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SOCI 1160: EXAM 2
Social Stratification
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Society's system of ranking categories of people in a hierarchy.
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Social Class
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categories of people who have similar access to resources and opportunities.
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Wealth
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The value of all the economic assets owned by a person orfamily MINUS debt.
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Povertyline
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An income level set by the U.S. government for the purpose of counting the poor.
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Poverty gap
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The difference between the actual income of the typical poor household and the official poverty line.
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Official Poverty line for one person
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10,294
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Official poverty line for 2 people
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13,167
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Official poverty line for 3 people
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16,079
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Official poverty line for 4 people
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20,614
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Highestearning 20 percent of U.S. families:
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averageincome of $176,000 received 48.1 percent of all income in 2005
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Thelowest earning 20 percent of U.S. families
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(averageincome of $15,000) received only 4 percent all income in 2005
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white families
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58percent of white families earn more than $50,000 annually
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African American and Hispanic families
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36 percent of African American and Hispanic families earn more than $50,000 annually
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20percent of U.S. families
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ownabout 84 percent of all the privately held wealth in this country
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Taxationis a common device used by the government to:
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reduceeconomic inequality
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Rich
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Top ten percent of the income distribution
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Poor
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Living below the official poverty line
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Since1980 income inequality has steadily increased:
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huge gains for the top 20 percent, moderate gains for those in the middle and verysmall gains for the lowest paid 20 percent.
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Conservative ways to combat inequality:
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point out that the poverty in the US is relative poverty and not absolute.
Value self-reliance and support the idea that people should take responsibility of their own actions.
reject gov programs and make it harder for ppl to be on welfare (drug test, 5 year limit, etc.)
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Liberal ways to combat inequalities:
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Poverty exists because of the way society operates
Increase tax rate for the rich so that there are more fed programs for the poor.
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six problems linked to poverty
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poor health
substandard housing
homelessness
limited schooling
crime & punishment
political alienation
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The welfare system
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TANF (temporary assistance for needy families
—SSDI (disabilities)/SSI
—Food Stamps
—Medicaid/Medicare
—Heat and utilityassistance (now defunded)
—Food and clothingbanks
—Housing subsidies
—Public housing
Corporate tax breaks
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How is extreme wealth maintained?
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Tax breaks to corporations
Bank bailouts
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