American Society Unit 2: Wealth Stratification

Social Stratification

Division of people into layers according to characteristics (ie. race, gender, wealth)

What is the opposite of social stratification?

Pure equality

Socioeconomic status

A measurement of one’s total property, prestige, and power

5 social classes

Upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class, lower class

Upper class

• Investments, capital gains

• Net worth 1million or more

Upper middle class

• white collar

• above average incomes

• advanced education

Lower middle class

• 1/3 US households

• low status

• professional or white collar jobs

Working class

• high school diploma

• little college

• low skill jobs

Lower class

• little education

• struggle to find work

• easily filled jobs

Blue collar

working-class defined by hourly rates of pay and manual labor

White collar

relating to the work done or those who work in an office or other professional enviroment

Earned income

Pay (hourly/salary), disability

Unearned income

Inheritence, stocks, gifts, social security

Regressive tax systems

Low income more taxes

Flat tax system

Same tax rate

Progressive tax system

More income, more taxes

Horatio Alger Myth

“rags to riches”

unrealistic and much harder to achieve than the genre depicts it

Structural causes of mobility

Social mobility based on economic or societal changes

Individual effort causes of mobility

Social mobility based on your own effort

Open system of stratification

Allowing for social mobility

Closed system of stratification

Little to no chances of social mobility

Intergenerational social mobility

You typically stay in the same social class you were born into

Nepotism

Selected/promoted because of who you know

Meritocracy

Selected/promoted because you deserve it

Fundamental attribution error

Judgements are made based on what you can SEE, not on the situation or info you don’t know

Dispositional

Quick, negative assumption

Situational

Understanding you may not have the whole picture