Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Class and Stratification

in the United States
Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, Kendall, 11e
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Questions for You
How do you define the “middle class”?
How does poverty affect someone’s life chances?
Can individuals change their social class?
© 2018 CENGAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MAY NOT BE SCANNED, COPIED, OR DUPLICATED, OR POSTED TO A PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART.
Chapter Outline
What is Social Stratification?
Systems of Stratification
Classical Perspectives on Social Class
Contemporary Sociological Models of the U.S. Class Structure
Inequality in the United States
Poverty in the United States
Sociological Explanations of Social Inequality in the United States
U.S. Stratification in the Future
Sociology and Everyday Life:
The Power of Class (1)
1. Most U.S. adults say that they have achieved the American
Dream.
2. Individuals over age 65 have the highest rate of poverty.
3. Compared with industrialized countries, the United States has
the highest rate of childhood poverty.
4. In the United States a family of four is considered to be “poor”
if the household earns less than $40,000.
5. According to media reports, the wealthiest person in the world
lives in the United States.
6. Slavery still exists in the United States.
7. Some states have a higher minimum wage than the federal
minimum wage.
8. Since the 1970s, the gap between the rich and the poor in the
United States has decreased significantly.
What is Social
Stratification?
Social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of large
social groups based on their control over basic resources.
Life chances refers to the extent to which individuals have

access to important societal resources such as food, clothing,
shelter, education, and health care.
Systems of Stratification (1)
Social mobility is the movement of individuals or groups from
one level in a stratification system to another.
Intergenerational mobility is the social movement experienced

by family members from one generation to the next.
Intragenerational mobility is the social movement of individuals

within their own lifetime.
Consider This… Figure 7.1
Figure 7.1
Max Weber’s term “life chances” refers to
the extent to which people have access to
resources such as food, clothing, shelter,
education, and health care. How might
the life chances of the people living in
these buildings be different?
Slavery is an extreme form of stratification in which some people
are owned or controlled by others for the purpose of economic or
sexual exploitation.
A caste system is a closed system of social inequality in which
people’s status is permanently determined at birth based on their
parents’ ascribed characteristics.
The class system is a type of open stratification based on the
ownership and control of resources and on the type of work that
people do.
Consider This…Figure 7.2
Figure 7.2
Systems of
stratification include
slavery, caste, and
class. As shown
here, the life
chances of people
living in each of
these systems differ
widely.
Classical Perspectives on
Social Class (1)
Marx
◦ The capitalist class (bourgeoisie) consists of those who own the
means of production.
◦ The working class (proletariat) consists of those who must sell their
labor to the owners in order to earn enough money to survive.
◦ Alienation is a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other

people and from oneself.
◦ Class conflict is the struggle between the capitalist class and the
working class.
Figure 7.3
Marx’s View of Stratification
Figure 7.4
Karl Marx
believed that
class
relationships
involve inequality
and exploitation.
How is his idea
represented in
this photo?
Classical Perspectives on
Social Class (2)
Weber
◦ Wealth is the value of all of a person’s or family’s economic assets,
including income, personal property, and income-producing property.
◦ Prestige is the respect or regard that a person or status position is given

by others.
◦ Power is the ability of people or groups to achieve their goals despite

opposition from others.
◦ Socioeconomic status refers to a combined measure that attempts to

classify individuals, families, or households in terms of factors such as
income, occupation, and education to determine social location.
Polling Question 1
Are there other dimensions that you think should be included?
Figure 7.6
Weber’s Multidimensional Approach to Social
Stratification
Contemporary Sociological Models
of the U.S. Class Structure (1)
The Weberian Model of the U.S. Class Structure
◦ The Upper (Capitalist) Class
◦ The Upper-Middle Class
◦ The Middle Class
◦ The Working Class
◦ The Working Poor
◦ The Underclass
Figure 7.7
Stratification Based on Education, Occupation, and
Income
Consider This… Figure 7.8
Figure 7.8
In which segment of
the class structure
would sociologists
place this worker?
What are the key
elements of that
social class?
Contemporary Sociological Models
of the U.S. Class Structure (2)
The Marxian Model of the U.S. Class Structure
◦ The Capitalist Class
Wright’s Class Structure

◦ The Capitalist Class
◦ The Managerial Class
◦ The Small-Business Class
Figure 7.9
Comparison of Marx’s and Wright’s Models of Class
Structure
<insert Figure 7.9>
Polling Question 2
Which model do you prefer: Weber, Marx, or Wright?
Figure 7.11
Many immigrants believe
they can achieve the
American Dream by
starting a small business,
such as a store,
restaurant, or newsstand,
as seen here in a New
York City subway. Skilled
laborers and
tradespeople sometimes
take another approach to
small business by
offering services, such as
landscaping, plumbing,
carpentry, and dog
grooming.
Inequality in the United
States (1)
Income is the economic gain derived from wages, salaries,
income transfers, and ownership of property.
Figure 7.12
Distribution of Pretax income in the United
States
Figure 7.13
Mean Household Income in the United States
Figure 7.14
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity in the
United States
Figure 7.15
Racial Divide in Net Worth, 2013
Inequality in the United
States (2)
Consequences of Inequality
◦ Physical Health, Mental Health, and Nutrition
◦ Housing
◦ Education
Figure 7.16
Rate of Uninsurance by Household Income,
2014
Consider This…
Figure 7.16
Conflict theorists see
schools as agents of
the capitalist class
system that perpetuate
social inequality:
Upper-class students
are educated in well-
appointed
environments such as
the one shown here,
whereas children of the
poor tend to go to
antiquated schools with
limited facilities.
Poverty in the United
States (1)
The official poverty line is based on what the federal
government considers to be the minimum amount of money
required for living at a subsistence level.
Polling Question 3
Do you think the poverty line is too high or too low, or just right?
States (2)
Absolute poverty exists when people do not have the means to
secure the most basic necessities of life.
Relative poverty exists when people may be able to afford basic

necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of
living.
States (3)
Who are the poor?
◦ Age
◦ Gender
◦ Race/Ethnicity
◦ Economic and Structural Sources of Poverty
Figure 7.18
U.S. Poverty Rates by Age, 1959-2014
Figure 7.20 Many women
are among the “working
poor,” who, although
employed full time, have
jobs in service occupations
that are typically lower
paying and less secure
than jobs in other sections
of the labor market. Does
the nature of women’s
work contribute to the
feminization of poverty in
the United States?
Figure 7.21
The California electronic
benefit transfer (EBT) card
represents a modern approach
to helping people of limited
income purchase groceries.
Data-encoded cards such as
this one were developed to
prevent the trading or selling of
traditional food stamps.
However, one drawback of this
technology is that many of
California’s popular farmer’s
markets are not able to
process EBT cards.
Sociological Explanations of Social
Inequality in the United States (1)
Functionalist Perspectives
◦ The Davis-Moore thesis argues that inequality is inevitable and
necessary.
◦ Job deskilling is a reduction in the proficiency needed to perform a
specific job that leads to a corresponding reduction in wages for that
job or in the use of nonhuman technologies to perform the work.
◦ Meritocracy is a hierarchy in which all positions are rewarded based

on people’s ability and credentials.
Conflict Perspectives
◦ People with economic and political power are able to shape and
distribute the rewards, resources, privileges, and opportunities in
society for their own benefit.
◦ Those in power use ideology to maintain their favored positions at the

expense of others.
Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
◦ According to Goffman, deference is a type of ceremonial activity that
functions as a symbolic means whereby appreciation is regularly
conveyed to a recipient.
Figure 7.22
According to a
functionalist
perspective, people
such as these
Harvard Law School
graduates attain high
positions in society
because they are the
most qualified and
they work the
hardest. Is our
society a
meritocracy? How
would conflict
theorists answer this
question?
Concept Quick Review
U.S. Stratification in the
Future
Depth of poverty
Wealth gap
Political influences
Polling Question 4
Can we eliminate poverty?
Quick Quiz 1
1. Those that are poor typically have fewer life chances, which
means they also have fewer opportunities to obtain:
A. money.
B. medical care.
C. property.
D. all of the above.
Quick Quiz 1a
Answer: D.
Those that are poor typically have fewer life chances, which
means they also have fewer opportunities to obtain money,
medical care and property.
© 2018 CENGAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MAY NOT BE

SCANNED, COPIED, OR DUPLICATED, OR POSTED TO A PUBLICLY
ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART.
Quick Quiz 2
2. _____ is a system of social inequality in which people's status
is permanently determined at birth based on their parents'
ascribed characteristics.
A. Class
B. Slavery
C. Caste
D. Socialism
Quick Quiz 2a
Answer: C.
Caste is a system of social stratification where people’s status is
permanently assigned at birth based on their parents’ ascribed
characteristics.
Quick Quiz 3
3. According to Karl Marx, social classes are defined by:
A. relationship to the economic means of production.
B. relative control over power, wealth, and prestige.
C. gender.
D. income.
Quick Quiz 3a
Answer: A.
For Marx, people’s relationship to the means of production
determines their class position. Weber developed a
multidimensional concept of stratification that focuses on the
interplay of wealth, prestige, and power.
Quick Quiz 4
4. About two-thirds of all adults living in poverty are:
A. elderly.
B. black.
C. women.
D. unemployed.
Quick Quiz 4a
Answer: C.
About two-thirds of all adults living in poverty are women. In 2008,
single-parent families headed by women had a 28.7-percent
poverty rate as compared with a 13.8-percent rate for male-
householder-with-no-wife-present families and a 5.5-percent rate
for two-parent families.
Quick Quiz 5
5. People who are wealthy and well educated
and who have high-paying jobs are much
more likely to be healthy than are poor
people.
A. True
B. False
Quick Quiz 5a
Answer: A.
True, people who are wealthy and well educated and who have
high-paying jobs are much more likely to be healthy than are poor
people. As people’s economic status increases, so does their
health status. The poor have shorter life expectancies and are at
greater risk for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease,
and cancer, as well as infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

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Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

Class and Stratification

Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, Kendall, 11e

How does poverty affect someone’s life chances?

Can individuals change their social class?

Life chances refers to the extent to which individuals have

Intergenerational mobility is the social movement experienced

Intragenerational mobility is the social movement of individuals

◦ Alienation is a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other

◦ Prestige is the respect or regard that a person or status position is given

◦ Power is the ability of people or groups to achieve their goals despite

◦ Socioeconomic status refers to a combined measure that attempts to

Wright’s Class Structure

Relative poverty exists when people may be able to afford basic

◦ Meritocracy is a hierarchy in which all positions are rewarded based

◦ Those in power use ideology to maintain their favored positions at the

© 2018 CENGAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. MAY NOT BE

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