Social Stratification and Inequality Introduction to Sociology Social

Social Stratification and Inequality Introduction to Sociology

Social Stratification Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power

Wealth and Income In most societies, stratification is an economic system, based on wealth, the net value of money and assets a person has, and income, a person’s wages or investment dividends

What determines social status? • • Wealth Income Parent’s social status Occupation Age Race and ethnicity gender IQ, athletic abilities, appearance, personal skills, and achievements

Types of Social Stratification Systems • Closed systems accommodate little change in social position. They do not allow people to shift levels and do not permit social relationships between levels • Open systems, which are based on achievement, allow movement and interaction between layers and classes

Caste System A caste system is one in which people are born into their social standing and occupation and will remain in it their whole lives

Class System • A class system is based on both social factors and individual achievement • A class consists of a set of people who share similar status with regard to factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation • Class systems are open • Though family and other societal models help guide a person toward a career, personal choice plays a role. • In class systems, people have the option to form exogamous marriages, unions of spouses from different social categories. • Though social conformities still exist that encourage people to choose partners within their own class (endogamous union)

Meritocracy is an ideal system based on the belief that social stratification is the result of personal effort—or merit—that determines social standing • A true meritocracy has never existed • Aspects exist in modern societies where academic and job performance influence social standing Why don’t we see meritocracies? • Socialization • Economic realities • Inherited wealth can be transferred to one’s children and perpetuate the class structure • Pressure to conform to norms

Status Consistency Status consistency is the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories like income, education, and occupation

Standard of Living and Class Traits • Standard of living is the level of wealth needed for a certain socioeconomic class to acquire the material necessities and comforts to maintain its lifestyle • Class traits, or class markers, are the typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class • Class traits indicate the level of exposure a person has to a wide range of cultures

The Upper Class in the U. S. • The upper class have power and control over their own lives and over others’ lives • People with extreme wealth make up 1 percent of the population, and they own one-third of the country’s wealth • U. S. society has historically distinguished between “old money” (inherited wealth passed from one generation to the next) and “new money” (wealth you have earned and built yourself • People with inherited wealth may not work for wages and are socialized to know the customs, norms, and expectations that come with wealth

The Middle Class in the U. S. • The middle class doesn’t generally control other strata of society, but its members do exert control over their own lives • Earn incomes 25 -100 K per year

Middle Class (about 25 -100 K annual income) Upper Middle Class • Tend to hold bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees • Earn comfortable income to support large homes nice cars, and vacations • Their children receive high-quality education and healthcare Lower Middle Class • May hold bachelor’s or associate’s degrees • Hold jobs supervised by members of the upper middle class • Fill technical, lower-level management or administrative support positions • Can afford a decent, mainstream lifestyle, but they struggle to maintain it or to build significant savings • More precarious status, risk sliding into lower class

The Lower Class in the U. S. • The lower class has little control over their work or lives • Compared to the lower middle class, lower-class people have less of an educational background and earn smaller incomes • They work jobs that require little prior skill or experience and often do routine tasks under close supervision

The Working Class in the U. S. • Working-class people, the highest subcategory of the lower class, often land decent jobs in fields like custodial or food service • The work is hands-on and often physically demanding, such as landscaping, cooking, cleaning, or building

The Working Poor in the U. S. • Beneath the working class is the working poor • Like the working class, they have unskilled, low-paying employment • However, their jobs rarely offer benefits such as healthcare or retirement planning • Their positions are often seasonal or temporary • People may work full-time at minimum wage and still live in poverty

The Underclass in the U. S. The underclass is the United States’ lowest tier Members of the underclass live mainly in inner cities Many are unemployed or underemployed Those who do hold jobs typically perform menial tasks for little pay • Some of the underclass are homeless • For many, the government provides much-needed support through food assistance, medical care, and housing • •

Social Mobility • Social mobility refers to the ability to change positions within a social stratification system • Intergenerational mobility is when different generations of a family to belong to varying social classes • Upward mobility refers to an increase—or upward shift —in social class • Downward mobility indicates a lowering of one’s social class

Structural Mobility Structural mobility happens when societal changes enable a whole group of people to move up or down the social class ladder. • In the first half of the twentieth century, industrialization expanded the U. S. economy, raising the standard of living and leading to upward structural mobility • In today’s work economy, the recent recession and other longer term trends have contributed to high unemployment rates and a wave of downward structural mobility

Global Stratification and Inequality • Global stratification compares the wealth, economic stability, status, and power of countries across the world • Global inequality is concentrating resources in certain nations and is significantly affecting the opportunities of individuals in poorer and less powerful countries

Functionalist View of Global Inequality A functionalist might focus on why we have global inequality and what social purposes it serves. This view might assert, for example, that we have global inequality because some nations are better than others at adapting to new technologies and profiting from a globalized economy, and that when core nation companies locate in peripheral nations, they expand the local economy and benefit the workers.

Conflict Theory View on Global Inequality Conflict theory focuses on the creation and reproduction of inequality. A conflict theorist would likely address the systematic inequality created when core nations exploit the resources of peripheral nations. For example, how many U. S. companies take advantage of overseas workers who lack the constitutional protection and guaranteed minimum wages that exist in the United States? Doing so allows them to maximize profits, but at what cost?

