Objectives for this chapter:

What is social stratification?

 This is the way in which people are divided into groups/categories based on key characteristics such as religion, gender, power
 Sociologists are all in agreement that all societies are based on social groupings
 Within these social groups some groups are considered to be at a disadvantage whilst others are not, this can affect the quality
and opportunities in life that people may have, also known as Life Chances.
What are the different types of systems of stratification in society?

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3

Systems of Stratification

Type 4 Type 5 Type 6

Type 7 Type 8 Type 9

Top tip: These are just some of

the many examples that you can
use as examples. Remember
1 there are so many ways people
are divided into groups.
 Top tip: Learn the key words and their
definitions, the example shave also
been provided, this will be all you
need to know the 3 markers just as
long as you relate the final sentence
Which of the key words do I need to know? back to the questions.

Concept Definition Example

Inequality
Ethnicity The characteristics of a social group who E.g. Asians, Indians, Africans
have a shared cultural, religious or
traditional identity

Gender Refers to the cultural differences that are E.g. women look after the home while
learnt by men and women in society men work.

Social class A structure which divides people into

layers or classes according to their Upper class
position in society.
Middle class Middle class
Working class Working Class

Working class The section of society that consists of i.e. a farmer

people in Manuel work
Middle class The section of society that consists of i.e. teacher
definitions
and definitions

people who are in non-manual or

professional jobs
Subjective class The class into which an individual places
him or herself in
Underclass The group of people at the very bottom of
the social structure who are cut off from
society.
definitions
and definitions

Embourgeoisement The idea that working class are becoming

more middle class in their attitude as they
words and

become more affluent

Proletarianisation The idea that middle class are becoming
working class as there are shifts and
Key words

changes in the type of work that is

available
Glass ceiling The informal barrier that makes it difficult
words and

form women to achieve high level

positions at work.
Key

Sexism Being prejudiced against people because

of their gender
Key words

Racism Being prejudiced against people because

of their ethnicity
Ageism Being prejudiced against people because
of their age
Key

Ascribed Status A position or social standing given to a
person at birth
Achieved Status A position or social standing that someone
achieves for themselves sin their life time
Social mobility When you can achieve your own status by
moving up the Social class system
i.e. heir to the throne, or titles such as
prince or princess
i.e. through their job and money they
earn
E.g. moving from being working class to
middle class or vice versa

Absolute Poverty When there is not enough income to buy i.e. food, shelter
the basics needed to survive
Relative Poverty When one cannot meet the general i.e. not having a TV
standard of living of most people in that
society
Environmental Poverty Deprivation that is experienced in
neighbourhoods that are ugly, dirty and
unsafe and lack basic amenities
Social exclusion When people are socially, politically and i.e. not being able to vote or not being

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 culturally excluded able to go to the movie with friends

Political Exclusion- When people have less interest or are i.e. voting
unable to take part in politics.
Economic Exclusion Not having money, buying, selling i.e. Unemployment
Social Exclusion When one is unable to participate in social i.e. cinema, holidays
activities that other around can.

Cultural Exclusion When one has a lack of recreation and i.e. cinema, holidays
leisure

Poverty line Government has a minimum amount that

all households should earn; this is known
as the poverty line.
Standard of living How good or bad quality of life someone This is determined by their access to
lives. health care, Law, education, housing
and work
Life chances The opportunity off success and failure in This is determined by their access to
life health care, Law, education, housing
and work
Financial Deprivation Lack of money .I.e. affects things diet, so poverty may
result in the children’s ill health and
malnutrition.
Material Deprivation Not having resources i.e. Housing may be inadequate and in
extreme cases the family may live in
hostels and B & B accommodation
Cultural Deprivation When a child’s background does not i.e. they have less parental
provide them with the resources to encouragement and a poorer
perform well at school. educational experience than children
from a well off background.

Culture of Poverty When people have adopted away of life i.e. living for the moment, not having
which encourages or allows poverty to savings etc
continue
Poverty trap The difficulties that poor may face which i.e. not able to get a job or borrowing
keeps them in poverty money which may accumulate interest
Cycle of deprivation Process which may lead children of poor
parents to suffer poverty when adults
Welfare State An organisation set up by the government i.e. dieses, unemployment
to overcome poverty.

Welfare Scrounger Someone who makes no contribution to

society and exploits the benefit systems,
claiming as much as possible.
Wealth Value of the processions individual owns e.g. car, house
Marketable wealth Means things you can sell e.g. car, house, computer
Nonmarketable wealth Means things you cannot sell but belongs e.g. pension funds, salary
to you
Income Money received by an individual in s For example wages or interest on
period of time savings

What you need to know for the exam:

You need to know all the different examples of stratification

systems
You need to know all of these keywords off by heart
Be able to explain then and provide examples of them
They may come in use when you are answering questions on
other topics as well. 3
 Who are the poor and why are they poor?
 There are different groups of people in society who are more likely to experience
Poverty
these include: women, elderly, ethnic minorities, sick, people with disabilities, the unemployed and lone parents.

 Women have a longer life expectancy (live longer) – so there are more elderly female pensioners.
 Women are more likely to be lone parent, which means they have dependent children.
 More likely to work part time due to child care responsibilities
 Women on average get paid less then men.
Who are the poor?

