social inequalities: social class kmr paper 2 Flashcards
stratification involves inequality, what is this distributed into?
w- wealth: possessions and your connections around you
i- income: how much money you earn
s- status: how people view you in society
p- power
life chances
people’s chance of achieving positive or negative outcomes. some people have restricted life chances because their ranking in society
examples of life chances (4)
divorce,housing,education,health
social class (4)
- a form of stratification important in british society
- people sharing a similar economic position based on income
- wisp
- sociologists state that social classes also share similar norms, values, lifestyles, attitudes, belief systems and culture and tastes
economic dimension
can be measured by wealth, income and occupation
political dimension
measured by status and power
cultural dimension
can be measured by lifestyles, values, beliefs, norms and level of education
blue-collar work
working class jobs eg. electrician, plumber
occupation
job or profession
non-manual work
using your brain eg. office
manual work
up on your feet eg. builder,bricklayer
white-collar work
middle class jobs eg. manager
white-collar work
middle class jobs eg. manager
poverty
the state of one who lacks an usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions
necessities
things necessary to survive eg. food and water
income
how much money you earn
wealth
possessions you own
status
how high or low you are in society based on your wisp
status
how high or low you are in society based on your wisp
authority
the power or right to make decisions and orders
state benefits
provided for people in the uk for little to no income
skilled work
any worker who has training/a certificate in a certain job role
semi-skilled work
basic knowledge and training of a certain job role
un-skilled work
a job that doesn’t need any skills or work experience beforehand
upper class values: entrepreneurs (3)
- very focused on work
- work a source of pleasure/fun
- only really attend social occasions for publicity or networking
upper class values: old aristocrats (4)
- more interested in traditions + breeding
- believe strongly in the hierarchy and society
- society works best when organised into classes
- respect to those in authority
middle-class characteristics (6)
- more likely than other social groups to own a home (mortgages)
- more likely to live in the suburbs
- encourage children to do well in school
- dominate top streams in state schools and the university sector
- believe in meritocracy
- more willing in other social groups to defer gratification
embourgeoisement thesis
working-class families are becoming more middle-class with their norms and values as their incomes and standards of living improved
geographically mobile
moving locations for work or extended family
why do marxists believe the class identity is not declining? (4)
- w/c still exploited as workers
- some see through false class consciousness and join unions, unions are still important (Gramsci)
-class inequalities dominate the structure of our society
-class conflict and divisions
evidence on the significance of class (3) (m)
- marshall 1989
-survey: 60% of sample thought as belonging to a particular class, 90% could place themselves
-class identity is still important
post modernists: class identity is becoming weaker. why? (6)
- changes in work
- less manufacturing, more service sector
- has lead to an increase in the m/c
- better standard of living for most people
- decline in trade unions and working mens club
- w/c now such a small diluted group, no point of studying them
income
the flow of resources which individuals or households receive over a period of time
how do you measure income inequalities? (2)
- the family resources survey: gov sponsored
- the annual survey or hours and earnings: based on 1% sample of jobs taken
stats: wealth (3)
- across all of uk, bring in nine billion
-the richest 5% annual household income is 5 times greater than the poorest 20% of the uk population
-households in the bottom 10% or the population have a wage and benefits of £9,500
stats (3) (wealth)
- across all of uk, bring in nine billion
-the richest 5% annual household income is 5 times greater than the poorest 20% of the uk population
-households in the bottom 10% or the population have a wage and benefits of £9,500
wealth
refers to the ownership of assets that are valued
property wealth
houses, property, land
physical wealth
cars, jewellery, paintings, antiques
financial wealth
savings, investments, shares
what are two problems with measuring wealth
-wealthy people are often careful with to conceal their wealth, to avoid taxation
-what should be counted as wealth is not straightforward
does wealth inequality matter
‘sustains an already unequal society, wealth inequalities an inequality iceberg.’
stats for wealth
-richest 10th earn 45% of wealth
-bottom 50% of population owned less than 5% of wealth in 2021 (Joseph round tree foundation)
-the lowest 10% have zero wealth, more debt (wealth and stats survey)
social mobility
the movement of individuals up and down the social scale
long range mobility
working class going to the top
short range mobility
from w/c to upper m/c
why study social mobility? (3)
- important to people because they want to feel that they can improve their lives
- shows the links between peoples past and future opportunities
- levels of social mobility are a good indicator of life chances for an individual
open structures
making it easier to move up and down the social classes, there are few obstacles to those with talents, a true meritocracy
closed structures
little movement from one class to another, your status is ascribed
intergenerational
the change of an individual’s social class from that of their family
intragenerational
movement within or between social classes and occupations
problems with trying to measure social mobility (2)
-measuring social class on just occupation and income, inherited wealth
- what is the cut off age for intergenerational mobility?
