WEEK 6

SOCIAL INEQUALITIES
MODULE 6

General instructions: Read the specific directions carefully before answering the
exercises and activities. Accomplish this module on or before the deadline. For online
consultations, please refer to the given schedule.

What do I need to know?

ESSENTIAL Learning Purposes: At the end of this chapter, you are expected to:
 M: Evaluates factors causing social, political and cultural change
 T: Assimilate issues concerning government programs and initiatives
 M: Support advocacies to emerging changes
 M: Suggest ways to address social inequalities
 M: Self-assess initiatives addressing global inequalities

ACTIVITY 1
Pre-assessment activity: Multiple Choice

DIRECTION: Write the letter of the correct answer right before the number. Strictly
avoid erasures.

____ 1. It is a hierarchy of positions with regard to economic production which influences

the social rewards to those in the positions.
a. Social
b. Social stratification
c. Social Inequality
d. Stratification 2

____ 2. A system in which people are divided into layers according to their relative
power, property and prestige.
a. Social mobility
b. Social stratification
c. Social Inequality
d. Social Desirables

____ 3. This refers to a movement of individuals, families or other categories of people

within or between layers or tiers in an open system of social stratification.
a. Social mobility
b. Social stratification
c. Social Inequality
d. Social Desirables

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____ 4. Which of the following refers to the over-all numbers of people who end up in a
different layer of stratification from that of their parents.
a. Social mobility
b. Absolute social mobility
c. Relative social mobility
d. Social desirables

___ 5. It is the differences in probability in attaining a certain outcome, regardless of an

over-all structural changes.
a. Social mobility
b. Absolute social mobility
c. Relative social mobility
d. Social desirables

___ 6. How do you call of a movement of people from one stratum to another or from
one status to another.
a. vertical mobility
b. horizontal mobility
c. upward mobility
d. downward mobility

___ 7. It refers to the movement of people from one social group to another situated on
the same level.
a. vertical mobility
b. horizontal mobility
c. upward mobility
d. downward mobility

___ 8. Which of the following refers to the changes in status occur from one generation
to another.
a. upward mobility
b. downward mobility
c. inter-generational mobility
d. intra-generational mobility

___ 9. The changes in status occur within one generation.

a. upward mobility
b. downward mobility
c. inter-generational mobility
d. intra-generational mobility

___ 10. It is social standing or position that a member occupies in the social structure. a.
Social status
b. Social class
c. Social role
d. Social Inequality

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WHAT TO KNOW?

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

SOCIAL
Here in the Philippines, social stratification is very
noticeable. Wherever you are and wherever you go, INEQUALITY
social stratification is present. Sometimes, you cannot
notice it but when you look at a certain thing or Social inequality refers to
situation deeply, you can see that. The influence of differences between groups
government officials is more noticeable in public of people that are
today. We are always looking for advancement that hierarchical in nature. It refers
to the hierarchical distribution
of social, political, economic
and cultural resources. It is
also related to the concept of
stratification, a more specific
and technical term or a
model of social inequality that
specifies the relationship
between particular variables,
such as wealth and social
we can get only when we are in the higher class in standing.
society. Even though most of the Filipino population
today is in the middle class and only a few are in the According to Sullivan, social
highest class, we can feel the influence of those few class is a segment of
who are in the highest class in our everyday living. population whose members
holds similar amounts of
This is how great the social stratification is and in
scarce resources and share
which even in the house of God or in the churches
values, norms and an
their influence is very noticeable. But even though
this social stratification is present in our everyday identifiable lifestyle.
living, don‟t forget that in the eye of God we are all
equal and we are given equal prioritized by Him. But
don‟t be stocked on what you are today. Exert an
effort to have an improvement in life.name of their
known politician to escape the punishment that they
should face. In terms of wealth, they usually use the
money to do them a favor and to prioritize them. In
education, most of the time people don‟t look at the
knowledge that the person has, they usually look at
the school or university where the person came from.
And in physical appearance, people having
luminous skin, tall, and attractive are given more
chances and advancement.

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WHAT’S MORE?

Social Mobility
Social mobility refers to the ability to change positions within a social stratification system.
When people improve or diminish their economic status in a way that affects social class,
they experience social mobility.

Individuals can experience upward or downward social mobility for a variety of

reasons. Upward mobility refers to an increase—or upward shift—in social class. In the
United States, people applaud the rags-to-riches achievements of celebrities like Jennifer
Lopez or Michael Jordan. Bestselling author Stephen King worked as a janitor prior to being
published. Oprah Winfrey grew up in poverty in rural Mississippi before becoming a
powerful media personality. There are many stories of people rising from modest
beginnings to fame and fortune. But the truth is that relative to the overall population, the
number of people who rise from poverty to wealth is very small.

