SOCIOLOGY Richard T. Schaefer

1. SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer 9 Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States

2. 9. Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States • Understanding Stratification • Stratification by Social Class • Social Mobility • Social Policy and Stratification

3. Understanding Stratification • Systems of Stratification • Ascribed Status: social position assigned to person without regard for that person’s unique characteristics or talents • Achieved Status: social position attained by person largely through his or her own effort

4. Understanding Stratification • Systems of Stratification • Slavery: most extreme form of legalized social inequality • Castes: hereditary systems of rank, usually religiously dictated, that tend to be fixed and immobile • Estate System: associated with feudal societies in the Middle Ages

5. Understanding Stratification • 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: • Systems of Stratification • Social Classes • Upper class • Working class • Upper-middle class • Lower class • Lower-middle class

6. Understanding Stratification Figure 9-1. Household Income in the United States, 2001 Source: DeNavas-Walt and Cleveland 2002:15

7. Understanding Stratification • Perspectives on Stratification • Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation • Social relations depend on who controls the primary mode of production Proletariat: working class Bourgeoisie: capitalist class; owns the means of production Capitalism: economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits

8. Understanding Stratification • Perspectives on Stratification • Karl Marx’s View of Class Differentiation • 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

9. Understanding Stratification • Perspectives on Stratification • Max Weber’s View of Stratification • No single characteristic totally defines a person’s position with the stratification system Status Group: people who have the same prestige or lifestyle Class: group of people who have similar level of wealth and income Power: ability to exercise one’s will over others

10. Understanding Stratification • Perspectives on Stratification • Interactionist View • Interested in the importance of social class in shaping a person’s lifestyle

11. Understanding Stratification • Is Stratification Universal? • Inequality exists in all societies—even the simplest • Functionalist View Does not explain the wide disparity between the rich and the poor Social inequity necessary so people will be motivated to fill functionally important positions.

12. Understanding Stratification • Is Stratification Universal? • Conflict View Dominant Ideology: set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests • Human beings prone to conflict over scarce resources such as wealth, status, and power • Stratification major sourceof societal tension andconflict that will inevitablylead to instability and social change

13. Understanding Stratification • Is Stratification Universal? • Lenski’s Viewpoint • As a society advances technologically, it becomes capable of producing a considerable surplus of goods • Emergence of surplus resources greatly expands possibilities for inequality in status, influence, and power • Allocation of surplus goods and services reinforces social inequality

14. Understanding Stratification Figure 9-2. Around the World: What’s a CEO Worth? Source: Towers Perin Bryant 1999:Section 4, p. 1

15. Understanding Stratification Table 9-1. Major Perspectives on Social Stratification

16. Stratification by Social Class • Measuring Social Class Prestige: respect and admiration an occupation holds in society • Objective Method • Class largely viewed as a statistical category based on • Occupation • Education • Income • Place of residence Esteem: reputation specific person has earned within an occupation

17. Stratification by Social Class • Measuring Social Class • Gender and Occupational Prestige • Multiple Measures • Wealth and Income • Income in U.S. distributed unevenly • In 2001, richest fifth of the population held 84.5% of nation’s wealth .

18. Stratification by Social Class Table 9-2. Prestige Rankings of Occupations Source: J. Davis et al. 2003

19. Stratification by Social Class Figure 9-3. U.S. Income Pyramid, 2003 Source: Developed by author based on data from DeNavas-Walt et al. 2004; HINC-01 and the Internal Revenue Service (2004)

20. Stratification by Social Class Figure 9-4. Distribution of Wealth in the United States, 2001 Source: Wolff:2002

21. Stratification by Social Class Figure 9-5. U.S. Minimum Wage Adjusted for Inflation, 1950—2005 Source: Author’s estimate and Bureau of the Census 2003a:425

22. Stratification by Social Class • Poverty • 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

23. Stratification by Social Class • Poverty • Who Are the Poor? • Not a static social class • Explaining Poverty • In Gans’s view, poverty and poor satisfy positive functions for many non poor groups Life Chances: opportunities to provide material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experience

24. Stratification by Social Class Figure 9-6. Absolute Poverty in Selected Industrial Countries Source: Smeeding et al. 2001:51

25. Stratification by Social Class Table 9-3. Who Are the Poor in the United Sates? Source: DeNavas-Walt et al. 2004:10

26. Social Mobility • Indicate social mobility in a society • Open System: position of each individual influenced by the person’s achieved position • Closed System: allows little or no possibility of moving up • Open versus Closed Stratification Systems SocialMobility: Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another

27. Social Mobility • Types of Social Mobility • 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

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

29. Social Policy and Stratification • Government and Poverty • The Issue • Governments searching for right solution to welfare • How much subsidy? • How much responsibility should poor assume?

30. Social Policy and Stratification • Government and Poverty • The Setting • Shifts in U.S. welfare program in 1996 • Most countries devote higher proportions of expenditures to • Housing • Social security • Welfare • Health care • Unemployment compensation

31. Social Policy and Stratification • Government and Poverty • Sociological Insights • Many sociologists view debate over welfare reform from conflict perspective • Corporate Welfare: tax breaks, direct payments, and grants the government makes to corporations

32. Social Policy and Stratification • Government and Poverty • Policy Initiatives • Prospect for hard-core jobless faded • In North America and Europe, people beginning to turn to private means to support themselves • People seeing gap between themselves and the affluent grow with fewer government programs to assist them