Lecture 12-14 M2 Flashcards
What is stratification?
The system of structured inequalities among different groups of people
What does structured refer to in the definition of stratification?
Persists across generations
What does inequality refer to in the definition of stratification?
Differential access to scarce resources
What does different groups of people refer to in the definition of stratification?
Access to scarce resources depends on class, gender, age, race and ethnicity
Is stratification a reflection of individuals?
No
What resources do sociologists study who are interested in stratification?
- wealth
- income
- power
- prestige
Define income
-earnings from work + investments + government
Define wealth
-total value of money + assets minus debt
Define prestige
-job related status
What does someone studying stratification by class ask?
- how equal are modern societies
- social mobility
- why is there persistent poverty
What is a closed stratification system?
Difficult/impossible to move up social hierarchy
What is an open stratification system?
Few obstacles to social mobility, rewarded by merit
What are the four basic systems of stratification found both in past and present?
- slavery
- caste
- estate
- class
What is caste?
-type of stratification in which a persons social position is fixed at birth and cannot be changed
What is estate?
-inequalities between groups that are made by laws, futualism aristocrats clergy and commoners
Where is class as a system of stratification found in the present?
-system of stratification found in modern day societies like Canada
Compared to the other basic systems what is notable about class systems?
In principle:
- fluid, boundaries between classes are not fixed
- based on achievement, social mobility should be attainable
- economically based, based on economic differences between groups
Define class
Refers to socioeconomic differences among groups that creates differences in their material prosperity, power and prestige
What are the main base of class differences?
-wealth and occupation (income +prestige)
Whats the difference between wealth and income?
Wealth is what you already have, income is what people get
What are the two ways sociologists try to classify occupations?
- by industry sector
- by occupational type
Explain how to classify occupations by industry sector?
- primary sector, raw materials from environment
- secondary, raw materials into goods
- tertiary, services
Explain how to classify occupations by occupational type?
- agricultural occupations
- blue collar occupations, lower prestige jobs involving mostly manual labour
- white collar occupations, higher prestige involving mostly mental activites
What is the class structure of Canada?
- upper class
- middle class
- working class
- lower class
What is the upper class further divided into?
- upper-uppers
- lower-uppers
What is an upper-upper?
Old money
What is a lower-upper?
Working or New rich
What types of jobs make up the middle class
- most are white collar workers
- professionals
- highly skilled blue collar workers
What is the middle class further divided into?
- upper middle class
- average middle class
What makes someone in the upper middle class?
- most have university degrees
- most work in high prestige occupations
What makes someone an average middler
- likely to be high school graduates
- most work in less prestigious white collar jobs or highly skilled blue collar jobs
What are attributes of the working class?
- most have blue collar jobs
- lower income than middle
- almost no accumulated wealth
What attributes does the lower class have?
- lowest family income
- working poor
- poor
What is working poor?
People who’s income from working a full time job does not cover the cost of necessities
What does the description of class structure in Canada tell us?
- upper class inherits most
- difference between middle and working class has to do with occupation
- people can inherit advantages
What are quintiles used for within a country?
Used to track differences in wealth and income
How are quintiles made
- divide population into five with each containing 20% of population
- poorest are bottom quintile
- richest are fifth quintile
- calculate the share of wealth or income that accures to each group
When would wealth and income be considered equal in quintiles?
Each group would have to have 20% of the wealth and income
What is important to recognize when looking at wealth and income quintiles of a country
There is a clear pattern of stratification by class
What is the Gino coefficient used for and what is it
Another way of tracking inequality and it calculates the extent to which the distribution of income deviates from equal
What does a Gini coefficient of 0 represent
Exact equality, every person has the same income
What does a Gini coefficient of 1 mean?
1 is total inequality and means one person has all the income
How can we test if government taxes help reduce inequality
Compare two Gini coefficients for a country for the same year:
- one using income before taxes
- one using income after taxes
Do government taxes help reduce inequality?
Yes
What is relative poverty?
-gaps between the living conditions of some groups and those enjoyed by the majority of the population
What is absolute poverty and when is it used
- Lack of basic necessities
- most often used in policy debates
- basis for calculating the poverty line
Who is at higher risk of being poor in Canada?
- children
- women
- visible minorities
- indigenous
- people living in rural areas
Are the poor defined by employment status?
No, they’re defined by percentage of money families pay for basic necessities
Are all poor people jobless?
No
What is the blame the poor argument?
- poor are responsible for their own poverty
- poor do not advance because of personal deficiencies
What is the blame society argument?
- poverty is caused by unequal distribution of resources
- this challenges the assumption of equality of opportunity
- lack of ambition is a consequence of lack of opportunity
What is social mobility?
Movement of individuals between strata in the class hierarchy
What is vertical mobility?
Movement up or down the class hierarchy
What is lateral mobility?
Geographical movement between neighbourhoods, communities etc.
Are vertical and lateral mobility connected?
Yes
How do sociologists study social mobility?
- by looking at individuals own careers and seeing how far they move, intrAgenerational mobility
- by comparing children’s socioeconomic place and parents or grandparents intErgenerational mobility
What does intra mean
One group
What does inter mean
Between 2 groups
What does equality of opportunity entail?
- an open society
- inequalities are not structured
- inequalities that exist are explained by individual characteristics
Why does occupational composition affect social mobility?
If the proportion of middle class jobs (white collar and blue collar) increases than the probability of upward mobility increases, if we had a total equal society everyone would be middle class
Are middle class jobs increasing in Canada?
Yes
What types of middle class jobs have gone up in proportion?
Much of white collar growth has occurred in lower positions
What is the new working class?
Low paid, semi skilled, white collar workers
What makes the new working class new?
They are white collar jobs not blue collar
What makes it a working class in the new working class?
They’re low paid and semi skilled
Is a new working class appearing in Canada?
Yes
