1. The Role of Social Class in the “Pursuit of Happiness”
THE AMERICAN DREAM
The Role of Social Class in the
“Pursuit of Happiness”
“The American Dream” is one of the most evocative phrases in American culture. Americans know instinctively what it means—a fair chance to succeed in open competition with fellow citizens for the good things in life—wealth, power, security, happiness, material goods. The grand promise of the American Dream has always been that those willing to learn, work, save, persevere, and play by the rules would have a better chance to grow and prosper in America than virtually anywhere else on earth. That one can be born into poverty and pull himself or herself out of that poverty through hard work and intelligence and be successful.

2. AMERICAN DREAM Land of Opportunity
Rags to Riches—Anyone can become rich, famous, powerful.
Jobs and education available to all who want them.
Meritocracy (rewards)=skill + effort.
Through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity. Americans can live better than their parents did.
Emma Lazarus--"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

3. Arnold was born to a cop and housewife in Austria, later emigrated to the U.S. speaking no english He went to community college and started acting. Now he is a multi-millionaire, married into one of the most elite families in America—the Kennedys, and is governor of CA. He has said “In this country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if, like me, you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.”

4. Ralph Lauren—maker of polo; son of russian immigrants who became a fashion mogul billionaire, started working in his teens to buy fashionable clothing.

5. Oprah—raised by her grandmother in rural poor mississippi

6. Benjamin Franklin—a founding father of the U. S
Benjamin Franklin—a founding father of the U.S. famous for his witicisms and for discovering electricity using a kite. He was born the son of a candle maker (one of 17 children) and came to stand before kings and presidents. He is also on our $100 bill.

7. Finally—Tei Fu Chen is a Taiwanese immigrant who went from living in his car to building a billion-dollar herbal foods empire.

8. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the PURSUIT of Happiness”
Declaration of Independence written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson
Is it true that people are free to pursue success and financial security in the U.S.? Do some have an easier time pursuing success than others? Do people have an equal chance in life to pursue their dreams and goals?

9. Social Mobility
The movement of families up and down the economic ladder
40% of incomes stayed at about the same level; 60% moved up or down.
Only 37 of America’s 400 wealthiest inherited their money from their family.
At the heart of the “American dream” is the promise of families being able to move up or down the economic ladder.
Sociologists and economists study mobility by examining what percentage of families gain or lose wealth over time and the factors affect such movement
In the 1990s, 40% of American families had incomes that stayed at about the same level, while 60% either had incomes that increased or decreased significantly.
Another way to study mobility is to examine parents and their children. The more similar that children are to their parents, in economic terms, the less intergenerational mobility a society has. In a highly mobile society, the grandchildren of poverty and of privilege end up making similar amounts of money. Does anyone have an idea why?
Forbes Magazine, a financial magazine in the U.S. that often ranks individuals and companies found in its latest list of richest Americans that only 37 of the 400 richest inherited their wealth from family. So there is some movement between social classes.

10. The general sentiment is that people are better off than their parents and that it is possible to start out poor and work hard to become rich.
Most attention paid to social mobility by researchers is movement between social classes.

11. Social Stratification
Social Classes
The hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies.
Social Stratification
One difficulty in talking about class is that the word means different things to different people. Class is rank, it is a tribe, its culture and taste. It is attitudes and assumptions, a source of identity and a system of exclusion. To some, it is just money.
At its most basic, class is one way societies sort themselves out. Even societies built on the idea of eliminating class have had stark differences in rank. Classes are groups of people of similar economic and social position; people who for that reason may share political attitudes, lifestyles, consumption patterns, cultural interests, and most importantly opportunities to get ahead.
Social Stratification is the term used to describe the study of social hierarchies. It is not limited to economics, but also includes inequalities related to race or gender or disability or immigration status or any other way of dividing society into layers.
The study of systematic inequality between groups of people

12. What are the key features of social class?
WEALTH
Valued possessions : cash, land, buildings, property
Income : money from employment, shares etc.
Tends to be intergenerational
POWER
Ability to carry out one’s will, even if opposed by others
Who has power???
PRESTIGE
Respect given to people with valued positions or resources
The concept of social class has been around for a long time. Today, it is commonly thought of resting on three areas that separate the social classes: Wealth, Power, Prestige.
Prestige includes the type of occupation and level of education.
Each is very closely related, though they are distinct. Wealth can lead to power or power can lead to wealth, but you can also have one without the other. Can you think of someone who would have high levels of wealth but little power or prestige? How about someone with high levels of prestige, but low wealth and power?
What is more prestigious—a doctor or a lawyer? Why?

