Classes in Western Society Today- The upper class in the united stateso Upper/elite class Very small 10% of population Old money, athletes, actors $300,000+ o Upper middle class Professionals Small business owners $120,000-300,000o Lower middle class Teachers, nurses, civil servants $48,000-120,000 20% of populationo The working class Broadly composed of people working in blue collar or manual occupations Blue collar jobs Factory workers, restaurant workers, clerical work $30,000-48,000 20% of populationo The lower class Composed of people who work part time or not at all and whose annual household income is typically $17,000 Part time laborers > $30000 Semi skilled labor No promotions Rent 15%of populationo the under class individuals situated at the bottom of the composed of people from ethnic minority backgrounds new urban poor poverty neighborhood unskilled welfare unemployed 15% population- What is an inheritance?o Life insuranceo Monetary giftso Time/labor- Does an inheritance only take place after death?- Who & Whato 1 in 4 whites averaging $144,652o 1 in 20 blakcs averaging $41,985o Black baby boomers will inherit $.13 for every $1 white baby boomers will inherito Family Assistance Whites $2824 Blacks $805Benefits of inheritance- Childhood quality of lifeo Educationo Entertainmento Travelo Camp/private lessons- Cultural capitalo Knowing how to function in societyo Etiquette, vocabulary, demeanorMeritocracy-status and position based on individual merit- Meritocracy and inheritanceo Earn, deserved gifto Hard to combineo Difficult to delineateo Advantages- Social Mobilityo Vertical mobility Movement up or down a hierarchy of positionso Horizontal mobility Movement within a class- Intragenerational mobilityo Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy during one’s lifetime- Intergenerational mobilityo Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another- Exchangemobilityo The exchange of positions on the socioeconomic scale such that talented people move up the economic hierarchy while the less talented move down- Structural mobilityo Mobility resulting from chagnes in the number and kinds of jobs available in a societyPoverty- Transitional: unemployed- Marginal: lacks stable employment- Residual: chronic, multigenerational- ABSOLUTE: severe, lacks resources to survive- RELATIVE: compared to those around usWorking poor- People who work, but who’s earnings are not enough to life them above the poverty lineThe feminization of poverty- An increase in the proportion of the poor who are female- Growing numbers of women who are single mothers, divorced, or separatedChildren in poverty- Related to economic conditions and government spendingTheories of Poverty- Cultural/ Behavioralo The poop are poor due to a lack of willingness to seize opportunitieso Poor don’t work hard enougho Welfare system & dependency effectExplaining poverty- Culture of povertyo Poor are socialized to learn values, beliefs, and lifestyles that are incompatible with upward mobility in the class system- Dependency cultureo Culture of individuals who rely on government welfare and subsidies rather than working for
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