What is the median income for the traditional household?
$56,000.00
the chances in life of doing well depending on what family you are born into
life chances
_% of all children in US are born into poverty
20%
people buy things conspicuously that they don’t need to make a statement
conspicuous consumption
when something in a structure of society pushes whole groups up or whole groups down
structural mobility
within generation; once career path is started, measure how much things change
intragenerational
between generations; when we compare ourselves to our parents or ancestors
intergenerational
What is the average credit card debt in the US?
$8,000
Staying the same on the social ladder
horizontal mobility
moving up or down the social class ladder
vertical mobility
what is the minimum wage?
$7.25
the inability to provide the basic things to live
absolute poverty
If you fall below this you are in absolute poverty; below $24,000
Poverty line
poor in comparison to other individuals
relatively poor
knowledge or sophistication of cultural aspects of society
cultural capital
how well someone does their job no matter what their prestige
esteem index
how important we think people are; ranked high in society
prestige
people moving from the mid middle class to the lower middle class
shrinking middle class
physically or mentally limited; work on an hourly basis and don’t think for the future
lower low class
How much of the population does the lower low class make up?
12%
functionally literate; work on a day to day basis; (21% can’t read or write about 5th grade level
upper lower class
how much of the population does the upper lower class make up?
13%
have a high school diploma; work on a week to week basis
lower middle class
how much of the population does the lower middle class make up?
30%
bachelors degree; work on a month to month basis
mid middle class
how much of the population is made up by the mid middle class?
30%
What is the nickname for the mid middle class?
“middle management” or “supervisors”
what is the nickname for the lower middle class?
“working class”
what is the nickname for the upper lower class?
“working poor”
what is the nickname for the lower low class?
“poor”
graduate degree; work on a year to year basis
upper middle class
what is the nickname for the lower upper class?
“upper management”
how much of the population makes up the upper middle class?
14%
how much of the population has a graduate level education?
12%
how much of the population has a college degree?
32%
came into their money in the last generation or 2 and tend to show it off
lower upper class
nickname for lower upper class
“new rich”
how much of the population does the upper class make up?
less than 3%
aren’t showy with their money bc it has been in the family for generation
upper upper class
what is the upper upper class’s nickname?
“old money” or “blue bloods”
money that is generated on a quarterly basis from the stocks you own
dividends
how much you make during a specific period
income
accumulative possession you own
wealth
how much of money does the upper class control?
80-85%
money is still a factor but it’s not the only thing theory
Contemporary (late) theory
everything comes down to money which causes tension between the people who do and don’t have it
Marxist (early) conflict theory
everything exists because of some problem; tension between groups or people
conflict theory
unclear or unstated purpose
latent/hidden function
has a stated purpose; “this is the reason it exists”
manifest function
everything in society has a function
functional theory
__ says Times change and sometimes things lose their functions or new things arise that have a purpose
functionalists
social layers; artificial distinctions between people that the society makes up
social stratification
_% of life is based on life chances
40-46%
Men in their early 40s blue collar workers earn about $___/year
$42,000
Men with a college degree earn about $__ year
$65,000
__ – rich because they were the first to industrialize so they got a head start on everyone else; industrialize around 1800s
First world country
___ – well off but not as rich as first world because they didn’t industrialize as early as first world; industrialize around 1900s
Secondly world country aka industrial nation
___ – overt political and military domination of one country by another
Colonialism
___ – these countries at the bottom are dependent on first and second world countries to survive
dependency theory
AKA non-industrialized countries – bottom of the international barrel
Third world country
was the first to come up with exponential growth which challenges normal arithmetic growth; concerned about worldwide famine
Thomas Malthus
– concerned about exponential growth; concerned not so much about famine but about things like the melting of the polar ice caps, pollution, etc.
Neo- Malthusians