Sociology in Modules

1. Sociology in Modules Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States

2. Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States 8 • Module 26: Systems of Stratification • Module 27: Stratification by Social Class • Module 28: Poverty and Social Mobility

3. A Look Ahead • Is social inequality inescapable? • How does government policy affect the life chances of the working poor? • Is this country still a place where a hardworking person can move up the social ladder?

4. Systems of Stratification Module 26 • Social inequality: Situation where members of society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, or power • Ascribed status: social position assigned to person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics • Achieved status: social position that person attains largely through his or her own efforts

5. Four Forms of Stratification Module 26 • Slavery: Individuals owned by other people, who treat them as property • Castes: Hereditary ranks that are usually religiously dictated and tend to be fixed and immobile • Estates (feudalism): Peasants worked land leased to them in exchange for military protection and other services • Social Classes

6. Figure 26-1: The 50 States: Contrasts in Income and Poverty Levels Module 26

7. Social Classes Module 26 • Class system: Social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility • Rossides (1997) uses five-class model to describe U.S. class system: • Working class • Lower class • Upper class • Upper-middle class • Lower-middle class

8. Social Classes Module 26 • Factors contributing to shrinking size of middle class • Disappearing opportunities for those with little education • Global competition and advances in technology • Growing dependence on temporary workforce • Rise of new growth industries and nonunion workplaces

9. Sociological Perspectives on Stratification Module 26 • Sociologists hotly debate stratification and social inequality and reach varying conclusions No theorist stressed significance of class for society more strongly than Karl Marx

10. Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation Module 26 • Social relations depend on who controls the primary mode of production • Capitalism: Means of production held largely in private hands and main incentive for economic activity is accumulation of profits • Bourgeoisie: Capitalist class; owns the means of production • Proletariat: Working class

11. Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation Module 26 • Class consciousness: Subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about change • False consciousness: Attitude held by members of class that does not accurately reflect their objective position

12. Max Weber’s View of Stratification Module 26 • No single characteristic totally defines a person’s position within the stratification system • Class: Group of people who have similar level of wealth and income • Status group: People who have the same prestige or lifestyle • Power: Ability to exercise one’s will over others

13. Is Stratification Universal? Module 26 • Functionalist view: Social inequality necessary so people will be motivated to fill functionally important positions Does not explain the wide disparity between the rich and the poor

14. Is Stratification Universal? Module 26 • Conflict view: Human beings prone to conflict over scarce resources such as wealth, status, and power • Stratification major source of societal tension • Leads to instability and social change Dominant ideology: Set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests

15. Is Stratification Universal? Module 26 • Lenski’s viewpoint: As a society advances technologically, it becomes capable of producing surplus of goods • Emergence of surplus resources expands possibilities for inequality • Allocation of surplus goods and services reinforces social inequality

16. Table 26-1: Sociological Perspectives on Social Stratification Module 26

17. Stratification by Social Class Module 27 • Objective Method: Class largely viewed as a statistical category • Education • Occupation • Income • Place ofresidence Prestige: Respect and admiration an occupation holds in society Esteem: Reputation a specific person has earned within an occupation

18. Measuring Social Class Module 27 • Gender and Occupational Prestige • Studies of social class tended to neglect the occupations and incomes of women as determinants of social rank • Multiple Measures • Socioeconomic status (SES): Measure of social class based on income, education, and occupation

19. Table 27-1: Prestige Rankings of Occupations Module 27

20. Income and Wealth Module 27 • Income in U.S. distributed unevenly • Americans do not appear to be seriously concerned about income and wealth inequality • Wealth in the U.S. is much more unevenly distributed than income In 2009, wealth of the top 1 percent exceeds the collective wealth of the bottom 90 percent

21. Figure 27-1: Mean Household Income by Quintile Module 27

22. Figure 27-2: Distribution of Wealth in the United States Module 27

23. Research Today Module 27 • Precarious Work • Has the trend toward increasing reliance on precarious work touched your family or friends? Has anyone you know been unemployed longer than six months? • Looking forward to your own career, can you think of a strategy for avoiding precarious work, frequent job loss, and long-term unemployment?

24. Poverty Module 28 • Absolute poverty: Minimum level of subsistence that no family should live below • Relative poverty: Floating standard by which people at the bottom of a society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison to the nation as a whole

25. Poverty Module 28 • Feminization of poverty • Since W. W. II, increasing proportion of poor in U.S. have been women Underclass: long-term poor who lack training and skills

26. Poverty Module 28 • Not a static social class • Gans: poverty and the poor satisfy positive functions for many non-poor groups • Society’s dirty work performed at low cost • Creates jobs that serve the poor • Upholds conventional social norms • Guarantees higher status of more affluent • Absorb costs of social change

27. Figure 28-1: Poverty in Selected Countries Module 28

28. Table 28-1: Who are the Poor in the United States? Module 28

29. Sociology in the Global Community Module 28 • It’s All Relative: Appalachian Poverty and Congolese Affluence • If you ever traveled to a foreign country where income and living standards were very different from those in the U.S., what differences between the living standards stand out in your mind? • Should the poverty level be the same everywhere in the world?

30. Life Chances Module 28 • Max Weber saw class closely related to people’s life chances • Life chances: Opportunities to provide material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experience Digital divide: Poor, minorities, and those in rural communities not getting connected at home or work

31. Social Mobility Module 28 • Socialmobility: Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another

32. Open Versus Closed Stratification Systems Module 28 • Open system: Position of each individual influenced by the person’s achieved status • Closed system: Allows little or no possibility of moving up

33. Types of Social Mobility Module 28 • Horizontal mobility: Movement within same range of prestige • Vertical mobility: Movement from one position to another of a different rank • Intragenerational mobility: Social position changes within person’s adult life

34. Social Mobility in the United States Module 28 • Occupational Mobility • The Impact of Education • The Impact of Race and Ethnicity • The Impact of Gender

35. Figure 28-2 Intergenerational Income Mobility Module 28

36. Sociology on Campus Module 28 • Social Class and Financial Aid • How important is financial aid to you and your friends? Without these types of aid, would you be able to cover your college expenses? • Aside from a reduction in individual social mobility, what might be the long-term effects of the shortage of need-based financial aid?

37. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe Module 28 • Understand the Issue • Governments in all parts of the world are searching for the right solution to welfare • How much subsidy should they provide? • How much responsibility should fall on shoulders of the poor?

38. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe Module 28 • Understand the Issue • 1996: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act passed in U.S. • Ended long-standing federal guarantee of assistance to every poor family that meets eligibility requirements • Other countries vary widely in commitment to social service programs

39. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe Module 28 • Applying Sociology • Many sociologists view debate over welfare from conflict perspective • Backlash against welfare recipients reflects deep fears and hostility toward the nation’s urban and predominantly African-American and Hispanic underclass • Corporate welfare: Tax breaks, direct payments, and grants government makes to corporations

40. Rethinking Welfare in North America and Europe Module 28 • Initiating Policy • It is too soon to see if “workfare” will succeed • Prospects for hard-core jobless faded as boom passed and economy moved into recession • European governments encountered same citizen demand—keep taxes low • In North America and Europe, people are turning to private means for support