absolute mobility
total mobility that takes place in society
relative mobility
the comparative of those from various class backgrounds of reaching particular positions in the social structure
evidence of social mobility (5)
-goldthorpe Oxford mobility study
-published 1980
-largest study on social mobility (10,000 men)
- compared 3 classes: working class, immediate class (wc upper), service class (m/c)
-looked at the odds of mobility
findings of goldthorpe study
life had improved for everyone since ww2-considerable upward mobility and less downward mobility
why was there more upward mobility (2)
- education system has improved
- economic structure changed, less w/c jobs and more m/c jobs
1:2:4 rule of relative hope (3)
- what are the chances of me being in the service class
- a boy starting off in the service class had 4x the chance of staying there
- relative mobility was rare, based on the social class in which you started
savage and egerton 1997 (3)
- included women, longitudinal study
- the chances of escaping the w/c did not increase, with 55% of men staying in that class
- chances of w/c men rising to the service class increased for 16% to 26%
social mobility commission
‘there are encouraging signs for the future of social mobility’
material deprivation: harker (2006)
believes there is a link between material poverty and educational achievement
harker (2006) what negative effects did she distinguish (3)
-less space to play, impairing cognitive development and leading to higher rates of depression and aggressive behaviour
-increased bullying in school due to clothing or not having ‘cool’ resources
-higher rates of stress and mental illness in children and in parents who are therefore less supportive
social class and educational achievement: pierre bourdieu (2)
- the middle classes have a culture which celebrates and expects good education
- the middle class have a cultural capital
old boys network
contacts and connections that will help with a Childs future eg. work experience and apprenticeships
helicopter parents
parents who hover over you and have excessive interest in their Childs life
snowplough parents
parenting style that seeks to remove all obstacles from a Childs path so they don’t experience pain, discomfort or failure
basil bernstein: m/c and w/c language (5)
- w/c students suffered from a ‘language deficit’ and this way of talking is harming their education
- poor quality language led to poorer quality of thought and he supported this by showing that w/c students did worse on IQ tests
- he discovered that m/c and w/c students had different ‘speech codes’
- restricted code: typically used by the w/c. limited vocab and is based on the use of short, grammatically simple sentences. it is context-bound, meaning the speaker assumes that the listener shares the same set of experiences
- elaborated code: typically used by the m/c. wider vocab and is based on the use of longer, more complex sentences. it is context-free, the speaker does not assume that the listener shares the sane experiences
in what ways do w/c subcultures differ to m/c subcultures? (3)
- w/c have a lower value on education, less value in continuing school beyond the minimum leaving age
- lower value on achieving higher occupational status: they emphasise stability, security and immediate benefits, reject risks and investments
- believe there is less opportunity for personal advancement, whats the point?
barry sugarman: differences of m/c and w/c (2)
-reason why w/c differ from m/c was from parents jobs: m/c have secure jobs offering prospects for continuous individual advancement, encouraging ambition
- w/c jobs have few promotion prospects, less income for investment and were less secure
parental intertest in education
w/c value education less, less ambition, less encouraging and less interested
pre school socialisation
less likely to read to them, buy educational toys, less likely to go on trips, less likely to trac them to read, write or count before starting school
child rearing practices
less emphasis on educational achievement, more on physical expect or demand less. don’t encourage improvement or reward success
john benyon: 1985, peer labelling (2)
-looked at how boys in secondary school labelled themselves
- children were very aware and accepting of the label given by peers
howard becker 1997: labelling in school (3)
- interviews teachers from chicago and found they had an image of the ideal pupil
- was highly motivated, intelligent and well behaved
- w/c boys frequently labelled with ‘discipline problems’, ‘unmotivated’ and ‘unlikely to succeed.’
