Social Class Quiz

  • Social class - a large group of people who rank closely to one another in income, wealth, power, and prestige.

  • These elements separate people into different lifestyles.

  • Social class provides people with different life chances, and different ways of viewing the world.

  • Income - wages, salary, and income from investments

  • 45.5% of income is earned by the richest 10% of Americans

  • 13.3% of income is earned by the poorest 50% of Americans

  • 41.2% of income is earned by the middle 40% of American

  • Wealth - consists of assets minus debts.

  • 70.7% of the wealth is owned by the richest 10% of Americans

  • 1.5% of the wealth is owned by the poorest 50% of Americans

  • 27.8% of the wealth is owned by the middle 40% of Americans

  • Power - the ability to carry out your will despite resistance.

  • The power elite - those who make the big decisions in U.S. society.

  • Power lies in the hands of the few.

  • Prestige - respect or regard 

  • Class ranking is persistent across cultures and time.

  • People display prestige through status symbols.

  • Social class strongly affects one’s life chances:  access to quality education, jobs, healthy food, recreation, medical care, etc.  For example, rich Americans live about 7 years longer on average than poor Americans.

  • Social Mobility - Movement of individuals or groups within the class structure 

  • Horizontal mobility – a change from one occupation to another at the same general status level

  • Vertical mobility – upward or downward movement of occupational or social class

  • Intra-generational mobility – movement within a career of an individual

  • Inter-generational mobility – mobility of groups from one generation to another

  • What factors influence social mobility? Education, Race, Parenting, etc.

  • FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE KEY POINTS

    • MEMBERS OF SOCIETY HAVE NEEDS

    • SOME STATUSES IN SOCIETY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHERS WHEN IT COMES TO SEEING TO NEEDS

    • TO ATTRACT THE BEST QUALIFIED AND TO GIVE OF THEIR TIME, EFFORT, AND ENERGIES, REWARDS MUST BE SUFFICIENT IN NATURE (INCOME, PRESTIGE, POWER)

    • The lower class provides a pool of inexpensive laborers that help keep prices down

    • Long term poverty...is it a dysfunction?

  • Conflict Perspective

    • RICH PEOPLE BENEFIT FROM INEQUALITY.  THEY USE THEIR POWER TO KEEP AS MUCH WEALTH AS POSSIBLE FOR THEMSELVES.

    • THROUGH CONTROL OVER THE GOVERNMENT, LAWS,  AND MEDIA, THEY CAN ENSURE THEIR CONTINUED WEALTH AND REPRODUCE THEMSELVES OVER GENERATIONS.

    • Typically those who are privileged in a society, believe that  their good fortune is the result of personal qualities such as hard work, that they deserve their position more than others.

  • Symbolic interactions perspective

    • What does social class mean?

    • What does it mean to be rich? Middle class?  Poor?

    • What “status symbols” display our class?

Why are people poor?

  • Culture of Poverty-- “Blame the Poor”

    • Individual values and behaviors are responsible for long-term poverty (lazy, don’t delay gratification, drug abuse, have kids too early, etc.) 

  • Social Structure -- “Blame Society”

    • Society denies some people access to good education & jobs; discrimination; “ghetto tax”

  • Poverty line for a family of 4 in the US is $31,200

  • Poverty rates have decreased between 2015 and 2019

  • In 2022, 12.4% of Americans were living in poverty

  • USA has the highest percentage of those living below the poverty line

  • Hispanics and Blacks have higher poverty rates than other groups

  • Women are more likely to be below the poverty line

  • Poverty increases as level of education decreases

  • Most poor people work

  • For 59% of people, poverty only lasts a year or less