Essentials of Sociology 9 th Edition Chapter 8

Essentials of Sociology 9 th Edition Chapter 8: Social Class This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Social Class in the United States

Chapter Overview ¡ Components of Social Class ¡ Poverty Line ¡ Who Are the Poor? ¡ Sociological Models of Social Class ¡ Dynamics of Poverty ¡ Consequences of Social Class ¡ Why Are People Poor? Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Social Class in the United States

What is Social Class? Social Class A large group of people who rank closely to one another in wealth, power, and prestige. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Social Class in the United States

Components of Social Class Wealth – Value of a Person’s Assets Wealth consists of property and income Wealth and income not necessarily the same Power – ability to get your way despite resistance Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Social Class in the United States

Components of Social Class Prestige – respect given to one’s occupation Jobs that have greater levels of prestige: 1. Generally pay more 2. Entail more abstract thought 3. Require more education 4. Have greater autonomy Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Figure 8. 1 Distribution of the Property of Americans Source: By the author. Based on Beeghley 2008. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Social Class in the United States

Status Consistency and Status Inconsistency Status Consistency: when a person has the same levels of wealth, power, and prestige they are status consistent Status Inconsistency: when a person ranks higher on one level of social class and low on another level they are status inconsistent Ø People who are status inconsistent are more likely to be politically active Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Sociological Models of Social Class Updating Marx: Marx argued that there just two classescapitalists and workers. Figure 8. 4 Marx’s Model of the Social Classes Source: By the author. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Sociological Models of Social Class Sociologist Erik Wright suggests that some people are members of more than one class at the same time. They occupy what he calls contradictory class locations. Ø i. e. Mechanic-turned-business owner Wright identified 4 classes: 1) Capitalists 2) Petty Bourgeoisie 3) Managers 4) Workers Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Sociological Models of Social Class Gilbert and Kahl-Updated Weber’s model Capitalist Class The Upper Middle Class The Lower Middle Class The Working Poor § The Underclass Social Class in the Automobile Industry Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Social Class in the United States

Figure 8. 5 The U. S. Social Class Ladder Source: By the author. Based on Gilbert and Kahl 1998 and Gilbert 2008; income estimates are modified from Duff 1995. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Social Class in the United States

Consequences of Social Class Family Life ¡Choice of Husband or Wife ¡Divorce ¡Child Rearing Education Religion Politics Mental Health Physical Health Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Social Class in the United States

Three Types of Social Mobility 1. Intergenerational Mobility - a change that occurs between generations – can be either upward or downward 2. Structural Mobility – a change in the social structure that causes a large number of people to move either up or down the social class ladder 3. Exchange Mobility – a change in the social structure that causes a larger number of people to move up and down the social class ladder at the same Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 time Social Class in the United States

The Poverty Line The government figures out the poverty line by taking a low cost food budget and multiplying it by 3. This poverty line was created in 1965. It does take into account family size and cost of living. This line has been criticized for being too low, many think it should be increased by 50 %. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Who are the poor? Geography: There is a clustering of poverty in the South. The rate of rural poverty (16 %) is higher than the national average of 13 %. Race Ethnicity: 9 % of whites are poor, followed by Asian Americans at 11 %. The rate of poverty among Latinos is 21 % and among African Americans it is 25%. Overall, 41 % of all of the poor are whites (largest group in the U. S. ). Education: Only 3 out of 100 people who finish college end up poor. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Who are the poor? The biggest subgroup living in poverty in the U. S. are children The group least likely to live in poverty are the elderly Feminization of Poverty – the association of poverty with women, especially single parent households headed by women The more education a person has, the least likely they are to live in poverty 42 % of the poor live in the inner cities Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Figure 8. 9 Births to Single Mothers Note: Based on a sample of all U. S. births in the preceding 12 months. Source: Dye 2005. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 Social Class in the United States

Figure 8. 7 Patterns of Poverty Source: By the author. Based on Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009: Table 687. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Social Class in the United States

Dynamics of Poverty Culture of Poverty Most Poverty is short-lived – people are constantly moving in and out of poverty Number of Poor Relatively Stable Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 Social Class in the United States

Why are people poor? Two competing points of view: 1) Social Structure – the components of the social structure play a strong contributing factor in the poverty rate 2) Characteristics of Individuals – people are poor because of their own attitudes Sociologists tend to focus on components in the social structure to explain poverty Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States

Welfare Reform The U. S. welfare system was restructured in 1996. The maximum length of tie that someone can collect welfare is now 5 years. This has caused some controversy. Welfare rolls plummeted, dropping by 60 %. 3 out of 5 are still in poverty or back on welfare after coming off out of the system. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Class in the United States