Sociology Ch. 7: Economic Inequality

Capital

Used to describe the economic, social, or cultural resources we use to get things we want and need.

Economic Capital

Financial resources that are or can be converted into money, includes cash, investments, and valuable goods and property

Income

Refers to steady sources of money: wages or salary as well as regular interest payments, social assistance, pensions, or alimony.

Wealth

Refers to money sitting in the bank and ownership of economic assets, minus debts.

Measures of Central Tendency

Numbers that attempt to describe a population by referring to a midpoint. Median, Mean, and Mode

Median

The middle value among a set of numbers from lowest to highest

Mean

Sum of all numbers, divided by number of values

Mode

Number we see the most

Disproportionate

It is asymmetrical or unbalanced out of proportion

Economic Elite

The minority of people who can control a disproportionate amount of wealth

Caste Systems

A rigid form of social stratification where an individual's social status is determined by their birth and is largely hereditary, with limited social mobility. They stay in this layer for a lifetime and it goes onto their children

Feudal Systems

where land ownership was based on a system of mutual obligations, typically a hierarchy with a king at the top, followed by nobles, knights, and peasants or serfs at the bottom

Enslavement Systems

A economic elite was allowed to legally own a class of humans and exploit them for their labor.

Class Systems

Sort people into different positions in an economic hierarchy but also allow them to rise or fall

Wage

Cash payments given to workers in exchange for their labor

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of the resources used to create wealth and the right of individuals to personally profit

The Proletariat

Were people who were employed by others and who worked for a wage

The Bourgeoisie

Were the people who employed the workers. They owned the means of production

Means of Production

Resources that can be used to create wealth (like land, factories, money to invest)

Alienation

To describe the feeling of dissatisfaction and disconnection from the fruits of one’s labor.

Crisis of Capitalism

A coming catastrophic implosion from which capitalism would never recover

Class Consciousness

An understanding that members of a social class share economic interests

Socialism

An economic system based on shared ownership of the resources used to create wealth that is then distributed by governments for the enrichment of all.

Free Market Capitalism

A capitalist system with little or no government regulation

Labor Unions

Associations that organize workers so they can negotiate with their employers as a group instead of as individuals

Social Safety Net

A patchwork of programs intended to ensure that the most economically vulnerable have basic necessities like food, clothing, and shelter

Progressive

As peoples incomes rose, the rate at which they paid taxes increased more steeply

Living Wage

An income that allows full-time workers to afford their basic needs

Welfare Capitalism

A capitalist economic system with some socialist policy aimed at distributing the profits of capitalism more evenly across the population

Federal Poverty Line

The governments threshold for the minimum level of income needed to provide for basic needs

Service and Information Economy

An economy centered on jobs in which workers provide services (restaurants, salons)

Precariat

A new class of workers who live economically precarious lives

“Jusr”

Unequal but fair

“Unjust”

Both unequal and unfair

Free Riders

People who reap the benefits of something without contributing

Quiet Quitting

A trend in the early 2020s that endorsed putting in minimal effort at work. Low wages? Low effort

Working Poor

People in the labor force who earn poverty level wages

Protestant Work Ethic

The idea that one’s character can and should be measured by ones dedication to paid work

Comparative Sociology

Involves collecting and analyzing data about two or more cases that can be usefully compared and contrasted

Social Mobility

Opportunity to move up or down in the economic hierarchy

Glass Ceiling

An invisible barrier that restricts upward mobility

Glass Floor

An invisible barrier that restricts downward mobility

Wealth Gaps

Differences in the amount of money and economic assets owned by people from different social identity groups

Wage Gaps

Differences between the hourly earnings of different social identity groups

Legitimation

A process by which a potentially controversial social fact is made acceptable