Unequal Families

Question 1

According to sociologists, what percentage of the population comprises the upper class?

Answer 1

5%

Question 2

What percentage of the population comprises the middle class?

Answer 2

45%

Question 3

What percentage of the population comprises the working class?

Answer 3

35%

Question 4

What percentage of the population comprises the poor?

Answer 4

15%

Question 5

What parts of everyday life are affected by social class?

Answer 5

Health care, education, laundry, transportation, etc.

Question 6

Which part of the population did Katrina affect the most?

Answer 6

New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi

Question 7

What do upper class parents want most for their children?

Answer 7

A “compatible marriage”–a marriage to someone of equal class standing

Question 8

What is “cultural capital”?

Answer 8

Reputations, connections, skills, knowledge, and so on that can be exchanged for economic benefit.

Question 9

What is “sudden wealth syndrome”?

Answer 9

A cluster of symptoms that includes marked anxiety, persistent and distressing thoughts of money, cycles of depression in response to stock market volatility, insomnia, irritable mood, feelings of guilt, and identity confusion.

Question 10

Describe some differences between middle class and working class families?

Answer 10

1) Communication between working class husbands and wives was more difficult than communication between middle-class husbands and wives
2) While middle-class parents make sacrifices so that their children will have a life like theirs, working class parents sacrifice so that their children will not have a life like theirs.

Question 11

What is downward mobility?

Answer 11

Process by which families fall out of the middle class and experience economic insecurity.

Question 12

What is the average hourly wage?

Answer 12

$17 per hour

Question 13

What is the main cause of downward mobility for women?

Answer 13

Divorce. They rarely have an income equal to that of their former husbands. They are also hurt by a lack of affordable and high quality child care services and by disproportionate responsibility for child-rearing expenses.

Question 14

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how many U.S. families are officially poor?

Answer 14

7.6 million

Question 15

What is the “heat or eat” dilemma?

Answer 15

Having to choose between paying the heating bill and buying food

Question 16

According to the U.S. Census Bureau what is the official poverty line for a family of four?

Answer 16

$22,444

Question 17

What is the “feminization of poverty”?

Answer 17

The greater likelihood that women, as compared to men, will live in poverty

Question 18

What is the juvenilization of poverty?

Answer 18

The greater likelihood that children, as compared to adults, will live in poverty

Question 19

What is the poorest age group in the nation?

Answer 19

Children under age 6

Question 20

When did the U.S. government develop a social welfare system to help people in need?

Answer 20

1935

Question 21

Housing is considered “affordable” if it costs what percentage of a family’s income?

Answer 21

30%