dume and gazeley 2008 and class labelling (2)
- argued that schools persistently produce w/c under achievement due to the labels and assumptions by teachers
- interviewed 9 English state schools, teachers ‘normalised’ the underachievement of w/c children, seemed unbothered
streaming
a group of children taught together thought to be of similar ability for a given age, across all lessons
banding
broader version of streaming, eg. 5 in group a, 5 in group b, 5 in group c
setting
ability set only in one individual lesson eg. maths and/or english
gillborn and youdell (2001): setting and streaming (3)
- found that teachers are less likely to see w/c pupils as having ability
- these pupils are likely to be placed in lower streams and entered for lower tier gcses
- educational triage: means ‘sorting’. normally used to describe the process on battle fields or in major disasters. 1. walking wounded (ignore, will survive) 2. those who will die anyway (ignored, no hope) 3. those with a chance of survival (recognised)
polarisation
pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one or two opposite ‘poles’ or extremes
pro-school subculture
pupils in top stream accepted value system in school. they have: worked hard, well behaved, they were praised and respected by their teachers. full of the middle-class, filled with encouragement
anti-school subculture
pupils in bottom stream rejected school rules, values turned upside down, pupils refused to do homework, truanted, smoked and gained prestige for giving cheek to their teachers. w/c group solidarity
inequality’s in the workplace: financial rewards
compared to senior staff, more routine workers not only earn less but are less likely to enjoy other perks such as occupational pensions and longer paid holidays
inequalities in the workplace: job security
manual workers and other routine workers are much more likely to face job losses and unemployment than skilled workers
inequalities in the workplace: job satisfaction
more skilled workers may achieve higher levels of job satisfaction because they exercise a wider range of skills and can make decisions in their jobs. routine jobs are likely to be more repetitive and lack scope to make decisions or be creative about how the job is done
inequalities in the workplace: opportunities for advancement
i’m professional and managerial jobs, there is often a career ladder so employees tend to receive training and development, so they can move up positions in the workplace for higher pay. in manual jobs, workers often stay at the same level through their career
inequalities in the workplace: power and control
more senior staff in workplaces often have more control eg. they may be able to set their own working hours and make decisions about what they do at their jobs. more lower paid workers are more closely supervised and may have to follow set routines and instructions
inequalities in the workplace: status
differences of status reflect differences of income, for example, there may be different uniforms or work dress, canteens and rest facilities for different grades of workers
absolute poverty
not being able to afford basic needs
relative poverty
an individuals whose standard of life falls well below the majority of the population
poverty line
measure of a minimum income which is insufficient to obtain the minimum necessities (cost of living)
living wage
the minimum income necessary to meet your basic needs, allows income of relative deprivation to participate in society
Townsend and relative deprivation index: (3) and criticisms (2)
- state standard of poverty on which official statistics are based, claim benefits
- relative income standard of poverty based on identifying those households whose income falls below the average for similar households
- relative deprivation
- does he measure subjective poverty? (thinking you are in poverty)
- does he measure environmental poverty? deprivation of housing, gardens, play facilities
food poverty
how healthy your diet is
period poverty
sanitary products
work poverty
working but still in poverty
persistent poverty
2-3 years
distribution of poverty: age (2) (6)
child poverty:
- 1/3 of all children, 4.1m children (2018)
- lone parenthood increasing
- inadequate benefits
pensioner poverty:
- no way of gaining income
- disability and renting
- life expectancy is longer
distribution of poverty: ethnicity (6)
- ethnic minority groups are at a greater risk of poverty than white British groups
due to: - low pay
- racism, concrete ceiling
- unemployment
- education
- cost of immigration
distribution of poverty: family structure (4)
- lone parents
- only one income
- increase likelihood of damp houses, cramped accommodation, inadequate heating
- insufficient benefits
distribution of poverty: disability (4)
- 33% of disabled adults live in poverty
- discrimination
- unemployment, market exclusion, benefits
inadequate benefits/policies - extra cost of disabilities
distribution of poverty: gender (5)
- feminisation of poverty
- domestic burden/childcare responsibilities/dual burden/caring of family members
- gender pay gap, glass ceiling
- hidden poverty: sacrifice living for children
- period poverty
explanations of poverty: culture of poverty (6)
- poverty is a sub culture with its own norms and values that people born into are socialised into
- Charles Murray, new right, defined under as:
- ‘their homes are littered and unkept’
- carries onto generations, socialised into those norms and values, engraved into primary socialisation
- a way of life
- difficult to break cycle
explanations of poverty: poverty trap (2)
- when low income families/indivduals are living in poverty, lose welfare or tax benefits when they secure employment or higher salary, resulting in an overall worse economic position because of the loss of their benefits
- difficult to earn enough to outweigh the benefit of being on benefits
explanations of poverty: cycle of deprivation (3)
- material and cultural deprivation
- the poor just concentrate on survival
- cycle begins: 1. child grows up in poverty 2. disadvantage in school and skills 3. fails to escape the poverty. cycle 4. family in poverty
explanations of poverty: social groups excluded from labour market (3)
- people in poverty are often people excluded from the labour market eg. disabled, women, immigrants, elderly, children
- in a weak market position to advance
- trapped in unemployment or low paid insecure employment
individualistic theories and analysis of poverty (3)
- the only people to blame are the poor themselves
- those on low incomes are unable or unwilling to provide adequately for own well being
- society is therefore not responsible for the needs of the poor
herbert spencer and analysis of poverty (3)
- dont feel sympathy, they are usually ‘bad fellows, good for nothings, vagrants, sots.’
