Social Stratification in the United States

1. Social Stratification in the United States Songhua Hu Department of Sociology Stanford University songhua@stanford.edu

2. America the Beautiful

3. What is America? • Land of Opportunity • Anyone in America can become president, rich, famous • Jobs and education are open to everyone equally • Social Class is achieved • Individuals decide what class to belong to. • Horatio Alger: rags to riches • People of low class worked hard and rose to positions of wealth and power

4. What determines Social Class? • Wealth • Valued possessions—cash, land, buildings, property that they have • Income—money we receive each year • Power • How many people you give orders to or take orders from. • Prestige • Respect given to people with valued positions or resources for class.

5. Occupational Prestige • Ratings by Americans about the prestige of different occupations Physician 82 Lawyer 76 School Teacher 60 Computer Programmer 51 Secretary 46 Baker 34 Taxi Driver 22 Shoe Shiner 9 ALC Professor ? Sociology Professor ?

6. 5 American Social Class • Upper Class • Percentage of Americans .5% • Wealth: • A lot • Ownership: They owns 50% stocks, 60% bonds; corporations, property, inheritances • Income: High income—mostly from investments • Top 1% has 22 times the average wealth of the other 99% • Power: From Ownership, lots of power • Prestige: May not have jobs; prestige from family name, resources

7. Corporate Class • Percentage of Americans .5% • Wealth: • A lot, but not as much as upper class • Ownership—no major ownership of companies • Income—median CEO salary $10.83 million • President of the U.S., $200,000 • Power: Heads of companies, government • Prestige: high

8. Middle Class • Percentage of Americans 43% • Wealth: • Some • Ownership—little property • Income—mid to high income • Engineer, $58,000 • Teacher, $34,000 • ALC Professor, ?? • Power: Some • Prestige: White collar jobs

9. Working Class • Percentage of Americans 43% • Wealth: • Little • Ownership—little or no property • Income—mid to low • Factory worker, $24,000 • Machine operator, $23,000 • Power: Little • Prestige: Blue collar jobs

10. Lower Class • Percentage of Americans 13% • Wealth: • Very little or none • Ownership: none • Income: low • Poverty rate in 2001: 9.9% • Only about 1/3 of poor get welfare • Power: Low • Prestige: Low

11. Distribution of Wealth

12. American’s Attitude towards Social Stratification • Mixed Optimism

13. Importance of Education

14. Better off over Generations

15. Trap of Poverty?

16. American Dream for Everyone?

17. American Dream for Everyone?

18. Race, Gender and Social Class

20. Unemployment

21. More men work full time than women, but comparing men and women who work: Median Income Male $29,458 Female $18,957 • For every dollar men make, women make 64 cents

22. Explanations for these differences • Education? • Women make up over 50% of students in college Men and Women with a BA (1999) Male $47,126 Female $34,455

24. Poverty rates and Gender

25. What is America? • Land of Opportunity • Can anyone become rich? • Are all jobs open and equal for everyone? • Social Class is achieved • Do Americans decide which class they belong to? • Horatio Alger: rags to riches • Work hard and you will achieve?

26. America the Beautiful?

27. Or is it more complicated?

28. Tale of Two Cities