Ch 2. Wealth and Poverty

Question 1

meritocracy

Answer 1

A nation where the best person can rise to the top in any situation, despite their background/history

Question 2

Great Gatsby Curve

Answer 2

parents’ wealth impacts the wealth of their children meaning that intergenerational mobility is declining in Canada.

Question 3

Rags to Riches…

Answer 3

…not impossible but improbable

Question 4

The Precariat Class (Guy Standing)

Answer 4

people living in insecure jobs

Question 5

The Precarious Class is characterized by… (4)

Answer 5

1. High levels of education or skills
2. Job insecurity
3. Economic insecurity
4. Limited leisure time

Question 6

Social stratification

Answer 6

the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups on the basis of their control over basic resources

Question 7

Life Chances (Max Weber)

Answer 7

the extent to which people have access to food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care, are important

Question 8

Marx’s model regarding inequality

Answer 8

Inequality and poverty are inevitable by-products of the exploitation of workers by capitalists

Question 9

Wealth (Weber)

Answer 9

is the value of all economic assets, including income and savings

Question 10

Income (Weber)

Answer 10

is economic gain from wages, income transfers (e.g., from government), or ownership of property

Question 11

Power (Weber)

Answer 11

is the ability to achieve goals despite opposition from others

Question 12

Prestige (Weber)

Answer 12

is the respect, esteem, or regard accorded to an individual or group by others

Question 13

Living Wage in Calgary

Answer 13

A person must make at least $22.40 per hr. without benefits. The current minimum wage in Alberta is $15.00 per hr. (2002)

Question 14

Criteria for Living Wage (4)

Answer 14

1. Meet their basic needs: housing, transportation, adequate, nutritious food
2. Maintain a safe, decent, dignified standard of living
3. Save for future needs and goals
4. Devote quality time to family, friends and community

Question 15

LIM (measuring poverty)

Answer 15

Low-income measurement: half the median family income

Question 16

LICO (measuring poverty)

Answer 16

Low income cut-off: Those who spend more than a portion of their income on basic needs

Question 17

Market Basket Measurement (measuring poverty)

Answer 17

ability to purchase goods including food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and other basic needs.

Question 18

sustainable livelihood

Answer 18

to a person’s ability to cope with and recover from episodes that stress or strain the required resources to maintain or develop our existing lives

Question 19

Sustainable Livelihood is based on mapping these assets (5)

Answer 19

1. Human: the ability to earn income health, training, and education
2. Personal: motivation self-esteem
3. Social: family and friends, communities and support networks
4. Physical: housing, food, access to services
5. Financial: money and possessions

Question 20

Picture of economic inequality in Canada

Answer 20

by 9:43 am on the first working in day 2023, Canada’s top 100 CEOs will earn the average Canadian salary (Inequality in increasing in Canada) 243 times more than the average worker.

Question 21

Canada as a welfare state examples (3)

Answer 21

1. Universal healthcare
2. Income assistance
3. AISH, Assured income for the severely handicapped

Question 22

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective (2)

Answer 22

Investigates the ways in which society does the following:

1. Blaming the Victim – societal ideas that suggest that the individual is responsible for their social position
2. Culture of Poverty – establishes a system that traps individuals in a way of thinking and behaving in the world

Question 23

Conspicuous consumption (interactionalist perspective)

Answer 23

Spending money to portray a specific social status

Question 24

Cultural capital

Answer 24

The symbolic elements such as skills, tastes, clothing, material belongings, credentials etc that represent a person’s social standing.

Question 25

Structural Functionalist Perspective (3)

Answer 25

Davis and Moore – inequality functions to motivate people to work hard

1. Desperate workers fill “unwanted” jobs
2. Better, desirable, and necessary jobs are compensated as such
3. Poverty serves the “poverty industry”

Question 26

Social-Conflict Perspective (2)

Answer 26

1. Poverty is a side effect of a capitalist economy
2. Shareholders and chief executive officers have lucrative salaries and compensation packages while downsizing, technology, and reliance on part-time workers places employees at a disadvantage

Question 27

Feminist Perspective (2)

Answer 27

1. Women are systemically disadvantaged
2. Fredrick Engels – capitalism - private property - inheritance (males)

Question 28

Homelessness in Canada (2)

Answer 28

1. Any given night roughly 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness (3,200-3,600 in Calgary)
2. Classifications of homeless populations include – unsheltered, emergency sheltered, in transition, chronic and episodic

Question 29

Max Webers Multi-Dimensional Model

Answer 29

wealth, power, and prestige determine stratification