Soc. Ch. 10

Social Stratification

Societies layers are made of people/represent the uneven distributions of societies resources

Wealth

Person or families totally economic assets

Income

Money earned in the form of wages

Power

The ability to realize one’s will

Prestige

Respect and admiration people attach to social positions

Closed Systems of Stratification

Accommodate little changes in social positions (estate, slavery, caste systems)

Open Systems of Stratification

Based on achievement/allow for movement and interaction between layers (class systems)

Ideology

Cultural belief system that justifies a societies system of stratification/necessary to prop up status

Meritocracy

Hypothetical system in which social stratification is determined by personal effort and merit/no society has ever existed where social standing was based on entirely merit

Old Money

Inherited wealth passed from one generation to the next

New Money

Wealth you have earned and built yourself

Middle Class

People who work hard and earn enough to afford basic needs and some extras

Lower Middle Class

People with modest incomes who can afford basic needs but have little extra money

Upper Middle Class

People with higher incomes who can afford a comfortable lifestyle and save money

Working Class

People who earn wages through jobs, often involving physical labor or hourly work

Working Poor

People who have jobs but still struggle to afford basic needs

Underclass

People who experience long-term poverty and have limited access to jobs and resources

Social Mobility

Chances of moving up or down in a social class

Intragenerational Mobility

Moving up or down in social class during your own lifetime

Intergenerational Mobility

Moving up or down in social class compared to your parents

Structural Mobility

Changes in social class caused by changes in the economy or society

Herbert Gans

The poor pay all

Differential Reward Structure

A system where people receive different rewards or benefits based on their behavior, effort, or social status

Karl Marx

Bourgeoisie and Proletariant

Class Consciousness

Shared identity based on means of production

Fake class consciousness

Workers mistakenly view as capitalists

Symbolic Interactionist

Stratification only persists if people believe its legitimacy

Extreme/absolute poverty

Absence of enough money to secure life’ necessities (measured by poverty line)

Relative Poverty

Measured by comparing the economic conditions

Poverty line

Social Security Administration

Subjective Poverty

When people feel they are poor based on their own perceptions of their financial situation

Two dimensions

Gaps between/within nations

Poorest of the poor

Women and children - global feminization of poverty

Digital Divide

Internet access and lack of infranstructure

Health Inequalitiy

Sanitation, education, housing, clean water shortages