbers they are three times as likely to be poor
Gender
The feminization of poverty:
60% of poor are women
Rise in households headed by single women

52. Explaining Poverty Poverty... in the suburbs? Blame the poor
The poor are mostly responsible for their own poverty
A culture of poverty: produces a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty
- Blame society
Little opportunity for work
William Julius Wilson proposes
Government hire people
Improve schools, transportation and daycare
Poverty... in the suburbs?

53. Homeless No precise count How could there ever be?
Experts “guess-ti-mate”
500,000 on any given night
1.5 million at some time during the course of the year
¼ of those are veterans
Causes
They are poor
Personal traits
One-third are substance abusers
One-fourth suffer from mental illnesses
One third are entire families due to structural changes in economy “new homeless”

54. Spring 2010

55. Homelessness By the Numbers

58. WHERE are People Homeless?

61. WHY are People Homeless?
Why are people homeless? Specific reasons vary, but research shows people are homeless because they can’t find housing they can afford. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more then 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing, and a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States.
HUD also notes that the generally accepted definition of housing affordability is no more than 30 percent of monthly income going toward housing costs. Families or individuals who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered “cost-burdened” and can have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care.
The lack of affordable housing is a significant hardship for low-income households and can prevent them from meeting their other basic needs, such as nutrition and health care, or saving for their future.

62. Why Are People Homeless?
Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness among women
Many people are homeless because they cannot afford rent
HUD has seen its budget slashed by over 50 percent in recent decades, resulting in the loss of 10,000 units of subsidized low-income housing each and every year
There are fewer places for poor people to rent than before
In the last few years millions have lost their homes
One in five homeless people suffers from untreated severe mental illness
more than 90 percent of homeless women are victims of severe physical or sexual abuse, and escaping that abuse is a leading cause of their homelessness.

63. HOW Do We Respond to the Homeless?

64. HOW Do We Respond to the Homeless?
Cities are increasingly making homelessness a crime; A 2014 survey of 187 cities by the NLCHP found that…
24 percent of cities make it a city-wide crime to beg in public
33 percent make it illegal to stand around or loiter anyplace in the city
18 percent make it a crime to sleep anywhere in public
43 percent make it illegal to sleep in your car
53 percent make it illegal to sit or lie down in particular public places

65. How Do We Respond to the Homeless?
What message does this architecture send?

66. How Do We Respond to the Homeless?
What message does this architecture send?

67. When Do Shelters Open?

68. Theory

69. Stratification: Theory
Structural-Functionalism
vs.
Conflict Theory

70. Stratification: Theory
Functionalism:
Social stratification is a necessary component of society; the linkage of greater rewards to more important social positions benefits society as a whole; USEFUL & INEVITABLE
Conflict:
Social stratification is the result of social conflict; differences in social rewards serve the interests of some while harming the interests of others; ONLY USEFUL TO SOME PEOPLE

71. Stratification: Theory
Functionalism:
Matches talents & abilities to appropriate jobs
Values & beliefs that legitimize social inequality are shared throughout society
Conflict:
Ensures that large amounts of talent & ability will NOT be developed
Values & beliefs tend to reflect the interests of the more powerful members of society