- those who are too lazy to work should not be able to eat
- society and the economy suffers
Charles Murray and analysis of poverty: cultural explanations (4)
- its the fault of the individuals because they have a different set of cultural values (cultural deprivation)
- immediate gratification
- fatalism
- poor people dont have a good work ethic go motivation to achieve
Charles Murray: analysis of poverty, law of imperfect selection
some of the most needy people still slip through the net of welfare eg. homeless
Charles Murray: analysis of poverty, law of unintended reward
supporting people who support drugs or fail at school means we are rewarding that behaviour and not allowing them to suffer the consequences
Charles Murray: analysis of poverty, law of net harm
welfare does harm because it doesn’t help unemployment, crime of drug dependancy or irresponsible behaviour
Charles Murray: analysis of poverty, characteristic of the under class (3)
- young boys imitate older criminal males and cycle of crime begins
- have illegitimate children
- unwilling to take jobs available
Charles Murray: analysis of poverty, cause of the underclass (3)
- generous welfare benefits
- crime has become less punished
- people dont fear poverty, they get a household and income for free
Charles Murray: analysis of poverty, solutions for the underclass (3)
- get rid of benefits to unmarried women and people unwilling to work
- local communities should have self government for education, crime and housing
- more methods of social control eg. cctv, harsher prison sentences
David marshland and the generosity of the welfare state (3)
- we will never get rid of inequality as some jobs need to be paid more
- benefits should be targeted for the sick and disabled
- very critical of universal welfare eg. nhs and child benefits, creating a culture of dependency
hbai
households below average income - below 60% of the median
parsons and the functions of stratification, (8)
- society agrees that some jobs are worthy of more reward
- social stratification reflects the value consensus, it is part of the shared values/common goals
- high status is a reward for conforming to societies values
- success is a value in society seen as important - therefore entrepreneurs and executives deserve the highest rewards
- we live in a meritocratic society, if you work hard and have skill, you can work your way up to the highest positions and deserve to be rewarded for that
- allows us to gain an achieved status
- allows for social mobility
- stratification reinforces the collective goal
davis and moore and the functions of stratification (5)
- stratification is universal and functionally necessary
- ensures role allocation, the most able and talented do the most important jobs
- higher rewards for higher educational training
- inequality is essential for motivation take on the different roles
- ensures these roles are paid to the higher standards
functional uniqueness, davis and moore
only a small number of people can do a certain job eg. surgeon
degree of dependance of others, davis and moore
how many people depend on the job that you do
require the most training, davis and moore
compensates for that training
criticisms of functionalism and stratification (4)
- nepotism and ascribed status
- meritocracy is a myth, advantages of the m/c, ‘old boys network’
- role allocation is a myth, may not have the opportunities/ life chances
- not everyone goes through value concensus, different societies have different norms and values
functionalism and stratification, cumin, criticisms (3)
- is there a consensus about rewards? unequal distribution of rewards eg. incomes
- is it possible to determine the functional importance of a position?
