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20 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Income
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Economic gain from wages, salaries, government aid, and ownership of property
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Wealth
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The value of economic assets, including income, personal property, and income-producing property
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Statistics
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The top 1% of households has 1/3 of the wealth
Middle class is shrinking Working class is barely surviving If private and public wealth was divided equally in the US then each person would have about 425,000 |
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The Financial Difference:
Life Expectancy |
The rich live 7 more years of life on average than poor people. The lower you are on the economic hierarchy, the worse your health and the shorter your life is likely to be.
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The Financial Difference:
Risk Factors |
The lower your social status or ranking in an organization or society, the higher the risk factors and mortality rates.
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The Financial Difference:
Low Education |
Less educated are twice as likely to die of chronic diseases, three times as likely to die as a result of injury, and twice as likely to die of communicable diseases.
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The Financial Difference:
Educational Expenses |
Rich families will spend over 250,000 on educating a child up to age 18, middle-class families will spend over 170,000 and poor families will spend less than 40,000
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The Financial Difference:
Children |
Born into poor families are three times more likely to die from disease, neglect, accidents, or violence during their first year of life.
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The Financial Difference:
Women |
Women with families below 10,000 are more than three times as likely to die of heart disease and three times as likely to die of diabetes compared with those of income higher than 25,000
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The Financial Difference:
African Americans |
More likely than whites to die of heart disease, stroke, lung, colon, prostate, and all cancers combined, liver disease, diabetes, AIDS, accidental injury, and homicide
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Who are the Poor?
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More than 32.9 million poor people in the USA represent 11.7% of the population
1 out of 3 poor people are under 18 31% of all poor of black, 28% latino, 10% white children 1 in 6 children in the US live in poverty - 23% of black kids, 21% of hispanic, 10% of asian Black income is only 66% of white income - only 6% closer than it was in 1970 Among women heading their own households, one quarter live below the poverty line. |
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Homeless Families
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No accurate statistics
Families have been the fastest growing groups of homeless people The average american must earn at least 15.21 an hour to rent a small apartment. |
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Functional Theories of Inequality
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Certain positions in society are functionally more important than others and require special skills to fill them.
Only a limited number of people in society have the talents that can be trained into skills appropriate for these positions. The conversion of talents into skills invovles training and sacrifice. In order to induce talented people to undergo these sacrifices and acquire training, their future positions must carry an inducement value - rewards. the differential access to these rewards has a consequence rights and privileges that are institutionalized in society. Social inequality is both positively functional and inevitable in society. |
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Criticisms of Functionalism
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Does not distinguish between social differentiation and social stratification or inequality.
How much inequality is necessary, really? Who decides what jobs/roles are more important than others? How do we explain important functions in society being underpaid? Not everyone has equal access to opportunities. The search for talent is biased in favor of the wealthy. Once in positions of wealth and power, members of the upper classes block access to resources to members or poorer classes. |
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Conflict Theories of Inequality
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Inequality is not necessary nor inevitable. Inequality has serious negative, economic, political, and social consequences.
Those who have wealth occupy such positions because of privileges. Social stratification benefit some at the expense of others. Those in positions of power and wealth use the resources they possess and control to block and exclude others from sharing that wealth. |
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The Power Elite
Reading |
Power Elite: Composed of men in command of main centers of power in our society who are in a position to make decisions or refrain from decisions that have major consequences on all others in their communities and the rest of the world.
Interlocking Directorate: At the top of corporations, the military, and the polity the members of an interdependent power elite are recruited making decisions that are supported, coordinated, and enforced by each of these three institutions. Institutional Power: Men are powerful insolar as they control the resources of these three interlocking institutions. |
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Getting Corporations off the Public Dole
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Corporate Welfare: 167 billion in 1995
Corporations and the wealthier classes receive by far more subsidies, gifts, and handouts from the government than the poor on welfare and minority groups. Government subsides to corporations and the wealthy are named economic incentives, etc. Subsidies to the poor and minorities are called 'affirmative action, handouts, welfare, etc. |
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The Media and the Rich
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The media shapes the way we think about everyone else, particularly the wealthy and the middle class:
The wealthy and the middle class are us The wealthy as a class do not exist The wealthy are fascinating and benevolent The wealthy include a few bad apples The middle class is a victim The middle class is not a working class |
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The Media and the Poor
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The poor do not exist
The poor are faceless The poor are undeserving The poor are an eyesore The poor have only themselves to blame The poor are down on their luck The poor are a burden on the middle class |
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Blaming the Victim
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Blaming the poor for being poor stems from the myth that success requires only individual motivation and ability.
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