 Responsibility for caring for sick, elderly and disabled relatives

 Child-bearing disrupts employment patterns
 Discrimination


 Dependent on pension for income

 State pension is not enough to live on alone

 Ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be poor as their white counter parts
 Ethnic minorities are more likely to be in low paid jobs
 More likely to be unemployed
 Fell shame or stigma in claiming benefits and so will not claim
 Discrimination

 Those who are sick are unable to work

 Illness may disrupt employment patterns

 Those who have disabilities may be unable to work

 Disability may disrupt employment patterns or limit the type of work
 Higher expenses because of disabilities
 Discrimination

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  Unemployed have no income coming in
 Likely to be least skilled
 May have few or no qualifications to get jobs

 Lone parent have to work part time or no work due to child care responsibilities
 Only one income to support the family

What you need to know for the exam:

You need to know all the groups who are likely to experience
poverty
Be able to explain the reasons why and how this will cause the
into poverty
More likely for 3 marker questions to ask you a question on
this.

What are the causes of Poverty?

Theory Main Ideas Criticisms

Minority Group Theory Minority group theory begins by looking at key groups
and the characteristics that highlight that they are in
poverty for example unemployment.
So, Poverty according to this theory is a result of
Theories to explain Poverty
However on the other hand it totally diffuses
any responsibility from the individuals and
ignores the idea that some people no matter
what opportunities are presented to them will
not take them on i.e. education.

unemployment, low skills and low wages. They argue

that in order to overcome Poverty policies need to
improve in order to improve skills, education and
employment opportunities.

Some sociologists would view this theory positively as

it is considering the wider context and society at large,
which can affect people and their lives.
Poverty Trap Once in Poverty, it can be very difficult to get out of or fails to address how people came into
escape poverty. In effect, people can be trapped in poverty in the first place.
poverty because being poor is expensive; housing in a
poor areas can be run down. A damp house with badly
fitted windows or inadequate loft insulation will be
expensive to heat.
Means-tested benefits can create a poverty trap. For
example, an employed person who is claiming means-
tested benefits could receive a wage increase. This
wage increase could mean that they no longer qualify
for the benefit that they have been receiving although
this wage increase may not be significant amount. This
then means that the person is worse of as a result of a
wage increase than when receiving benefits.

This theory looks at how people may stay in poverty,

New Right New Right approaches identify the emergence of an Blames individuals rather than looking at the
underclass, a group whose attitude and values are wider picture i.e. some people genuinely may
different to those in the mainstream culture. not be able to get a job and thus are
dependent on benefits to keep them going.
He focuses on three symptoms of the underclass;

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 crime, births outside marriage and economic inactivity
amongst men of working age.

According to the New Rights members of the

underclass are the ‘undeserving poor’. The
‘undeserving poor’ remain in poverty because of the
Welfare State provisions as it provides them with
money and as a result encourages them to adopt a
lazy way of life.

The Welfare State Some sociologists believe that the social security
system often fails to meet people’s needs. Many
people who are entitled to benefits, for example, do
not claim them. Another viewpoint is that the benefits
are just to low.
The Welfare state has abolished absolute
poverty to some extent
Has made education free for all and also
introduced free health, surly this is better than
having nothing?

Studies carried out by Amin and Oppenheim (1992) of

ethnic minorities showed that many ethnic minorities
were not receiving the benefits that they needed.

Structural Explanations This theory looks at the way in which society is   this theory also takes away any
organised and how this in turn results in some people responsibility that individual may have for
experiencing or living in Poverty. For example living in Poverty as it blames everything on
according to the Marxists, society is based on classes, the structure of society.
the Proletariat- working class and the Bourgeoisies-
middle class. This difference in class creates inequality
between the two groups, as the Proletariats are
dependent upon the Bourgeoisie’s for wages. Those
who cannot work will not have wages and as a result
will be living in Poverty. According to this theory
Poverty is a result of the inequalities of society.

The advantage of this theory is that it explores the

social issues that surround people and how they can
impact on individual lives. However
Culture of Poverty Introduced by Oscar Lewis Blame on individuals and family
Different values to the mainstream society
Due to poverty they feel there is no point in saving
live for the moment
This then becomes a coping strategy whereby the
accept their situation of poverty
As a result they become trapped in poverty, children
who grow up in such families learn from watching their
parents.

What you need to know for the exam:

All the different ideas about what causes poverty

Know some of the criticisms of the theories
This type of questions is likely to come up as a 9 marker
where you will have to look at whether one factor is the most
important causes of poverty i.e. ‘To what extent would
sociologists agree that the culture of poverty is the main cause
of poverty?’

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 Case Studies:

Cathy Come Home:

 A case study of a women who suffers from poverty during the 1960’s
 Her children are sent to a home and she has to live in a shelter whilst her husband
Case Studies

has to fend for himself and find himself a job

 The whole family is split up as a result of the poverty they experience.
 This was documented by the BBC and brought the issue of homeless into the public
eye and politics.
 Forced the government and local authorities to take action
 As a result the charity Shelters was formed (housing for homeless)

Pursuit of Happiness/ Chris Gardner:

 Real life case study of a man who suffers through poverty with his son
 Lives on the streets
 Eventually makes his millions by not giving up and continuing to work hard.
 This supports the New Right view that suggests that if you work hard you can move
up and get yourself out of poverty.