- power and rewards
marxism and stratification, history of society according to Marx (5)
- primitive: tribes and clans, specialised division of labour, some skills are seen as more important, ‘deserve more’
- feudalism: industrialisation, owning the means of production, factories, upper-class on top and peasants at the bottom
- capitalism: upper class own land, they protect themselves and their wealth. middle class own means of production. working class work for the middle class
- socialism: revolution
- communism: no social class, prediction of the future, eg. kibbutz in Isreal
marxism and stratification, bourgeoise (9)
- ruling class
- own and rule the means of production, the infrastructure, which generates the wealth
- own the superstructure, all the institutions which support the infrastructure
- ideology, class struggle (what society is dominated by, constant battle), false class consciousness
- proletariat make the wealth, only comes back to them in minimum wages
- bourgeoise arent interested in workers, only making as much profit as possible
- polarisation of the classes
- leads to alienation
- lumpenprolateriat: drop out of society due to stress
marxism and stratification, marxists hope… (3)
- capitalism will not survive forever, it will kill itself
- economic crisis: competition will lead to economic crisis
- alienation of workers: workers have no satisfaction of contentment in their jobs, just used as commodities, no joy in life, seek materialism rather than human relationships
marxism and economic determinism ,criticism
Marx’s emphasis on economic or social class inequalities also tends to ignore the importance of other types of inequality such as those based on gender and ethnicity
marxism and the middle class, criticism
rather than shrinking or being absorbed into the two main classes, these groups have grown in size and importance, meaning that we should be talking about a middle class or middle classes
marxism and class consciousness and revolution, criticism (3)
- Marx saw the downfall of capitalism in advanced industrial societies such as Britain, Germany or the USA as inevitable
- communist revolutions have usually occurred in relatively under-developed societies such a Russia, china and Cuba
- in western societies there is little sign of class consciousness eg. fewer and fewer workers support trade unions or even moderate socialist parties
marxism and the success of capitalism, criticism (2)
- capitalist societies seem to have flourished despite their inherent contradictions
- though capitalist economies tend to go through a cycle of ‘boom and bust’, in most cases discontent created by economic problems is contained
in defence to marxism… (4)
- the continuing importance in social class inequality
- the prolaterianisation of the middle classes
- neo-marxism
- globalisation and transnational cooperations
how does weber see inequalities?
based on a struggle between different groups to secure resources such as wealth, but argued that status and power were always resources that could be unequally distributed
weber and stratification (2)
- marx’s view of capitalism emphasised economic divisions and the class struggle as the basis of stratification
- weber suggested that there were three dimensions to social stratification: social class, status and party
weber and social class (4)
- defined social class as a group who share a similar market situation
- members of a social class receive similar economic rewards
- members of the same social class also share similar life chances
- Marx and weber agreed that there was a basic economic position division between the property owners and those who labour for wages
the propertied upper class
the wealthy owners of big businesses
the property-less white-collar workers
these have a better market situation than manual workers because of their skills and educational qualifications, forming a middle class
petty bourgeoise
owners of small businesses, unlike Marx, weber did not see this class as disappearing or merging into the working class
the manual working class
have the poorest market situation as they possess neither wealth nor valuable educational qualifications that could be used to improve their market situation
weber and status (4)
- people with a common status situation may form a stronger group identity
- status refers to the distribution of social honour
- status may refer to a persons economic or class position but may also decide from other things such as ethnicity, religion and lifestyle
- while social class may be relatively unimportant for many people as a source of identity, individuals are usually very aware of their status situation and tend to identify with others of similar status
weber and party (2)
- groups who were concerned with exercising power or influencing decision making
- parties might include groups such as trade unions that seek to improve the wages and conditions of specific groups of worker or pressure groups such as Greenpeace
weber and evaluation on stratification
weber points out that many people may come together and identify with others, not just on the basis of economic interests but also because of a shared status position or shared political goals
weber and criticisms on stratification
marxists argue focusing on multiple social classes and different dimensions of inequality obscures the fundamental importance of class divisions in capitalist societies
why is there a decline of social class, according to post modernists? (2)
- social identity is now more pluralistic
- pakulski and waters (1996) said that social class is no longer important as a source of identity, because people can exercise more choice about what people want to be
why do post modernists think class identity is becoming weaker? (9)
- changes in work
- less manufacturing, more service sector
- has led to an increase in the middle class
- better standard of living for most people
- decline in trade union sand working men’s clubs
- the working class is now such a small diluted group, so there’s no point in studying them
- changes in the media: we all consume the same culture now
- popular culture has become ‘intellectualized’
- eg. david beckham and madonna studies
effects on changes on identity: post modernists (4)
- lifestyles and identities are diverse and flexible
- down to the individual choice
- used to be able to tell what class someone was by their leisure pursuits, but this is no longer the case
- what we buy now is influenced by our lifestyle aspirations, not our class
marxist critics on post modern ideas (2)
- money: the working class cant afford all the things the middle class can. there are still inequalities between the classes that limit education, work and leisure choices that affect identity
- cultural capital: the socialisation process limits this in working class people
evidence on the significance of class, bradley (2)
- class is now a passive identity, we all recognize that inequalities exist within society
- but class is not a central part of who we are in our everyday lives
