Social Class and Social Stratification

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• Social Class and Social Stratification

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Social Stratification

• A relatively fixed, hierarchical arrangement in
  society by which groups have different access to
  resources, power, and perceived social worth.
• In a sports organization
• Owners control the resources of the teams
• Players earn high salaries, yet do not control
  the team resources
• Sponsors provide the resources
• Fans provide revenue

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Inequality in the United States

• 24 of the U.S. population has no health
  insurance.
• 40 of adults younger than 65 years of age have
  underinsured or inadequate insurance.
• The average cost of a days stay in the hospital
  is 1,522 two weeks pay for the average worker.

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Inequality in the United States

• 1 of the U.S. population controls 38 of the
  total wealth in the nation.
• The bottom 20 owe more than they own.
• CEOs of major companies earn an average of 13.1
  million dollars per year.
• Workers earning the minimum wage make 10,712 per
  year, if they work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks
  per year and hold only one job.

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Types of Stratification Systems

• Estate - elite owns property and has control
  over resources.
• Caste - rigid hierarchy of classes.
• Class - status is partially achieved, there is
  some potential for movement between classes.

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Marx Class and Capitalism

• Defined classes in terms of their relationship to
  the means of production.
• Capitalist class owns the means of production.
• Working class sells their labor for wages.

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Weber Three Dimensions to Stratification

• Class - economic dimension
• Status - social dimension
• Party - political dimension

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Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
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Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
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Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
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Social Class in the U.S.

• Upper class
• Upper-middle class
• Middle class
• Lower-middle class
• Under

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The Laddered Model of Stratification
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Median Income by Race and Household Status
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The Double Diamond Model of Stratification
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Income Growth by Income Group Whites
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Income Growth by Income Group Blacks
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Income Growth by Income Group Hispanics
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Wealth and Income

• Wealth is the monetary value of everything one
  owns, minus debt.
• It is calculated by adding all financial assets
  and subtracting all debts.
• Income is the amount of money brought into a
  household from various sources during a given
  period.

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Distribution of Wealth and Income

• The wealthiest 1 own 38 of all net worth the
  bottom 80 control only 17.
• The top 1 also owns almost half of all stock
  the bottom 80 own only 4 of total stock
  holdings.

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Diverse Sources of Stratification

• Race, class, and gender are overlapping systems
  of stratification.
• Class position is manifested differently,
  depending on race and gender.
• Example A Black middle-class man who is stopped
  by police when driving through a White
  middle-class neighborhood may feel his racial
  status is his most outstanding characteristic,
  but his race, class, and gender always influence
  his life chances.

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Poverty Among the Old and Young
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Class Consciousness

• The perception that a class structure exists,
  along with the feeling of shared identification
  with others in ones class.
• There are two dimensions to the definition of
  class consciousness
• the idea that a class structure exists
• ones class identification

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Defining Social Mobility

• Social mobility is a persons movement over time
  from one class to another.
• Social mobility can be up or down, although the
  American dream emphasizes upward movement.
• Mobility can also be either intergenerational,
  occurring between generations or
  intragenerational, occurring within a generation.

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Social Mobility

• Mobility is a collective effort that involves kin
  and sometimes community.
• Upward Mobility
• People who are upwardly mobile are often expected
  to distance themselves from their origins.
• Downward Mobility
• As income distribution is becoming more skewed
  toward the top, many in the middle class are
  experiencing mobility downward.

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Poverty in the U.S.
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Who are the Poor?

• In 2002, there were 34.6 million poor people in
  the U.S.
• The poor
• 31 of Native Americans
• 24 of African Americans
• 22 of Hispanics
• 10 of Asians and Pacific Islanders
• 10 of Whites

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Who are the Homeless?

• Battered women
• Elderly
• Disabled
• Mentally Ill (20-25)
• Veterans
• AIDS victims

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Who are the Homeless?

• A 2001 survey of 27 cities found that the
  homeless population is
• 50 African American
• 35 White
• 12 Hispanic
• 2 Native American
• 1 Asian

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Reasons for Homelessness

• Unemployment and/or eviction
• Reductions in federal support for affordable
  housing
• Eroding work opportunities
• Inadequate housing for low-income people

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Reasons for Homelessness

• Reductions in public assistance
• Inadequate health care
• Domestic violence
• Addiction