Social Stratification, Poverty, and Inequality

Flashcards covering key sociological concepts, class theories, poverty classifications, and inequality metrics from Week 3 lecture notes.

Social Stratification

A sociological concept used to describe structured inequalities between social groups within societies.

Strata

The individual layers or social groups into which a society is divided within a system of social stratification.

Life Chances

An individual's opportunities to achieve economic, social, or health benefits (such as career prospects and longevity), which are directly affected by their socio-economic class.

Social Mobility

The ability of individuals to move up or down the social hierarchy within a society.

White-Collar Jobs

Non-manual occupations, including managerial, professional, administrative, and clerical roles, which grew significantly relative to blue-collar jobs in Western societies after 1945.

Blue-Collar Jobs

Manual labor occupations involving physical work, manufacturing, maintenance, or construction.

Primary Sector

The economic sector that includes industries involved in the extraction and collection of natural resources, such as agriculture and mining.

Secondary Sector

The economic sector that encompasses manufacturing and construction, turning raw materials into finished goods.

Tertiary Sector

The economic sector focused on providing commercial, administrative, and personal services, including IT, finance, healthcare, and education.

Structural Functionalism

A sociological perspective asserting that each aspect of society depends on every other and contributes to the overall stability and functioning of that society.

Conflict Theory

A sociological perspective viewing society as a struggle between competing social groups over scarce resources such as wealth, power, food, and housing.

Base and Superstructure (Marxist Theory)

A sociological model in which the Base (means and relations of production) is dominant and shapes the Superstructure (law, media, politics, ideology, family, culture, education).

Unidimensional Stratification

Karl Marx's approach to social stratification, which posits that social class and hierarchy are determined strictly by economic position (the economic base).

Multidimensional Stratification

Max Weber's approach to social stratification, which asserts that social position is defined across three distinct dimensions: Class, Status, and Party.

Operationalisation

The process of defining a theoretical concept in such a way that it can be translated into a measurable variable for empirical research.

Goldthorpe Schema (EGP Schema)

A framework for operationalising socio-economic class based on an individual's Market Situation (income, promotion opportunities) and Work Situation (power, authority, status at work).

Absolute Poverty

The inability to afford basic physical needs required for survival, including food, water, clothing, shelter, and basic healthcare, typically measured against a fixed poverty line.

Relative Poverty

A condition of poverty defined relative to a given society at a given time, encompassing basic physical, social, and cultural needs necessary to participate fully in society with self-respect.

Townsend's Definition of Relative Poverty

Formulated by Peter Townsend in Poverty in the United Kingdom (1979), stating that individuals are in poverty when they lack resources to obtain customary diets, participate in activities, and maintain living conditions encouraged in their society.

Social Exclusion

A phenomenon where individuals or groups are prevented from participating in normal societal life (including education, work, community, and services) due to lack of money or opportunities.

Consensual Idea of Poverty

An approach that defines poverty by surveying the general public to establish a widespread societal consensus on what items and activities are necessary for a minimum standard of living.

The Spirit Level (2009)

A book by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson arguing that income inequality is a social problem that damages societal trust, increases anxiety, and worsens health and crime outcomes across all classes.

Goldthorpe's View on Inequality (2010)

John Goldthorpe's argument that inequality itself is not a social problem, and that government priorities should focus on reducing poverty, increasing social mobility, and providing quality education and jobs.

Lorenz Curve

A graphical representation showing the cumulative percentage of households against the cumulative share of national income earned, compared against a 45-degree line of perfect equality.

Gini Coefficient

A numerical measure of income inequality ranging from $0$ (perfect equality, where everyone has the same income) to $1$ (perfect inequality, where one person earns all income); a higher value represents greater inequality.

Quintile

A statistical division that splits a population sample into five equal parts, with each quintile containing exactly $20\%$ of the total population ranked from lowest to highest data values.

Income Quintile Ratio

A metric calculated by dividing the percentage of income earned by the top $20\%$ of the population by the percentage earned by the bottom $20\%$; a higher numerical result indicates higher inequality.