Economic Inequality Flashcards
socio-economic status
- Combine multiple measures of a person’s well‐being
- Economics (wealth, income) is primary, but education and social standing matter
prestige/honor
a nonfinancial reward
ex. well paid garbage collector seen as “dirty”
key changes in occupations in U.S.
PAST
mainly blue with little white & service
NOW
mainly white & service with little blue
income vs. wealth
INCOME : money coming in
WEALTH : network, assets, total amount of money
distribution of income
TOP FIFTH: 52.0%
▪ Top 5% 23.1%
▪ SECOND FIFTH: 22.6%
▪ MIDDLE/THIRD FIFTH: 14.1%
▪ FOURTH FIFTH: 8.3%
▪ BOTTOM/FIFTH FIFTH: 3.1%
distribution of wealth
▪ Top 10%: 71% (Top 1%: 37%)
▪ Next 40%: 28.2%
▪ Bottom 50%: 0.9%
poverty
3 x an “austere” food budget
▪ @$27,750 for a family of four in 2022
Why is the definition of poverty problematic?
- cut off isn’t accurate
- food is no longer main expense, housing is
absolute vs. relative poverty
ABSOLUTE: lack of resources to meet basic needs
RELATIVE: an individual/household’s status compared to society (ex. not having an iPhone or nice car)
relative deprivation
experience of feeling deprived or disadvantaged when comparing oneself to others
impacts of poverty
- health problems & shorter life span
- food insecurity
- lower educational outcomes
- more crime victimization
- higher divorce rate
ACES
Adverse Childhood Experience
abuse
household challenges
neglect
Who is more likely to be affected by ACES?
at or below 150% of poverty
Who is more and less likely to be poor based on AGE?
- 11.5% of all people
- 8.8% of all families
- 15% of all children
Who is more and less likely to be poor based on FAMILY TYPE?
- Married with Kids: 5.0%
- Single‐Father Households: 11.5%
- Single‐Mother Households: 23%
Who is more and less likely to be poor based on ETHNICITY/RACE?
MOST POOR ARE WHITE
black/Latino households =60-70% of white family income
White not Hispanic: 8.6%
African American: 17.1%
Hispanic or Latino (various races): 16.9%
Native American: 25%
Asian American : 8.6%
intergenerational mobility
movement up/down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another
social reproduction
how social inequalities and class structures are reproduced over time, often through education, family, and social networks
Economic mobility in the U.S.
“considerable drops in upward
social mobility”
WHY?
Relationship between “permeability” and class position varies by class position
The Opportunity Atlas
maps the long-term outcomes of children in the United States based on the neighborhoods where they grew up
Cultural Focus
General Position: Parent’s culture affects parenting style
- Culture varies by class
Culture of Poverty theory
maladaptive traits among the poor keep the poor poor
- limited aspirations
- lower effort in school
- instant gratification
- social skills challenge
Concerns for Culture Theory
- it’s a proximate theory - adherents fail to address deeper causes
- leads to victim blaming - seeing poor as villains
Bordieu on CULTURAL CAPITAL
culture as asset or not
- can mean inclusion or discrimination
- matter during job search, promotion, universities
Ideology to prevent dissent
- ideas that serve as legitimating rationales
- everyone’s seen as responsible for their own fate
Culture Industries
pacify or distract to prevent dissent
(ex netflix, tiktok)
Structuralist - Davis-Moore Theory
Class‐based inequality is a
feature of the existing structure/capitalist society
if a feature persists then it is beneficial to society
Davis-Moore Theory
- Is society actually “meritocratic”?
– Do actual incomes clearly match
the difficulty and usefulness of
jobs?
Conflict Thinkers/Marxism
- Existing inequality produces
differences in opportunity - Structure squanders talent
Labor Theory of Value
All value comes from labor
* If you pay workers for all of the value they
create, you make no profit
