Slide 1Slide 2Defining Economic InequalityContinuedSlide 5Slide 6Slide 7ContinuedSlide 9Slide 10How Does Inequality Affect the Lives of People?ContinuedContinuedThe Effects of Social ClassContinuedContinuedContinuedContinuedContinuedSlide 20History of PovertyContinuedHow Does the United States Define Poverty?Slide 24FunctionalismContinuedConflict TheorySymbolic InteractionismContinuedThe Welfare SystemContinuedContinuedContinuedTaxationSlide 35Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Chapter 2: Inequality: Poverty and WealthCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Defining Economic InequalitySocial Stratification•To rank individuals based on objective criteria, often wealth, power, and/or prestige•Naturally creates inequalityIncome•Refers to the money received for work or through investmentsWealth•Refers to all material possessions including incomeCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedIncome Distribution•About 60 percent of Americans receives less than 27 percent of the nation’s income•The wealthiest fifth of the population receive nearly 50 percent of the money•If country’s income was divided equally, each group would receive 20 percent•MedianDistribution is the midpoint of all the numbers ranked from lowest to highestCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedWealth•Includes income and assetsPower•The ability to get people to do what you want without having to make them do so•Persuasive powerMeans that you use direct or indirect methods to get what you wantPrestige•Refers to the level of esteem associated with our status and social standingCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.How Does Inequality Affect the Lives of People?Upper or Elite Class•Very small in number and holds significant wealthUpper Middle Class•Consists of high-income members of society who are well educated but do not belong to elite membership of the super wealthyMiddle Class•Have moderate incomes•Vary from low-paid white-collar workers to well-paid blue-collar workersCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedWorking Class•Makes up about 30 percent of population and comprises people who completed high school and lower levels of educationLower Class•The ones who truly feel the effects of poverty•Often live paycheck to paycheck, if they are employed at all•More than two-thirds of African Americans and 60 percent of Hispanics in nation live near or below the poverty lineCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedThe Urban Underclass•The homeless and the chronically unemployed•Often live in substandard housing in neighborhoods with poor schools, high crime, and heavy drug use•Rarely have health care coverage and often lack a high school education•Sociologist William J. WilsonBoth their lack of vision and lack of role models are what make it difficult for many to imagine any other way of lifeCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.The Effects of Social ClassNeighborhoods•Sociologists observed how people’s behavior is influenced by quality of the neighborhoods they live in•Over time, poor people tend to settle in areas already populated by their own class•Growing up in a wealthy neighborhoodChildren from these areas do better in school, have lower risk of teen pregnancies, and have higher standardized test scores•Disadvantaged communitiesLower birth weights, poorer health, and lower levels of educationCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedHealth•Poor women with children, who frequently have insufficient diets, suffer higher rates of mental depression and worse physical health than wealthier counterparts•Poverty influences access to food, and food influences both physical and mental health•Health and socioeconomic status (SES) have been found to be linkedThose with greater SES tend to enjoy better health, whereas those with a lower SES tend to have poorer health•An individual’s health influences his social stratification across a lifetimeCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedFamily•Variety of factors differentiate families, but particularly important is social class•U.S. Census Bureau found correlations between family form and poverty ratesFemale-headed households have poverty rates nearly three times higher than national rate for all familiesFemale poverty rates also higher than rates for households headed by single men•Family composition appears to be a main factor that affects whether or not children live in povertyCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedEducation•In US, free 12-year education is available to every child regardless of family or class•Not all educational opportunities are the same•Jonathan KozolSchools in urban communities frequently lack basic educational suppliesSuburban schools often have a surplus of supplies and staffDramatic differences lay in structure of system•Places with higher property taxes receive more educational funding•Poor urban areas need more help but actually get lessCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.ContinuedSocial Mobility•Term that