Transcript Social Class in the United States

Social Class in the United States
Consequences of Social Class
 First, social class opens and closes doors to medical care.
Second, lifestyle is shaped by social class. People in the
lower classes are more likely to smoke, eat a lot of fats, be
overweight, abuse drugs and alcohol, get little exercise, and
practice unsafe sex. Third, life is hard on the poor. The
persistent stresses they face weaken their immune systems
and cause their bodies to wear out faster.
 Not only can the wealthy afford vacations, psychiatrists,
and counselors, but their class position also gives them
greater control over their lives, a key to good mental health.
Consequences of Social Class
 Children of the capitalist class learn that their choice of
husband or wife affects not just them but the entire family,
that it will have an impact on the “family line.” Children of
the poor are more likely to grow up in broken homes.
 Members of the lower classes are more likely to be in
prison, on probation, or on parole. In addition, since those
who commit street crimes tend to do so in or near their own
neighborhoods, the lower classes are more likely to be
robbed, burglarized, or murdered.
With tough economic times, a lot of people have lost their
jobs—and their homes. If this happens, how can you survive?
Maybe a smile and a sense of humor to tap the kindness of
strangers. I took this photo outside Boston’s Fenway Park.
On the left is one of Jennifer Lopez’s homes, this one in Miami
Beach. She also has a home in California and a $10 million
summer getaway in the Hamptons in New York. To the right is a
middle-aged couple who live in an old motor home parked in
Santa Barbara, one of the wealthiest communities in California.
This debutante is making her formal entrance into society,
announcing her eligibility for marriage. Like you she has learned,
from her parents, peers, and education, a view of where she
belongs in life. How do you think her view is different from yours?
(This photo was taken at the annual debutante ball of the Society
of Martha Washington in Laredo, Texas.)
Social Mobility
 The term intergenerational mobility refers to changes in social class
from one generation to the next.
 Structural mobility refers to changes in society that lead large numbers
of people to change their social class.
 Exchange mobility is the movement of large numbers of people from
one social class to another, with the net result that the relative
proportions of the population in the classes remain about the same.
 For many years, studies on mobility only measured men and sons.
Only recently are sociologists examining women’s social mobility.
 Upward social mobility, though welcome, can place people in a world so
different from their world of childhood orientation that they become
strangers to their own family.
The term structural mobility refers to changes in society that push
large numbers of people either up or down the social class ladder. A
remarkable example was the stock market crash of 1929 when
thousands of people suddenly lost their wealth. People who once
“had it made” found themselves standing on street corners selling
apples or, as depicted here, selling their possessions at fire-sale
prices. The crash of 2008 brought similar problems to untold
numbers of people.
The main avenue to the upward social mobility
reviewed in the text has been higher education.
Upward social mobility, though welcome, can place people in
a world so different from their world of childhood orientation
that they become strangers to their own family.
For Your Consideration:
In the box on upward social mobility on page 82, we discussed
how Latinos face a similar situation. Why do you think this is?
What connections do you see among upward mobility,
frustration, and racial–ethnic identity? How do you think that
the upward mobility of whites is different? Why?
Drawing the Poverty Line
 The poverty line is the same for everyone across the
nation, even though the cost of living is much higher
in New York than in Alabama.
 On the other hand, much of the income of the poor is
not counted: food stamps, rent assistance, subsidized
child care, and the earned income tax credit.
High rates of rural poverty
have been a part of the United
States from its origin to the
present. This 1937 photo
shows a 32-year-old woman
who had seven children and
no food. She was part of a
huge migration of people
from the Dust Bowl of
Oklahoma in search of a new
life in California.
Who Are the Poor?
 Poverty varies by region, is often rural and/or suburban.
 Whites have lowest percentage but highest numbers of the
poor. 44 percent of all poor people are white.
 The chances that someone will be poor become less with
each higher level of education.
 Families headed by both a mother and father are the least
likely to be poor, while those headed by only a mother are
the most likely to be poor.
 The elderly are less likely than the general population to be
poor.
Poverty comes in many forms. Families who go into debt to buy
possessions squeak by month after month until a crisis turns their
lives upside down. I took this photo of a family in Georgia, parked
alongside a highway selling their possessions to survive our
economic downturn.
Children of Poverty
 Children Are More Likely to be Poor than Adults or
the Elderly
The Dynamics of Poverty Versus the Culture
of Poverty
 Culture of poverty: the assumption that the values and
behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different
from other people, that these factors are largely responsible
for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty
across generations by passing these characteristics to their
children.
 Many people live on the edge of poverty. They manage to
keep their heads above poverty, although barely, but then
comes some dramatic life change such as a divorce, an
accident, an illness, or the loss of a job. The poverty trigger
propels them over the edge.
 Most poverty is short-lived, lasting less than a year.
Why Are People Poor?
 Social structure. Sociologists stress that features of society deny some
people access to education or training in job skills.
 A competing explanation focuses on the characteristics of individuals.
Sociologists reject explanations such as laziness and lack of intelligence,
viewing these as worthless stereotypes.
 A third explanation is the poverty triggers that were just mentioned, the
unexpected events in life that push people into poverty.
Deferred Gratification
 One consequence of a life of deprivation punctuated by
emergencies—and of viewing the future as promising more
of the same—is a lack of deferred gratification, giving up
things in the present for the sake of greater gains in the
future.
 Sociologists, then, do not view the behaviors of the poor as
the cause of their poverty but, rather, as the result of their
poverty. Poor people would welcome the middle-class
opportunities that would allow them the chance to practice
the middle-class virtue of deferred gratification. Without
those opportunities, though, they just can’t afford it.
Where Is Horatio Alger? The Social
Functions of a Myth
 The Horatio Alger myth is the belief that due to
limitless possibilities, anyone can get ahead if he or
she tries hard enough.


Encourages People to Strive to Get Ahead
Blames Individuals for Their Failures
A society’s dominant ideologies
are reinforced throughout the
society, including its literature.
Horatio Alger provided
inspirational heroes for
thousands of boys. The central
theme of these many novels,
immensely popular in their
time, was rags to riches.
Through rugged determination
and self-sacrifice, a boy could
overcome seemingly
insurmountable obstacles to
reach the pinnacle of success.
(Girls did not strive for
financial success, but were
dependent on fathers and
husbands.)