Chapter 8

Question 0

Social inequality

Answer 0

describes a condition in which members of soci- ety have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, or power.

Question 1

Stratification

Answer 1

Strata- ranking

Question 2

Class system

Answer 2

The class you belong to is based on how much you make.
Class system is a social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility.

Question 3

Caste

Answer 3

Castes are hereditary ranks that are usually religiously dictated and that tend to be fixed and immobile. Caste membership is an ascribed status (at birth, children automatically assume the same
TABLE 8-1 HUMAN TRAFFICKING REPORT
position as their parents

Question 4

Income

Answer 4

income refers to salaries and wages.

Question 5

Wealth

Answer 5

an inclusive term encompassing all a person’s material assets, including land, stocks, and other types of property.

Question 6

Class system

Answer 6

social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility.

Question 7

Class

Answer 7

refer to a group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income.

Question 8

Status group

Answer 8

refer to people who have the same prestige or lifestyle

Question 9

Power

Answer 9

the ability to exercise one’s will over others.

Question 10

Social mobility

Answer 10

refers to the movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another.

Question 11

Distribution of wealth

Answer 11

There has been a modest redistribution of income in the United States over the past 80 years, but not always to the benefit of the poor or even the middle class. From 1929 through 1970, the gov- ernment’s economic and tax policies shifted some income to the poor. However, in the past four decades—especially in the 1980s and in the decade from 2001 through 2010—federal tax policies favored the affluent. Moreover, while the salaries of highly skilled workers and professionals have continued to rise, the wages of less skilled workers have decreased when controlled for inflation.
Just how dramatic has this growth in inequality been? Con- sider the period between 1984 and 2008. In just 25 years, the fol- lowing changes occurred in real household income (adjusted for inflation):
• For the lowest 20 percent of the population, income rose 9 percent.
• For the next lowest 20 percent of the population, income rose 10 percent.
• For the middle 20 percent of the population, income rose 13 percent.
• For the next highest 20 percent of the population, income rose 20 percent.
• For the top 20 percent of the population, income rose a whop- ping 40 percent.

Question 12

Daniel Rossides

Answer 12

Daniel Rossides (1997) uses a five-class model to describe the class system of the United States: the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower-middle class, the working class, and the lower class.

Question 13

Lower class

Answer 13

lower class, consisting of approximately 20 to 25 percent of the population, disproportion- ately consists of Blacks, Hispanics, single mothers with depen- dent children, and people who cannot find regular work or must make do with low-paying work. This class lacks both wealth and income and is too weak politica

Question 14

Upper class

Answer 14

upper class. This group is limited to the very wealthy, who associate in exclusive clubs and social circles.

Question 15

Lower-middle

Answer 15

lower-middle
class, about 30 to 35 percent of the population, includes less afflu-
ent professionals (such as elementary school teachers and nurses), owners of small businesses, and a sizable number of clerical work- ers.

Question 16

Upper middle class

Answer 16

upper-middle class, about 10 to 15
percent of the population, includes professionals such as doctors, 183 lawyers, and architects.

Question 17

Working class

Answer 17

working class—about 40 to 45 percent of the population— as people who hold regular manual or blue-collar jobs