Still, upward mobility is not only about becoming rich and famous. In the United States,
people who earn a college degree, get a job promotion, or marry someone with a good
income may move up socially. In contrast, downward mobility indicates a lowering of
one’s social class. Some people move downward because of business setbacks,
unemployment, or illness. Dropping out of school, losing a job, or getting a divorce may

How can the government reduce
social inequality?
If a society decides to reduce the
level of economic inequality, it has
three main sets of tools: redistribution
from those with high incomes to
those with low incomes; trying to
assure that a ladder of opportunity is
widely available; and a tax on
inheritance.
result in ainequality. Second,
therefore,
No society should expect or desire complete
equality of income at a given point in time,
for a number of reasons. First, most workers
receive relatively low earnings in their first
few jobs, higher earnings as they reach
middle age, and then lower earnings after
retirement. Thus, a society with people of
varying ages will have a certain amount of
income
loss of income people’s
or status and,
preferences downward social
and desires mobility.
differ. Some are
willing to work long hours to have income for
large houses, fast cars and computers, luxury
vacations, and the ability to support children
and grandchildren.

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 SOCIAL DESIRABLES

In a society where social stratification is present, social desirables are inevitable. Social
desirables refer to factors that are somewhat accepted or desired in a certain society.
Social desirables may be associated with social status, popularity, acceptance, or
approval. These factors can be considered as qualities that make individuals appear
as socially desirable in the community. There are three most desired qualities in every
society:
1. Wealth
2. Power
3. Prestige

Economic inequality is
perhaps most troubling when
it is not the result of effort or
talent, but instead is
determined by the
circumstances under which a
child grows up.

One child attends a well-run

grade school and high school and heads on to college, while parents help out by
supporting education and other interests, paying for college, a first car, and a first house,
and offering work connections that lead to internships and jobs. Another child attends a
poorly run grade school, barely makes it through a low-quality high school, does not go to
college, and lacks family and peer support. These two children may be similar in their
underlying talents and in the effort they put forth, but their economic outcomes are likely to
be quite different.

Who benefits from social assistance in the Philippines?

This note discusses two of the Philippines' biggest social assistance programs the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the government's first conditional cash transfer (CCT) program,
and the rice subsidy program of the National Food Authority (NFA), one of the country's
long-standing food-based social assistance programs with a focus on targeting efficiency
and the benefits to the poor. The goal of the CCT program, which has an explicit poverty
targeting mechanism embedded in the program, is to provide short-term cash assistance
to poor households while helping to strengthen human capital of their children with the
long-run vision of breaking the cycle of poverty. The goal of rice subsidy program is to
ensure that low-priced rice is available in the markets to all consumers. Using benefit
incidence analysis on the latest official household surveys of 2009, results suggest that both
programs benefit poorest households the most. This has implications for the CCT program
given the program was only launched with limited coverage in 2008. Despite having been
implemented for one year as captured by the data, the program had already reached
12.4 percent of poor households in 2009.

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 ACTIVITY 2
Matching Type
Instruction: Match the items in Column B with the items in Column A. Write the
letter of your answer on the space before each number found in Column A.
Column A Column B

WHAT’S MORE?
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION:

Different Types of Social Inequality

Patterns of Inequality

There are a number of socially defined characteristics of individuals that contribute to

social status and, therefore, equality or inequality within a society. When researchers use
quantitative variables such as income or wealth to measure inequality, on an examination
of the data, patterns are found that indicate these other social variables contribute to
income or wealth as intervening variables. Significant inequalities in income and wealth
are found when specific socially defined categories of people are compared. Among the
most pervasive of these variables are sex/gender, race, and ethnicity. This is not to say, in
societies wherein merit is considered to be the primary factor determining one's place or
rank in the social order, that merit has no effect on variations in income or wealth. It is to
say that these other socially defined characteristics can, and often do, intervene in the
valuation of merit.

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Gender Inequality

Gender as a social inequality is whereby women and men are treated differently due to
masculinity and femininity by dividing labor, assigning roles, and responsibilities and
allocating social rewards. Sex- and gender based prejudice and discrimination, called
sexism, are major contributing factors to social inequality. Most societies, even agricultural
ones, have some sexual division of labor and gender-based division of labor tends to
increase during industrialization. The emphasis on gender inequality is born out of the
deepening division in the roles assigned to men and women, particularly in the economic,
political and educational spheres. Women are underrepresented in political activities and
decision-making processes in most states in both the Global North and Global South.

Gender discrimination

Concerning the lower social status of women, has been a topic of serious discussion not
only within academic and activist communities but also by governmental agencies and
international bodies such as the United Nations. These discussions seek to identify and
remedy widespread, institutionalized barriers to access for women in their societies. By 9
making use of gender analysis, researchers try to understand the social expectations,
responsibilities, resources and priorities of women and men within a specific context,
examining the social, economic and environmental factors which influence their roles and
decision-making capacity. By enforcing artificial separations between the social and
economic roles of men and women, the lives of women and girls are negatively impacted
and this can have the effect of limiting social and economic development.

