Sociology: Lecture 5 - Economic Inequality

What is Operationalizing?

determining how to measure a broad concept

What are Upward and Downward Forces?

Upward: assets & passive income (rich stay rich)
Downward: debt & interest (poor stay poor)

What is Economic Inequality?

who's rich vs. poor

What is the Consumer Price Index?

measures inflation per month by a total basket of needs (food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, etc.)

Average vs. Median Income

Average: total income/# of incomes
Median: the middle number in highest to lowest order (more accurate)

What are Stocks and Bonds?

Stocks: shares of a company that increase/decrease in value
Bonds: a loan given to a company that will pay you a fraction of it later on

What is the Matthew Effect?

the rich get richer w/ no effort

Achieved vs. Ascribed Status

Achieved: class acquired by effort
Ascribed: class assigned at birth

What is Before-Tax/Market Income?

total income earned

What is After-Tax Income?

total income with deductions from taxes

What is the GINI Coefficient?

range 0-100 measuring inequality
0 = perfect equality
1 = perfect inequality

What is a Labour Union?

group of workers that fight for their worker rights (higher pay, holidays, etc.)

What is an Oligopoly?

few large companies own the entire market = they work together to get more $$$ (scammaz)

What are the 2 reasons why Rising Inequality is Unrecognized?

1. women got jobs (quality of life increased anyway)
2. loans and debt used to pay

What is Invisible Inequality?

inequality impossible to see (rising debt)

What is Relative Poverty?

feeling poor compared to others

What is Extreme Poverty?

living on less than $1.25 a day

What is the Dunning-Kruger Effect?

dumb people think theyre smarter than they are

Active vs. Passive Income

Active: $ from job
Passive: $ from investing

What are Income Quintiles?

5 divisions to see how income changes for the top 20%, middle 20%, and lower 20% of earners.

What 3 things helped to Rise Wealth Inequality?

1. the rich got richer
2. globalization: workers cant be paid more
3. corporate consolidation: only big companies remain

How much wealth do you need to have to be considered in %10 of the Wealthiest People?

$77,000

What is Inflation?

rise in price

What is Absolute Poverty?

no basic needs: food, water, housing, etc.