Sociology, socio-economics

This is a one of the units of a sociology study document for my test I want to ficus on how my knowledge of terms and how to apply them at a university level.

When looking at society we are divided into class, but sociologists question do the rich stay rich and do the poor stay poor? 

It is thought that canada is a meritocracy: 

• Meritocracy: a system where people are sorted based on their talent and hard work. 

• Those with merit (being particularly good at something) receive the highest rewards 

Ex: higher grades in school, or high paying jobs such as doctors. 

Many people believe society should be a meritocracy where the best rise to the top.  

Meritocracy implies that hard work will pay off, but it is proven that where you start off is more important. 

• Socioeconomic status: a person's economic and social standing in society. Usually based on income, wealth, education, or occupation.

Ex: the higher education your parents have, the more likely you are to follow in their footsteps. 

• Similar to those born in high-income families, even less talented people from wealthy backgrounds tend to remain wealthy due to parental connections and social mobility. ]

• Little to do with merit,  but are impacted by histroical factors  

Ex: cultural genocide faced by indigenous peoples that continues to limit social mobility 

Social mobility: the process through which an individual or family move from one social stratum to the next. 

• Can be upward or downward. 

Canada is a country characterisized by social mobility, for 70% of peoples lifetime earnings can be attributed to their education, work experience, skills, talents, ect. 

• Especially true for those in lower socio-economic positions. 

Although how one operates within society is attributed to: 

• Individual merit: a person's qualities, actions, skills- their level of education, status. Regarded as indicating what a person deserves to receive. 

• Its important because it can decide where a person ends up, it can improve or worsen social mobility 

Although as meritocracy suggests wealth, resources and opportunities are not equal in canada. 

• Social inequality: the differential and unequal distribution of goods, services, resources, and power that can be used to create a hierarchical social system.

It be used to examine legal, historical, and linguistic, and gendered hierarchies in society. 

• Examined from the micro and macro levels. 

• How it affects individuals or larger sentiments of society creating social inequalities. 

When inequality becomes ingrained in a social system. . . 

• Social stratification: individuals or groups are ranked in a hierarchichay based on a shared set of characteristics. 

Ex: lower, upper or middle class. 

• Another example is lower class individuals and how they were impacted by Covid. Less likely to be able to social distance (live in crowded social spaces). 

Their are many different types of social inequality. 

1. Income: amount of money you earn over time, revenue generated through employment, investments, retirement, ect. 

• Impacted by local economy. 

Income creates . . . 

• Household income: refers to the total amount of income within a household. 

Ex: median in canada is $70,000 

• Income inequality: unequal distribution of income among individuals and households. 

Ex: indigenous opportunity, and education. 

• Measured by the gini index

Gini index: measure of social inequality that looks at the distribution income in a country in comparison to equal distribution of all income. 

• Scale of 0-1

• Higher score=greater income inequality. 

For instance: 

• 0 is perfect income equality where everyone has the same amount of income. 

• 1 represents perfect income equality by a singular person. 

Canada gini number has continuously risen since the 1980’s 

• Education can equalize social inequality. 

To analyze income inequality we can divide the population into quintiles (five groups to calculate their share of total income). 

• Shows how income has changed over time 

Although, when studying the gini index we have to analyze wealth: 

Wealth: value or worth of all possessions and assests owned by an individual 

• Determined by calculating value of assets minus debts to establish net worth 

• Higher wealth contributes to greater social mobility (provides resources to pursue education and can attribute to stronger employment opportunities). 

Wealth inequality: unequal or disproportionate accumulation of and distribution of wealth among individuals 

• Wealth inequality in canada is more focuses on income inequality. 

• Ex: rich become richer and the poor have little increase (accoridng to gini index). 

• Racial minorities and immagrants are less likely to own homes, and tend to hold less wealth than born canadians. 

Among provinces there are differences of social mobility and individual income, and income/wealth inequality. 

• Median total income: measure median income of individuals 

• Median total household income: measure indicates median income of individuals in households

• Percents persons living in property: easure = percentage of population living in pverty, according to market basket measure (MBM) 

• MBM: measure of low income based on cost of specific basket of goods and services (represnet standard living in canada). 

• Intergenerational mobility estimates: measure shows extent to which parental socio-economic status pedicts adult socio-economic stayus 

• Ex: if parents have lower SES how muchof their low SES will predict their childs? 

• Higher SES means yours parents SES will predict your SES (less social mobility). 

• Lower SES means more social mobility because less of your adult SES is tied to your parents. 

• Gini cofficent: measures social inequality by comparing actual distribution of income  in a province to an equal distribution of all income.

• Higher score means more income inequality (measure uses after tax income, calculating all sources of income and government transfers, as well as taxes paid). 

Although with the aspects of income inequality, how do sociologists view or explain why it happens? 

