Stratification in the United States & Global Inequality

Question 1

True or False: Social stratification is an independent variable in the social sciences.

Answer 1

False. Social stratification can also be a dependent variable.

Question 2

What is the definition of social stratification?

Answer 2

1. How individuals and groups are layered or ranked in society according to how many valued resources they possess.
2. Structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power/privileges.

Question 3

What does social stratification affect?

Answer 3

1. Quality of life.
2. Life chances.

Question 4

When did social stratification begin?

Answer 4

When humans first formed societies.

Question 5

Why is social stratification described as persistent?

Answer 5

The size of the groups and the % of society the group makes up do not change rapidly.

Question 6

How did agriculture lead to social stratification?

Answer 6

It leads to the concept of private property and the opportunity to accumulate wealth.

Question 7

What is the estate system?

Answer 7

1. Established in Feudal Europe from the Medieval era to the 1700s.
2. Had a political basis (laws that reflected duties and rights that separate individuals and distribute power unequally), and limited social mobility.

Question 8

What is the caste system?

Answer 8

1. High levels of endogamy (strict rules about marriages and occupations).
2. A strata based on hereditary notions of purity, often religious( South Asia) or racial (Apartheid) in nature.

Question 9

What is the class system?

Answer 9

1. Economically based hierarchical system.
2. Some social mobility, no legal barriers to movement.
3. Three dimensions: Power, Prestige, Property(Wealth and Income).

Question 10

What is a closed system?

Answer 10

A system that accommodates little change in social position, is typically based on ascribed status, and no associations between the different levels.

Question 11

What is an open system?

Answer 11

A system based on achievement, allows movement, and interaction between layers and classes.

Question 12

What do closed and open systems have in common?

Answer 12

Both foster, reflect, and emphasize specific cultural values and shape individual beliefs.

Question 13

What were Max Weber’s thoughts on social classes?

Answer 13

1. Defined social class as people with a similar level of income and wealth.
2. Three components define a social class: Prestige (educational attainment and occupation), Power, and Property (income and wealth).
3. Status groups (people who share the same lifestyle or prestige).
4. Status and economic class position are NOT the same.

Question 14

What is income?

Answer 14

The wages and salaries earned from PAID employment.

Question 15

What is wealth?

Answer 15

All the owned assets (investments, cash, house, car, savings, etc.).
* More concentrated than income and the best indicator of social status.

Question 16

What three things impact net wealth?

Answer 16

Homeownership, Education, and Age.

Question 17

What is home equity?

Answer 17

How much of their house a person owns.
*Primary source of wealth.

Question 18

What is the wealth of the richest 400 people in the U.S. equivalent to?

Answer 18

The wealth of the entire bottom 58% of the U.S. population.

Question 19

Which two racial groups are least likely to own a home?

Answer 19

Hispanics and Blacks.

Question 20

Why is it difficult to leave a low-income economic position?

Answer 20

People who earn less have a harder time saving money.

Question 21

What is power?

Answer 21

The ability to exercise one’s own will over others.

Question 22

What is the power elite model?

Answer 22

The model that describes how power is maintained by the top leaders or positions in society that are all part of tight social networks.

Question 23

What is the pluralist model of power?

Answer 23

Political, economic, and social power tend to be distributed across a wide range of power centers. These power centers pressure politicians.

Question 24

Do prestige ratings stay stable?

Answer 24

Yes.

Question 25

What is poverty?

Answer 25

Economic deprivation. When the minimum level of needs is being met.

Question 26

What is absolute poverty?

Answer 26

1. The official measure of poverty in the U.S..
2. Remains constant despite changes in society and the costs of living.

Question 27

What is relative poverty?

Answer 27

1. Most commonly used by policy makers in Europe and researchers.
2. Is a comparative disadvantage assessed against the evolving standard of society.

Question 28

What are the two components of absolute poverty?

Answer 28

1. Poverty threshold.
2. A definition of family income to compare with the threshold (gross income/3=Amount of money spent on food yearly).
   * The definition was established in the 1960’s.

Question 29

What is deep poverty?

Answer 29

Any household living on a total cash income of below 50% of its poverty threshold.
*5.3% of all Americans.

Question 30

What are the problems with the way poverty is measured?

Answer 30

1. Does not adjust for living differences from place to place.
2. Not updated to reflect changes in the cost of living.

Question 31

What are the problems with the way poverty is measured?

Answer 31

1. Does not adjust for living differences from place to place.
2. Not updated to reflect changes in the cost of living.
3. Food is only 1/7 of a family’s expenses, while transportation, health care, child care, and housing have gone up in cost disproportionately.

Question 32

What has happened to the % of the U.S. population in poverty over time?

Answer 32

It has steadly decreased.

Question 33

What two subgroups in the U.S population are overrepresented in the poverty population?

Answer 33

Blacks and Hispanics.

Question 34

What does TANF stand for?

Answer 34

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

Question 35

What does TANF do?

Answer 35

It provides families who have no other source of income with money if they comply with program guidelines. The amount given is reduced if the family finds a source of income.
*Benefits vary by state.

Question 36

What does ADFC stand for?

Answer 36

Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

Question 37

What did ADFC do?

Answer 37

It served millions of adults by providing them with money until the Clinton administration ended it in 1996.
*Could be used lifelong.