Chapter 8
Social Class
&
Social Stratification
1
Social Stratification
• Social stratification is a system of structured social
inequality.
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Estate, Caste
& Class systems
• Stratification systems are usually categorized into
one of these three types:
1. Estate -- a system in which a small elite group
(owners of property and power) have total
control over society’s resources.
2. Caste -- a system where status is assigned
based on one’s ascribed status.
3. Class -- a system based primarily on achieved
status; however one’s ascribed status can
matter.
3
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
– Income
– Occupational prestige
– Educational achievement
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***Activity & Discussion Topic
• On a piece of paper, mark down the social class to
which you and your family belong.
– What type of work do you do? Do they do?
– How much money do they make annually?
• Share your thoughts on the subject of social class,
but do not feel compelled to share you social class
with the class.
• At the end of this lesson, see if you have changed
your mind about which class you and/or your family
belong in.
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Income Distribution in the U.S.
Social Class Differences
7
8
Median Income in the U.S.
Mean Household Income Received by Different Income
Groups, 1970-2007
Wealth Inequality
• The United States is one of the most “unequal”
nations in the world using wealth as the criteria.
– The wealthiest 1% own 33% of all net worth.
• The bottom 80% control only 16%.
– The top 10% also own 88% of all stock.
• The bottom 40% own less than 1% of total
stock holdings.
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Poverty
• Poverty line is the amount of money needed to
support the basic needs of a household.
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Poverty & Race
• 37 million people are poor in the United States,
representing 12.5 percent of the population (2008).
•
•
•
•
•
33% of Native Americans
25% of Blacks
22% of Hispanics
10% of Asians and Pacific Islanders
8% of non-Hispanic Whites
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Poverty & Gender
• The vast majority of the poor have always been women and
children, referred to as the feminization of poverty.
14
Poverty among the Old and the Young,
1965-2007
Child Poverty
in the Wealthier Nations
16
Children in Poverty
• By 2007, 18 % of all children (those under age 18)
in the United States were poor.
•
•
•
•
10% of non-Hispanic White children
35% of Black children
29% of Hispanic children
12% of Asian American children
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Homeless in America
Over a period of one year, the estimate of the
homeless population: about 3.5 million people.
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Poverty & Homelessness
Video “Homeless: A Cruel Reality”
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VlwkKRjOwk&
NR=1
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Causes of Poverty
The Culture of Poverty
• Success requires only
individual motivation and
ability
• The absence of work values
and the irresponsibility of
the poor
• The breakdown of the
family, schools, and
churches
Structural Causes of Poverty
• Restructuring of the
economy
• Health care system
• The status of women in the
family and the labor market
• Childcare system
• Diminished social support
(welfare, public housing and
job training)for the poor
etc.
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• Luxury Homes
• Paywizard.org
Salary, Income and Paycheck data for Steve
Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Page and other CEO's
and Corporate Celebs
Social Stratification
Functionalist view
Conflict Theorist view
• Inequality serves an
important purpose in
society
• Some positions in society
are more functionally
important than others
• Rewards are attached to
certain positions
• Beliefs about success and
failure confirm the status of
those who succeed
NFL salaries
Actor salaries
• Inequality results from a
system of domination and
subordination
• The more stratified a
society, the less likely that
society will benefit from the
talents of all its citizens
• The most vital jobs in
society are usually the least
rewarded.
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• Bailout and salaries of involved CEO’s
http://www.paywizard.org/main/VIPPaycheck/b
ailoutceopay
CEO pay
http://www.paywizard.org/main/VIPPaycheck/d
ollarsalaryclub
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Karl Marx on Social Class
– Bourgeoisie --- the owners of the means of
production.
– Proletariat --- the workers, those who sold their
labor; also referred to as the exploited masses.
– False Consciousness---the Marxist thesis that
material and institutional processes in capitalist
society are misleading to the proletariat, and to
other classes.
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Max Weber
Class, Status & Party
• Multidimensional stratification system comprised of
three dimensions:
1. Class – economic forces
2. Status – prestige, culture, the social aspects
3. Party – power, the political dimension
• One’s position in each of these dimensions
influences their life chances.
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Class Consciousness
• Karl Marx & Max Weber
• Class consciousness is awareness of:
– the existence of a class structure
– your shared identification with others in a given
class, life chances
• 3% - upper class
• 46% - middle class
• 46% - working class
• 5% - lower class
the National Opinion Research Center (2004)
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Social Mobility:
Myth or Reality
• Mobility can be intergenerational or
intragenerational.
– Intergenerational is movement between
generations.
– Intragenerational is movement within the same
generation.
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Social Mobility
• Social mobility is affected by more than individual
effort.
– It is also affected by widespread social conditions
such as stock market performance, recessions,
technology, and globalization.
• Mobility is a reality in the U.S., but not everyone will
achieve it.
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Social Stratification Game
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Social Policy
Functionalist view
Conflict Theorist view
• Because the system is
basically fair, social policies
should only reward merit.
• Because the system is
basically unfair, social
policies should support
disadvantaged groups by
redirecting society’s
resources for a more
equitable distribution of
income and wealth.
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***U.S. Welfare Program
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Welfare benefit
•
•
•
•
•
•
health care
food stamps
child care assistance
unemployment benefit
cash aid
housing assistance
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Food Stamp (NYS)
The Food Stamp
Program issues
monthly benefits that
can be used to
purchase food at
authorized retail food
stores.
35
Cash Aid (NYS)
Monthly Shelter Allowance (for a family of four with children)
$292 (Franklin County)
$503 (Suffolk County)
36
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) (1996)
Federal Requirements
– Families can receive aid for a maximum of 5 years
– After 2 years they must work (money earned is
deducted from the aid money).
– Teens with children under 18 are ineligible unless
they go to school and live with their parents.
– single parents are required to work at least 30 hours
per week. (two parent families: to 35 or 55 hours)
– Mothers must inform the state who the father of the
child is, and he must contribute to the child’s support.
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True or false
1. Income growth has been greatest for those in
the middle class in recent years.
2. The average American household has most of
its wealth in the stock market.
3. Old people are the most likely to be poor
today.
4. Social mobility is greater in the U.S. than in
any other Western nation.
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Percentage share of income
(poorest and richest 20% of population)
The U.S.
40.8
5.2% 46.4%
Source: World Development Index 2002, The World Bank.
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International comparison
Japan
• President, Toyota Motor Co.: less than 100 million yen ($1.1 million)
• President, Honda Motor Co.: 115 million yen ($1.3 million)
• Toyota’s top 38 executives received an average of 53.1 million yen
($583,000)
The U.S.
• President, Ford Motor Co. : $13.6 million
• Donald Trump (Trump Organization): $50 million
Resource: Businessweek.com
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