Ch 2. Wealth and Poverty Flashcards
meritocracy
A nation where the best person can rise to the top in any situation, despite their background/history
Great Gatsby Curve
parents’ wealth impacts the wealth of their children meaning that intergenerational mobility is declining in Canada.
Rags to Riches…
…not impossible but improbable
The Precariat Class (Guy Standing)
people living in insecure jobs
The Precarious Class is characterized by… (4)
- High levels of education or skills
- Job insecurity
- Economic insecurity
- Limited leisure time
Social stratification
the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups on the basis of their control over basic resources
Life Chances (Max Weber)
the extent to which people have access to food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care, are important
Marx’s model regarding inequality
Inequality and poverty are inevitable by-products of the exploitation of workers by capitalists
Wealth (Weber)
is the value of all economic assets, including income and savings
Income (Weber)
is economic gain from wages, income transfers (e.g., from government), or ownership of property
Power (Weber)
is the ability to achieve goals despite opposition from others
Prestige (Weber)
is the respect, esteem, or regard accorded to an individual or group by others
Living Wage in Calgary
A person must make at least $22.40 per hr. without benefits. The current minimum wage in Alberta is $15.00 per hr. (2002)
Criteria for Living Wage (4)
- Meet their basic needs: housing, transportation, adequate, nutritious food
- Maintain a safe, decent, dignified standard of living
- Save for future needs and goals
- Devote quality time to family, friends and community
LIM (measuring poverty)
Low-income measurement: half the median family income
LICO (measuring poverty)
Low income cut-off: Those who spend more than a portion of their income on basic needs
Market Basket Measurement (measuring poverty)
ability to purchase goods including food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and other basic needs.
sustainable livelihood
to a person’s ability to cope with and recover from episodes that stress or strain the required resources to maintain or develop our existing lives
Sustainable Livelihood is based on mapping these assets (5)
- Human: the ability to earn income health, training, and education
- Personal: motivation self-esteem
- Social: family and friends, communities and support networks
- Physical: housing, food, access to services
- Financial: money and possessions
Picture of economic inequality in Canada
by 9:43 am on the first working in day 2023, Canada’s top 100 CEOs will earn the average Canadian salary (Inequality in increasing in Canada) 243 times more than the average worker.
Canada as a welfare state examples (3)
- Universal healthcare
- Income assistance
- AISH, Assured income for the severely handicapped
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective (2)
Investigates the ways in which society does the following:
- Blaming the Victim – societal ideas that suggest that the individual is responsible for their social position
- Culture of Poverty – establishes a system that traps individuals in a way of thinking and behaving in the world
Conspicuous consumption (interactionalist perspective)
Spending money to portray a specific social status
Cultural capital
The symbolic elements such as skills, tastes, clothing, material belongings, credentials etc that represent a person’s social standing.
Structural Functionalist Perspective (3)
Davis and Moore – inequality functions to motivate people to work hard
- Desperate workers fill “unwanted” jobs
- Better, desirable, and necessary jobs are compensated as such
- Poverty serves the “poverty industry”
Social-Conflict Perspective (2)
- Poverty is a side effect of a capitalist economy
- Shareholders and chief executive officers have lucrative salaries and compensation packages while downsizing, technology, and reliance on part-time workers places employees at a disadvantage
Feminist Perspective (2)
- Women are systemically disadvantaged
- Fredrick Engels – capitalism - private property - inheritance (males)
Homelessness in Canada (2)
- Any given night roughly 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness (3,200-3,600 in Calgary)
- Classifications of homeless populations include – unsheltered, emergency sheltered, in transition, chronic and episodic
Max Webers Multi-Dimensional Model
wealth, power, and prestige determine stratification