13. Upper Class Facts Q. What % of Americans belong to the upper class?
0.5%
Extent of wealth?
Top 1% owns more than one third of ALL net worth in the U.S.
50% U.S. stocks, 60% bonds; corporations, property, inheritances; income mostly from investments not employment
Source of power?
Ownership of resources - money makes money
Economic power and political power intertwined
Source of prestige?
family name & resources (old: Rockefeller, Carnegie, Walton, Getty; new: Gates)

14. Corporate Class Facts Q. What % of Americans? Extent of wealth?
0.5%
Extent of wealth?
A lot, but not as much as the upper class
Usually not major owners of companies
median CEO salary $10.8 million
President of the U.S. $400,000 (why do it then??)
Q. Source of power?
Heads of companies, government
Q. Source of prestige?
Position of influence

15. Middle Class Facts Q. What % of Americans? Q. Extent of wealth?
43%
Q. Extent of wealth?
Some
Ownership—own home
Income—mid to high income
Engineer, $58,000
Teacher, $34,000
Source of power?
Limited within context of occupation
Source of prestige?
Some more than others, White collar job

16. Working Class
Photograph from a book

17. Working Class Facts Q. What % of Americans? Q. Extent of wealth?
43%
Q. Extent of wealth?
Little
Ownership—little or no property
Income—mid to low
Factory worker, $24,000
Machine operator, $23,000
Q. Source of power?
Limited, sometimes collective power through unions
Q. Source of prestige?
Very little, Blue collar jobs

18. Lower Class
Homeless man in New York - one of thousands

19. Lower Class Facts Q. What % of Americans? Q. Extent of wealth?
13%
Q. Extent of wealth?
Very little, usually none
Ownership: none
Income: low
Poverty rate in 2001: 9.9%
Only about 1/3 of poor get welfare
Q. Source of power?
Limited to none
Q. Source of prestige?

20. Inequality Based on Class
Health—Higher class live longer (79.2 years vs years).
Crime—impoverished areas tend to have higher crime rates
Education—despite continued increases in financial aid, the proportion of higher class students at elite schools is increasing.
Families—higher class are more likely to have children while within marriage and at older ages.
Why do you think that higher social classes live longer? What other factors do health levels affect?

21. Distribution of Wealth
One study, by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, found that fewer families moved from one quintile, or fifth, of the income ladder to another during the 1980's than during the 1970's and that still fewer moved in the 90's than in the 80's. A study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics also found that mobility declined from the 80's to the 90's.
The incomes of brothers born around 1960 have followed a more similar path than the incomes of brothers born in the late 1940's, researchers at the Chicago Federal Reserve and the University of California, Berkeley, have found. Whatever children inherit from their parents - habits, skills, genes, contacts, money - seems to matter more today.
In economics and sociology, the cycle of poverty or the poverty cycle is a social phenomenon whereby poverty-stricken individuals exhibit a tendency to remain poor throughout their lifespan and in many cases across generations.
The cycle of poverty has been described as a catch-22 and a feedback loop, as it occurs because the resources necessary to get out of poverty, such as financial capital, education, or connections, are not available to the poor.
Culture of poverty—a sort of mindset passed on that keeps families entrenched into poverty.
Social Class also interacts with other traits to affect social mobility. Now we will look at how social class and race and gender affect mobility

23. Racial gaps in the labor market
Race
Unemployment, 2000
Hispanic or Latino
9.3%
White
4.3%
Black
11.8%
American Indian
12.4%
Asian
5.1%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
10.9%

24. Gender gaps in the labor market
More men work full time than women, but comparing men and women who work:
Median Income
Male $29,458
Female $18,957
For every dollar men make, women make 64 cents

25. Why does the gender gap exist?
Education?
Women make up over 50% of students in college
Men and Women with a BA (1999)
Male $47,126
Female $34,455
Men work more hours?
Women in full-time work earn less than men with the same educational qualification

27. Poverty rates and Gender

28. Revisiting the American Dream
Land of Opportunity?
“rags to riches” or “the rich get rich?”
classes tend to reproduce themselves (e.g. occupational & wealth inheritance, legacy admits)
are all jobs open and equal for everyone?
clearly not
Social class is achieved or ascribed?
between 40 to 60% of parental income advantage passed on to children
A meritocracy?
barriers to channels of upward mobility (e.g. a good education)

29. American: A Tale of Two Cities
Shining city on a hill