Social Class in the United States

1. By: Wesley Gottchall and Tim Taylor Social Class in the United States

2. Thesis • There are many factors that determine Social class, and people are affected in many ways by which social class they are in.

3. Social Class • Three components to social class • Wealth • Power • Prestige • Status Inconsistency

4. Sociological Models of Social Class • Marx • Two classes: capitalists and workers • Wright updated Marx’s class model into four classes: Capitalists, Petty bourgeoisie, Managers, and Workers • Weber • Six class model • Like a ladder; as you go down the ladder there is less power, less wealth and less prestige

5. Social Class Ladder • Capitalist • Upper Middle • Lower Middle • Working Class • Working Poor • Underclass

6. Consequences of Social Class • Physical Health • Mental Health • Family Life • Education • Religion • Politics • Crime • Technology

7. Social Mobility • Three types of Social Mobility • Intergenerational mobility • Structural mobility • Exchange mobility

8. Women in Studies on Social Mobility • In a study of 200 women from working-class homes have gone up the social ladder. Almost all the girls had encouragement from when they were young to postpone marriage for an education. The study confirms that family is of utmost importance in the socialization process, and entrance to the upper middle class is a college education.

9. New Technology and Fears of the Future • Going down in social class strikes fear into many people • The United States also has to keep pace with other countries by producing low-cost quality goods, or the United States’ position will decline, lowering the opportunities for workers and thus lowering the class of people • As new and more advanced technology is being developed the technological illiterate are being left behind, which makes their future, and their hopes of climbing the social class ladder grim

10. Poverty • Poverty Line • Who are the Poor? • Children of Poverty • Culture of Poverty • Why Are People Poor?

11. Welfare Reform • Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act • Criticisms

12. Deferred Gratification • Giving things up in the present for greater gains in the future • Difficult to follow this if one does not have a middle-class surplus or middle-class hope

13. Horatio Alger Myth • Fictional hero • Rags to riches • Due to limitless possibilities anyone can get ahead if he or she tries • Encourages people to compete for higher positions

14. Works Cited • Henslin, James M. Sociology, A Down-To-Earth Approach. Needham Heights, Massachusetts: A Pearson Education Company, 2001. • “Social Class in the United States.” www.mltranslations.org. 1999. May 13, 2009. http://www.mltranslations.org/us/rpo/classes/classes.htm • "Welfare Reform." Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington Web Site. 06 Apr. 2009 <http://www.mrsc.org/Subjects/HumanServices/welfare/welfare.aspx>. • "Social class in the United States -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 13 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States>.