Symbolic Interactionist View on Global Inequality The symbolic interaction perspective studies the day-today impact of global inequality, the meanings individuals attach to global stratification, and the subjective nature of poverty. Someone applying this view to global inequality would probably focus on understanding the difference between what someone living in a core nation defines as poverty (relative poverty, defined as being unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country) and what someone living in a peripheral nation defines as poverty (absolute poverty, defined as being barely able, or unable, to afford basic necessities, such as food)

Models of Global Stratification Models of global stratification rank countries according to their relative economic status: • Traditional models, now considered outdated, first and second world described industrialized nations, while third world referred to “undeveloped” countries • More and less developed nations • The GINI coefficient measures income inequality between countries using a 100 -point scale

GINI The GINI coefficient measures income inequality between countries using a 100 -point scale

World Systems Approach The global economy hierarchy places some nations in positions of power with numerous resources and other nations in a state of economic subordination with significant obstacles to mobilization • Core nations are dominant capitalist countries, highly industrialized, technological, and urbanized • Peripheral nations have very little industrialization of their own. They typically have unstable governments, inadequate social programs, and are economically dependent on core nations for jobs and aid • Semi-peripheral nations are in-between nations, not powerful enough to dictate policy but acting as a major source for raw material and an expanding middle-class marketplace for core nations, while also exploiting peripheral nations

World Bank Classification by Income

High Income Countries • Gross national income (GNI) per capita, or the mean income of the people in a nation of a high-income nation was $43, 903 per capita • On average, 81 percent of the population in these nations was urban • High-income countries face two major issues: • Capital flight refers to the movement of capital from one nation to another • Deindustrialization occurs as a consequence of capital flight, as no new companies open to replace jobs lost to foreign nations

Middle Income Countries • The average GNI per capita of an upper middle income nation was $7, 594 • 62 percent was urban • The most pressing issue for middle-income nations is the problem of debt accumulation, the buildup of external debt, wherein countries borrow money from other nations to fund their expansion or growth goals

Low-Income Nation • Average per capita GNI of a low-income nation was $528 • 28% located in urban areas • Two major challenges that these countries face: • women are disproportionately affected by poverty • much of the population lives in absolute poverty

Defining Poverty • Relative poverty is a state of living where people can afford necessities but are unable to meet their society’s average standard of living • People who live in absolute poverty lack even the basic necessities, which typically include adequate food, clean water, safe housing, and access to healthcare • Subjective poverty is when income does not meet expectations and perceptions. Subjective poverty is based on how individuals or a families define themselves

The Feminization of Poverty • While myriad variables affect women’s poverty, research specializing in this issue identifies three causes (Mogadham 2005): • The expansion in the number of female-headed households • The persistence and consequences of intra-household inequalities and biases against women • The implementation of neoliberal economic policies around the world

Consequences of Poverty 1. Poverty exists in a cycle where the consequences and causes are intertwined, making poverty hard to eradicate 2. Negative effect on physical and mental health 3. The prevalence of crime. Cross-nationally, crime rates are higher, particularly for violent crime, in countries with higher levels of income inequality

Slavery refers to any situation in which people are sold, treated as property, or forced to work for little or no pay. • Chattel slavery occurs when one person owns another as property. Child slavery, which may include child prostitution or servile marriage, is a form of chattel slavery. • In debt bondage, or bonded labor, the poor pledge themselves as servants in exchange for the cost of basic necessities like transportation, room, and board but they are paid less than they are charged and are thus unable to work their way free • In human trafficking people are moved away from their communities and forced to work against their will

Functionalist View of Social Stratification Social stratification is necessary to promote excellence, productivity, and efficiency, thus giving people something to strive for.

Conflict Theory on Social Stratification • Conflict theorists are deeply critical of social stratification, asserting that it benefits only some people, not all of society • Stratification perpetuates inequality

Symbolic Interactionism and Social Stratification How does people’s social standing affect their everyday interactions? • In most communities, people interact primarily with others who share the same social standing • Conspicuous consumption is the purchase and use of certain products to make a symbolic social statement about status

Modernization Theory According to modernization theory, low-income countries are affected by their lack of industrialization and can improve their global economic standing through (Armer and Katsillis 2010): • an adjustment of cultural values and attitudes to work • industrialization and other forms of economic growth

Dependency Theory • Global inequality is primarily caused by core nations (or highincome nations) exploiting semi-peripheral and peripheral nations (or middle-income and low-income nations), which creates a cycle of dependence • As long as peripheral nations are dependent on core nations for economic stimulus and access to a larger piece of the global economy, they will never achieve stable and consistent economic growth • Core nations, as well as the World Bank, choose which countries to make loans to, and for what purposes. This creates highly segmented labor markets that are built to benefit the dominant market countries

Practice Problem: How does this graph add to your understanding of global stratification?

Quick Review • What are some examples of social stratification? • How do social stratification and mobility work in the United States? • What are global stratification and inequality? • How do the three main theoretical perspectives view social stratification? • How are countries classified? How is global stratification measured and modeled? • What is global poverty? • How do the main theoretical perspectives view global stratification?