Chapter 8 Class and Stratification in the United States

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Chapter 8Class and Stratificationin the United
States

• Chinwe J Anyikire
• July 2 2008
• Intro to Sociology

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Chapter Outline

• What is Social Stratification?
• Global Systems of Stratification
• Classical Perspectives on Social Class
• Contemporary Sociological Models of the U.S.
  Class Structure
• Inequality in the United States
• Poverty in the United States
• Sociological Explanations of Social Inequality in
  the United States
• U.S. Stratification in the Future

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What Is Social Stratification

• The hierarchical arrangement of large social
  groups based on their control over basic
  resources.
• Stratification involves patterns of structural
  inequality associated with membership in these
  groups.
• Resources are anything valued in a society
  (money, property, medical care, education).
• Life chances refers to the extent to which
  individuals have access to resources.
• It persists over generations.
• It is universal, but variable.
• It involves not just inequality, but beliefs.

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Systems Of Stratification

• Stratification systems are classified as open or
  closed.
• Open system Boundaries between levels in
  hierarchies are flexible and positions are
  influenced by achieved statuses.
• Closed system Boundaries between levels in
  hierarchies are rigid, and positions are set by
  ascribed status.
• No system is completely open or closed.

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Class and Caste Systems

• A caste system is a system of social inequality
  in which peoples status is permanently
  determined at birth based on their parents
  ascribed characteristics.
• The class system is a type of stratification
  based on the ownership and control of resources
  and on the type of work people do.
• Meritocracy based on personal merit.

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Social Mobility

• The movement of individuals or groups from one
  level in a stratification system to another.
• Intergenerational mobility is the social movement
  experienced by family members from one generation
  to the next.
• Intragenerational mobility is the social movement
  of individuals within their own lifetime.

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Slavery

• An extreme form of stratification in which some
  people are owned by others.
• As practiced in the U.S., slavery had four
  primary characteristics
• It was for life and was inherited.
• Slaves were considered property, not human
  beings.
• Slaves were denied rights.
• Coercion was used to keep slaves in their
  place.

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Marxian Model of the Class Structure

• Capitalist Class (bourgeoisie) - those who have
  inherited fortunes, own corporations, are
  corporate executives who control company
  investments.
• Managerial Class - upper-level managers and
  lower-level managers who may have control over
  employment practices.

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Marxian Model of the Class Structure

• Small-Business Class - small business owners,
  craftspeople, and professionals who hire a few
  employees and do their own work.
• Working Class (proletariat) - blue-collar workers
  and white-collar workers who do not own the means
  of production.

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Marxs View of Stratification
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Marxian Criteria for Class Structure

• Ownership of the means of production.
• Employing others.
• Supervising others on the job.
• Being employed by someone else.

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Webers Multidimensional Approach to Social
Stratification
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Webers Dimensions

• Wealth - the value of all of a persons or
  familys economic assets, including income,
  personal property, and income-producing property.
  
• Prestige - the respect or regard with which a
  person or status position is regarded by others.
• Power - the ability of people or groups to
  achieve their goals despite opposition from
  others.

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Weberian Model of the Class Structure

• Upper Class - comprised of people who own
  substantial income-producing assets.
• Upper-Middle Class - based on university degrees,
  authority on the job, and high income.
• Middle Class - a minimum of a high school
  diploma or a community college degree.

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Weberian Model of the Class Structure

• Working Class - semiskilled workers, in routine,
  mechanized jobs, and workers in pink collar
  occupations.
• Working Poor - live just above to just below the
  poverty line.
• Underclass - people who are poor, seldom
  employed, and caught in long-term deprivation.

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Stratification Based on Education, Occupation and
Income
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Prestige Ratings for Selected Occupations 1996
and 1963
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Prestige Ratings for Selected Occupations 1996
and 1963
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Wright Criteria for Placement in the Class
Structure

• Ownership of the means of production.
• Purchase of the labor of others (employing
  others).
• Control of the labor of others (supervising
  others on the job).
• Sale of ones own labor (being employed by
  someone else).

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Wrights Four Classes

• Capitalist class
• Managerial class
• Small-business class
• Working class

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Comparison of Marxs and Wrights Models of Class
Structure
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Income and Wealth

• Income the economic gain derived from wages,
  salaries, income transfers (govt. aid), and
  ownership of property
• Wealth - value of economic assets, including
  income and property.
• Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to a combined
  measure that attempts to classify individuals,
  families, or households in terms of factors such
  as income, occupation, and education to determine
  class location.

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Median Income by State
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GSS National Data
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Distribution of Pretax Income in the United States
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Average After-Tax Family Income in the U.S.
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Household Income by Race/Ethnicity in the U.S.
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Population without Health Insurance U.S.
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Defining Poverty

• Sociologists distinguish between absolute and
  relative poverty.
• Absolute poverty exists when people do not have
  the means to secure the most basic necessities of
  life.
• Relative poverty exists when people may be able
  to afford basic necessities but are still unable
  to maintain an average standard of living.

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Distribution of Poverty in the U.S.
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Distribution of Poverty in the U.S.
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Feminization of Poverty

• The trend in which women are disproportionately
  represented among individuals living in poverty.
• Women single heads of households bear the major
  economic and emotional burdens of raising
  children but earn between 70 and 80 cents for
  every dollar a male worker earns.

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Job Deskilling

• Reduction in the proficiency needed to perform a
  job that leads to a reduction in wages.
• The shift from manufacturing to service
  occupations resulted in the loss of higher-paying
  positions and their replacement with
  lower-paying, less secure positions that do not
  offer the wages, job stability, or advancement
  potential of the disappearing manufacturing jobs.

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Sociological Explanations of Social Inequality
in the U.S.
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References

• http//www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/
• http//sociology.wadsworth.com
• http//www.inequality.org
• http//www.irp.wisc.edu
• http//www.census.gov
• Sociology in Our Times 6th edition