Racial and Ethnic Inequality

Racial or ethnic inequality is the result of hierarchical social distinctions between racial and
ethnic categories within a society and often established based on characteristics such as
skin color and other physical characteristics or an individual's place of origin or culture.
Racism is whereby some races are more privileged and are allowed to venture into the
labor market and are better compensated than others.

Ethnicity is the privilege one enjoys for belonging to a particular ethnic group. Even though
race has no biological connection, it has become a socially constructed category
capable of restricting or enabling social status. Racial inequality can also result in
diminished opportunities for members of marginalized groups, which in turn can lead to
cycles of poverty and political marginalization. Racial and ethnic categories become a
minority category in a society. Minority members in such a society are often subjected to
discriminatory actions resulting from majority policies, including assimilation, exclusion,
oppression, expulsion, and extermination.

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Age Inequality

Age discrimination is defined as the unfair treatment of people with regard to promotions,
recruitment, resources, or privileges because of their age. It is also known as ageism: the
stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups based upon their age. It is
a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age-based prejudice,
discrimination, and subordination. One form of ageism is adultism, which is the
discrimination against children and people under the legal adult age. An example of an
act of adultism might be the policy of a certain establishment, restaurant, or place of
business to not allow those under the legal adult age to enter their premises after a certain
time or at all. While some people may benefit or enjoy these practices, some find them
offensive and discriminatory. Discrimination against those under the age of 40 however is
not illegal under the current U.S. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Inequalities in Health

Health inequalities can be defined as differences in health status or in the distribution of

health determinants between different population groups.

Health Care

Health inequalities are in many cases related to access to health care. In industrialized
nations, health inequalities are most prevalent in countries that have not implemented a
universal health care system, such as the United States. Because of the US health care
system is heavily privatized, access to health care is dependent upon one's economic
capital; Health care is not a right, it is a commodity that can be purchased through private
insurance companies (or that is sometimes provided through an employer). The way health
care is organized in the U.S. contributes to health inequalities based on gender,
socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity. As Wright and Perry assert, "social status
differences in health care are a primary mechanism 10 of health inequalities". In the United
States, over 48 million people are without medical care coverage. This means that almost
one sixth of the population is without health insurance, mostly people belonging to the
lower classes of society.

Food

There has been considerable research in recent years regarding a phenomenon known as
food deserts, in which low access to fresh, healthy food in a neighborhood leads to poor
consumer choices and options regarding diet. It is widely thought that food deserts are
significant contributors to the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States and many
other countries. This may have significant impacts on the local level as well as in broader
contexts, such as in Greece, where the childhood obesity rate has skyrocketed in recent
years heavily as a result of the rampant poverty and the resultant lack of access to fresh
foods.

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Global Inequality

The economies of the world have developed unevenly, historically, such that entire
geographical regions were left mired in poverty and disease while others began to reduce
poverty and disease on a wholesale basis. This was represented by a type of North–South
divide that existed after World War II between First world, more developed, industrialized,
wealthy countries and Third world countries, primarily as measured by GDP. From around
1980, however, through at least 2011, the GDP gap, while still wide, appeared to be closing
and, in some more rapidly developing countries, life expectancies began to rise. However,
there are numerous limitations of GDP as an economic indicator of social "well-being."

ANSWER THIS!
ACTIVITY 3
Instruction: Elaborate the following questions. Base your answer on the
rubric given. The rubric for essay is applied to other essay activities

RUBRICS FOR ESSAY

AREAS OF 2 3 4 5
ASSESSMENT

IDEAS Ideas are Limited Answer is Excellent

repeated, presentation almost presentation
weak of ideas, some complete with of ideas,
points, ideas are out minimal complete
of context unrelated presentation
Presented ideas of related
some insights
irrelevant
ideas

UNDERSTANDING Redundant Limited Good logical Excellent

& organization presentation presentation, presentation
ORGANIZATION of thoughts of clear of
understanding, organization understanding
minimal of answer and
coherence of organization
organization

Major Limited error Readable Excellent

problems on mechanics sentence presentation of
GRAMMAR & with and grammar structure, grammar and
MECHANICS mechanics good mechanics. No
and structure of errors
grammar mechanics committed.
and grammar

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 1. How are power, wealth, and prestige interrelated as social desirables?
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2. How is social inequality produced?

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3. What policies can you recommend to address the inequalities in our society?
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ENRICHMENT
Please take time to watch the following video/s attached in this section before
you proceed in the next lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78t8GgjTcIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M3rEWrPRt0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDnRs1Wb3Xw

References:

 Atienza, M. et. al (2016). Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. C & E Publishing, Inc.
 Lanuza, G. & Raymundo, S. (2016). Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. REX Book Store
 Riodique, F. (2016). Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. Mindshapers Co., Inc.

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