2. Social Stratification
Ranking of individuals or categories of individuals on the basis of unequal access to scarce resources & social rewards

3. Social Inequality
The unequal sharing of social rewards & resources

6. Why haven’t large ‘unstratified’ societies existed?

7. What criteria would you use to stratify a society if it were up to you?
How would you distribute scarce resources & social rewards?

8. Caste
Distribute resources & rewards on ascribed characteristics

9. Class
Distribute resources & rewards on achieved characteristics

10. U.S.
Class system
US law forbids discrimination based on ascribed characteristics (race, sex, ethnicity, religion, etc.) Therefore, all Americans have equal access to resources needed for social advancement.
Does everyone have equal access?

11. Social Class
Grouping people with similar levels of wealth, power, and prestige
Upper, middle, lower

12. Wealth
Made up of his or her assets (value of belongings) and income (money earned through salary, returns, and gains)
In the US…
Wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small percent of the population.
-Richest 1% of population controls 1/3 of wealth
-Top 1/5th of income earners receive 50% of the national income
-Average executive makes 419x the average worker

13. Power
The ability to control the behaviors of others with or without their consent
Based on:
FORCE POSSESSION OF A SPECIAL SKILL
SOCIAL STATUS SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE
CUSTOMS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

14. Prestige
Respect, honor, recognition, or courtesy an individual receives from the other members of society
Income Occupation Education
Family Background Area of Residence
Possessions Club Memberships

15. SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Combines social factors such as educational level, occupational prestige, place of residence, and income

16. Prestige Ratings
On the next page in your packet, there are 20 occupations. By yourself, please rank the occupations based on Prestige. There are no right or wrong answers, just opinions.

18. Explaining Stratification
Functionalist Theory
Social Stratification is a necessary feature of Social Structure
Certain roles must be performed in order to maintain society
Opposition to the Functionalist Theory
-Not everyone has equal access to education
-Unrecognized talent in lower classes
-Some rewards don’t reflect social values of the role

19. Explaining Stratification
Conflict Theory
Competition over resources as the cause of social inequality
Stratification comes from class exploitation

20. 6 Classes Upper-upper- UPPER CLASS Lower-upper- UPPER MIDDLE CLASS
Upper-middle- LOWER MIDDLE CLASS
Lower-middle- WORKING CLASS
Upper-lower- WORKING POOR
Lower-lower- UNDERCLASS

21. UPPER CLASS 1% of population Old money vs. New Money
-wealthy for gen. - Newly rich
-Family name - Not as respected
-Upper class holds power and influence
-Usually associated with Charity work and philanthropy
-Pay their dues to society

22. UPPER MIDDLE CLASS High income businesspeople and professionals
Status based on income rather than assets
Have more influence in community

23. LOWER MIDDLE CLASS White collar jobs (Do not require manual labor)
Require less education and receive less income
Have comfortable life, but must work hard to maintain traditional values

24. WORKING CLASS Jobs require more manual labor Blue collar
Factory workers, trades-people
Don’t carry much prestige
Few financial reserves
If emergencies happen…

25. WORKING POOR Lowest paying jobs Barely make a living wage
Often temporary or seasonal
Housecleaning, migrant farmers, day laborers
Barely make a living wage
Depend on government assistance

26. UNDERCLASS Families have been poor or unemployed for generations
Chief source of income is public assistance
50% of children make it to a higher class
Life is a day to day struggle

29. 3 ways to rank individuals
Reputational
Indiv. In the community rank others
Subjective
Indiv. rank themselves (middle)
Objective
Sociologists define class based on occupation, income & education

30. SOCIAL MOBILITY Movement between or within social classes Horizontal
Vertical
Intergenerational

31. Horizontal Mobility Movement within a class
Moving from one job to another in the same field

32. Vertical Mobility Moving from one position to another
Movement between social classed
Can be or
Moving from one position to another

33. Intergenerational Mobility
Status differences between generations in the same family
Going from class of origin to a new, higher class

34. Causes of Upward Mobility
Advances in technology
Jobs available change
Bad for 1st generation, good for 2nd

35. Causes of Upward Mobility
Changes in merchandizing patterns
Explosion of Credit and insurance needs over the years… need for more white collar jobs
% of pop held white collar jobs
Today- 73%

36. Causes of Upward Mobility
Increase in general level of education
High School
College
% did NOT graduate
Today- 9% do not graduate
% have college degree
Today- 26%

37. Causes of Downward Mobility
Personal Factors
Changes in Economy
No need for certain jobs
Job market
Divorce, illness, widowhood, retirement
Getting laid off, cutbacks
New technologies
College grads in some field have difficulty finding a job

38. Section 3: Poverty
31 Million people live below the poverty line in America (11%)
Poverty- Standard of living that is below the minimum that is considered adqequate by society
Varies by society

39. Cost of an adequate diet
Poverty in America
Poverty Level- Minimum annual income needed by a family to survive
How is it calculated?
Cost of an adequate diet
Changes each year to account for rise in overall cost of living (inflation)
Now includes:
Food, housing, personal expenses

40. Poverty in America Age Sex Race and Ethnicity
Children have the highest % in poverty
37% of the poor are under 18
Sex
57% of women are poor
Head of ½ of poor families
Race and Ethnicity
What does the chart tell us?

41. Effects of Poverty Life Chances Life Expectancy
Likelihood that individuals have in sharing in opportunities and benefits of society
Ex. Healthe, length of life, housing, education
Life Expectancy
Average number of years a person born into a particular class can expect to live
The Poor have lower life expectancy rates
Poor children are 60% more likely to die before 1 year old than a family not in poverty
Why????

42. Effects of Poverty Education Divorce rates Deviance
Less property tax, less funding, fewer supplies
Divorce rates
Higher among the poor
Deviance
More likely to commit crimes