Functionlists and conflict theorissts see inequality as part of the social landscape (objective fact that the world that needs to be explained. 

• Nothing is equal or unequal people give meanings to contexts they interpret to be equal or unequal. 

• People define inequality based on socialization and their context (signifcant beliefs of inequality over time). 

Inequality is a perception that reflects a persons perception of inequality over time, in a particular time and place. 

Individuals give meaning to income inequality by social hierarchies: 

1. Human capital: investments made by an individual in their training, skills, and education. Pursuing degrees, job experience, and developing skills throughout life. 

• More human capital=more success in labour market. 

2. Social capital: resources an individual acures through other people or social network. 

• Consists patterns of trust, enabling people to gain access to resources through connections with others. 

• High level of social capital can improv employment opportunities and incomes, get people out of poverty, ect. 

• Linked to socioeconomic strata to which they belong to 

3. Cultural capital: cultural resources like knowledge, traits, preferences and behaviours that act as status cues for high culture. 

• Individual and family cultural resources are just as important as economic resources and useful social networks for education and labour market success. 

• Used to promote relative social advantage by using knowledge of high cultural status (signald advantage social postions or high status groups). 

• Uses to maintain and refeinforce class boundaries. 

Although the idea of socio-economic differences can be expressed and/or connected by one large idea. . . 

• Intersectionality: odea that the overlap of social categories like race, class, and gender cna create systems of inequality. 

• Differences in socio economic resources are given to some groups more than others (ex: education). 

These differneces are maintained by a habitus: habits, skills and sispotions we acquire based on our life experiences. 

• Emobodiement of cultural capital comes from traits and preferences we get from social class. 

• Female social inequality is the product of patriarchal systems that oppress women and prevent equal opportunity. 

Race and ethnicity are important categories of social stratification

• Raical identity is a key aspect of social inequality (discrimination, racism minority rights, ect) all are issues of socio-economic outcomes. 

• Du bois emphasized this emphasizng that were you start in society influences your outcome 

Individuals whos identities cross these aspects will face more difficultuires in society. 

• Connected to intersectionality 

Inequality and wealth originate from a vast range of ideals, and intersecting factors: 

• Educational attainment: highest level of education an individual has completed. 

• Shaped by intersecting factors such as race, gender, SES, and age

• Key factors that can limit or improve social mobility 

• Certain groups of canadians are more likely to hold low end jobs 

• Occupational scores higher for non-visible minorities 

Institutional inequality emerges from systems put in place by governments, such as taxation. 

• Taxation: where the government collects money from citizens based on their income to provide services essential to society. 

• Can solidify social, eacial, economic, and class based on inequalities. 

Progressive taxation: when the taxes you pay increase as your income does. 

• Address inequality by putting higher burden on higher earners. 

Redistrubution: process of transfering fund to programs that help reduce income inequality 

• Example: old age pension 

Regressive taxation: wjere everyone pays the same tax regardless of income 

• Generated through capital gains- profits from the sale of capital asset like real estate or other investments  (benefits high earners). 

Although, the lowest of social straifcations are those in poverty. 

• Absolute poverty: deprivation of basic human needs 

• Relative poverty: deprivation compared to the average standard of living in society 

Poverty is assessed VIA income, specifically by LICO (low income cut off). 

• LICO: poverty line below which families devote a greater share of their income to necessities. 

Although, poverty is more likely for maginalized groups

• Feminisation poverty: women are more likely to be poor and they make up a growing population. 

Minorities in canada face challenged to make them more vulnerable to poverty (level of education, work experience, occupation, ect). 

• Disability also a more likely result to poverty 

Canadas response to poverty:

• Wanted to reduce poverty in 2020 by 20% 

• Targeted employment strategy for new incomers help them find jobs which suit their skills. 

Social mobility: process through which an individual or family moves from one social stratum to another. 

• Most believe you can only move up 

Social mobility can be separated into 2 accounts based on upward or downward:

• Achivement based system: where peoples talents and merits determine their social class, in this system people can achieve upward social mobility through talent, hardwork, training, ect. 

• Ascription based system: peoples status at birth determines their social position, little to no  opportunity for social mobility. 

Canada is an achievement based country where social mobility is expected 

• Categories of social mobility: 

1. Intragenerational: change in social position during a persons lifetime 

2. Intergenerational: chane in a social position that occurs between generations

Social scientists can measure social mobility through . . . 

• Intergenerational income elasticity: compares icnomes of parents to children (when adults) 

• Measure from 0 to 1

• 0 reps complete mobility, no relation between parent/child) 

• 1 reps complete imbility (childs income is same as parents) 

+  if your parents are a certian class are you more likely to be the same 

• Lower IGE=less your parents will influence your SES 

• Follows tax files 

Caste system: where people are born into social positions and stay there their whole lives.