Sociology HW
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Ch12SocialClassintheUnitedStates.pptxSociology
SEVENTEENTH EDITION
Chapter 12
Social Class in the United States
The Power of Society
In the United States, what are a person’s odds of being born into poverty?
Our social position reflects factors such as our race and ethnicity as well as the marital status of our parents.
Of all white children born to a U.S. married couple, 6 percent are poor.
The share in poverty is nearly twice as high for comparable African American children and more than three times higher for comparable Hispanic children.
Being born to a single mother raises the odds of poverty for children of all racial and ethnic categories, with the odds of being poor almost 50:50 for African American and Hispanic children.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2016).
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Dimensions of Social Inequality (1 of 3)
12.1 Describe the distribution of income and wealth in the United States.
Income
Earnings from work or investments
U.S. society is highly stratified.
During recent decades, income inequality has increased.
The very richest people now receive a much larger share of all income.
This woman’s life is not the same as the social world of the people who hire these women.
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Figure 12–1 Distribution of Income and Wealth in the United States, 2015
Income and especially wealth are divided unequally in U.S. society.
Sources: Income data from U.S. Census Bureau (2016); wealth data based on Wolff (2014) and author estimates.
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Social Classes in the United States (2 of 7)
Within which social class category do you think these women fall?
These women have appeared on the television program Real Housewives of Orange County.
Ask: why?
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Social Classes in the United States (3 of 7)
The Upper Class
5 percent of U.S. population
The upper-upper class
Membership almost always the result of birth
“Old money”
The lower-uppers
The working rich
The “new rich”
Social Classes in the United States (6 of 7)
What would you say about the social class standing of the Harrison family and their friend Chumlee, who star in the popular reality television show Pawn Stars?
What about the work of running a family business?
What about their dress and interests?
What about the fact that they have recently made a lot of money from heir television show?
Doesn’t their situation show that social class position is often complex and contradictory?
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National Map 12–1 Household Income across the United States, 2015
This map shows the median household income in the more than 3,000 counties that make up the United States for the year 2015.
The richest counties, shown in the darker shades of green, are not spread randomly across the country.
Nor are the poorest U.S. counties, which are shown in lightest shades.
Looking at the map, what patterns do you see the distribution of wealth and poverty across the United States?
What can you say about wealth and poverty in urban and rural areas?
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2016).
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The Difference Class Makes (1 of 2)
12.4 Analyze how social class position affects health, values, politics, and family life.
Health
Access to medical care affected by income level
Values and Attitudes
Vary with social class position
On average, live about five fewer years.
The toll of low income—played out in inadequate nutrition, little medical care, and high stress—is easy to see on the faces of the poor, who look old before their time.
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Figure 12–2 Median Annual Income, U.S. Families, 1950–2015
Average family income in the United States grew rapidly between 1950 and 1970. In the decades since then, however, income increased at a lower and less even rate.
After 2007, the economic recession pushed median income downward; it returned to prerecession levels by 2016.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2016).
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Figure 12–3 Mean Annual Income, U.S. Families, 1980–2015 (in 2015 dollars, adjusted for inflation)
The gap between high-income and low-income families is wider today than it was in 1980.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2016).
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Figure 12–4 The Poverty Rate in the United States, 1960–2015
The share of our population in poverty fell dramatically between 1960 and 1970.
Since then, the poverty rate has remained between 10 and 15 percent of the population.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2016).
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Poverty and the Trend Toward Increasing Inequality (8 of 11)
Homelessness
Causes
Poverty
Substance abuse and mental illness
Low wages and lack of low-income housing
Structural changes in the U.S. economy
Cutbacks in social service budgets
Recent economic downturn
Is society responsible for poverty or are individuals themselves to blame? When it comes to homeless families, most people think society should do more, but many people see homeless adults as choosing to live the way they do.
No precise count; Experts estimate 636,000 on any given night
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Figure 12–5 The Share of All Income Earned by the Richest 1 Percent, 1913–2015
In 1929, the richest 1 percent in the U.S. population earned almost one-fourth of all income.
This share declined in the decades that followed, dipping below 10 percent by the mid-1970s.
In recent decades, however, the trend has been toward greater income inequality.
By 2007, the top 1 percent was earning almost one-fourth of all income once again, although this share fell with the onset of the economic recession.
Source: Saez & Piketty (2016).
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National Map 12–2 Poverty across the United States, 2015
This map shows that the poorest counties in the United States—where the poverty rate is more than twice the national average—are in Appalachia, across the Deep South, along the border with Mexico, near the Four Corners region of the Southwest, and in the Dakotas.
Can you suggest some reasons for this pattern?
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2016).
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Photo Credits
302: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images; 304: David Bacon/The
Image Works; 307: ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo; 308: Matt Devine/
Alamy; 308: Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Thinkstock; 309: Newscom; 311: Historical/Getty Images; 312: cloki/Shutterstock; 319: Art Resource, NY; 321: Carl Wagner/KRT/Newscom; 322: Craig Steven Thrasher/Alamy; 325: Pool/Getty Images; 326: ABC/Courtesy of Everett Collection; 326: Marvin Miller/Everett Collection; 327: Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection.
Copyright
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