Social Class Flashcards
Social Class
A large group of people who rank close to one another in terms of property, power, and prestige
Coined by Max Weber
Define Property
Material Possessions
Ex. Buildings, bank accounts, bond, businesses, cars, jewelry, land
Define Power
Ability to get one’s way even when others resist
Define Power Elite
Coined by C. Wright Mills
Small group that holds the reins of power in businesses, government, and military
Define Prestige
Linked to Occupational Status
- Have changed little over the decades and are similar from country to country
- Occupations with greater prestige pay more, require more education and abstract thought, and offer great autonomy
Define Status Inconsistency
People who rank higher on some dimensions of social class
The frustrations of status inconsistency tend to produce political radicalism
Define Income
Money received or earnings, usually from a job, business, or assets
i.e. salary/wage
The very richest people now receive a much larger share of all income
Define Wealth
Total value of everything someone owns, minus outstanding debts
Distributed more unequally than income
Richest 20% of US families control 89% of wealth in the US
Define Karl Marx’s View on Social Class
2 Social Classes
- Capitalists/Bourgeoisie vs. Workers/Proletariat
- Problematic because it lumps too large groups together
Define Max Weber’s View on Social Class
6 Classes
- Underclass, working poor, working, lower middle, upper middle, capitalist
- This is what most subscribe to
- Looks at education, occupation, and income
Define Intergenerational Mobility
Changes in social class from one generation to the next
Define Structural Mobility
Changes in society that lead large numbers of people to change their social class
Define Exchange Mobility
Movement of large numbers of people from one class to another, with the net result that the relative proportions of the population in the classes remain about the same
Define Upward Social Mobility
Movement up the social ladder
Define Downward Social Mobility
Movement down the social ladder
Define the Consequences of Social Class
- Affects every aspect of life
- Affects chances of benefiting from new tech, dying early, becoming ill, receiving good health care, and getting divorced
- Also affects child rearing, educational attainment, religious affiliation, political participation, and contact with the criminal justice system
Define Poverty Line
Income level set by the government for the purpose of counting the poor
- Roughly 3x what a family needs to eat a basic nutritious diet
- In 2016, over 12% of the US population fell below the poverty line
- Outdated number, based on federal level, doesn’t account for different costs of living
Poor Health w/Poverty
Food insecurity, lack of access or ability to afford nutritious foods
- Leads to use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs and lack of health insurance
- Infant mortality rate among the poor is 2x the rate among affluent people
- Longevity gap between rich and poor
Define Substandard Housing
Decline in availability of low rent apartments
High housing costs leave less money for other needs
Define Homelessness
Plight of poor people who lack shelter and live primarily on the streets
About 554,000 people are homeless on a given night and 1.6 million at some point in a year
Limited Schooling w/Poverty
30% of economically disadvantaged children don’t graduate from high school
Fewer poor children enter college; less chance of completing an advanced degree
Tracking often defines poor children as less able and privileged children as more talented
Crime and Punishment w/Poverty
Focus on street crime means the poor are more likely to face arrest, trial, conviction, and prison
Poor depend more on public defenders and court-appointed attorneys
Conviction of a crime increases difficulty of finding a good job
Political Alienation w/Poverty
80% of people earning at least $100,000 per year voted in recent presidential elections
~50% earning less than $40,000 per year voted
Structural-Functionalist Perspective on Poverty
Poverty is functional and inevitable, it creates ambition
Poverty is the result of personal flaws
