Bases for Stratification

1. Bases for Stratification Economic: wealth, property Political: power Social: social prestige, e.g. respect, deference Karl Marx: only economy matters, e.g. owner of property vs non-owner Max Weber: should add power and social prestige in the study of social stratification Social class is not the only term for social stratification. Stratification has other dimensions such as gender, age, race/ethnicity, religion

2. Update Marx Eric Wright: emphasize the relation of production Capitalist Petty bourgeoisie Managerial position Workers Contradictory class location

3. Updating Weber Gilbert and Kahl (1993/1997) a six class model: considering the overall social economic positions, termed as Socioeconomic Status (SES), indicated by occupation, education and income measures. The quintile system: five equal-sized income groups

4. Culture of Poverty: Poor people are seen to have distinctive values, aspirations, and psychological characteristics that restrict their abilities and foster behavioral deficiencies which keep families poor from generation to generation. Criticism: Studies found that most families are not poor for a long enough time to create a culture of poverty. The poor have the same value and norms as other groups. Most poor move out of poverty in their lifetime, only 2% born poor, stay poor. Living in poverty itself creates a set of behavior norms and values as a rational response to social inequality. e.g. violence, #children, school dropout, family structure

5. Conclusion: the argument of the culture of poverty tends to blame the victim. The system and social structural factors do limit people�s life chance and human potential, inhibit human potential, demoralize, and create different lifestyles.  Structure Analysis: For example: Structure of the family and poverty: number of wage earners in households Demographic factors: sex ratio, availability of marriageable men. Social experiences of different groups lack of opportunity

6. Social Structural factors (continued) Transformation in the economy: deindustrialization, suburbanization unemployment, low-paying service jobs, the decaying inner city, distressed neighborhood, class, race, ethnic and gender inequalities. feminization of poverty the working poor

7. The consequence of feminization of poverty: Higher Infant Mortality Rate : the best indicator of a population�s health and a nation�s development level. Number of death below age 1 --------------------------------------------* 1,000= 12 Total number of live birth in 2000 Compared with other industrial countries in the world, America has the highest infant mortality rate.

8. The Consequences of Social Class Inequality Life chance: the probability to get what people what in life. Measures: infant mortality life expectancy education/occupation/employment health crime the vicious cycle / the self-fulfilling prophecy.

9. Myths Concerning Poor Families Family dissolution? Fact: relatively few Mexican families headed by women decreasing employment opportunities Lucrative welfare benefits? Fact: incidence of female-headed households does not correlate with the corresponding state variations in benefit levels. Only 14 millions out of 40 receive welfare and (2/3 are children) AFDC account only 1% of federal budget, less than 3% of state budget. Homeless are urban, non-white, unemployed? Fact: increasing families with children, caused by economic crisis, illness, or joblessness

10. Multi-dimensional Stratification:e ideologies on property: social class gender: gender roles age: ageism race: racism ethnicity: ethnocentrism Point: Stratification has various dimensions. Social class is just one of them. International stratification: nations are ranked

11. Upgrade Max Weber: property, power, prestige Upgrade Max Weber: look at overall position of people by examining education, occupation and income to determine people�s socioecnomic status (SES) Quintile system: divide people into 5 equal sized groups based on income only

12. Next Steps income and wealth distribution across the quintiles: Inequality ratio, comparison, changes wealth distribution points: The inequality level remains constant throughout the century. During the post-industrial period, inequality level goes up: America has the highest inequality ratio among all industrialized nation. The Consequence of inequality: 1. Life chance differ 2. Vicious cycle: self-fulfilling prophecy 3. poverty

13. Social Classes In America Marx: based on the ownership of the means of production: bourgeoisie vs proletariat Update Marx: by Eric Wright He added two more classes based on the relation of production: 1. capitalist (have ownership, have power) 2. petty bouregeosie (have property, no power) 3. managers (have no ownership, have power) 4. workers (have neither) contradictory class location: 2 and 3

14. Measure Life Chance: the probability for people to get that they valued in life. Life chance can be measured by: infant mortality rate life expectancy school drop-out unemployment crime health

15. Poverty in America meaning of poverty: relative poverty absolute poverty Official poverty line: low-cost food plan Who are poor: majority are white Race: minority overrepresented (Hispanic, Black, Native American double that of white.) Age: 17-20% children under 18 yrs old live in poverty Sex: the most important indicator of poverty today in America: feminization of poverty

16. The Consequence of poverty Infant Mortality Rate: the best indicator of society�s economic development and population�s well-being. IMR = # of death before age 1 / # of live birth * 1,000 America has the highest IMR compared with all other industrial countries. The social health index of children lower: Education performance: intergenerational backward progress Suicide: trippled, homocide rate trippled, trippled abused children, obeicity increased, poverty rate high

17. Why Why people become poor: culture of poverty? (Poor people have different values, lifestyles than others). Criticism against the theory: 1. The Poor are not found to have different values. 2. Most poor move out of poverty in a short time. 3. Living in poverty create different lifestyles for the poor, to rationally respond to society�s inequality. 4. In conclusion: the culture of poverty theory tends to blame the victim.

18. Sociologists focus on social structural features of society Social structural argument: 1. deindustrialization of economy 2. Increase in low-wage service jobs 3. suburbanization 4. Unemployment 5. Teenage pregnancy 6 Divorce 7. Inequality in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity

19. Class Class consciousness / false consciousness Why Americans lack class consciousness? 1. No inherited aristocracy 2. Economic progress in the past two centuries after achieving independence. 3. Race, ethnicity and other social characteristics cut across class lines. 4. Ideology supports the stratification system: promise of equality, equality of opportunity, psychological reductionism.