Social stratification exists in all known societies and refers to the hierarchical arrangement of social categories and statuses. It can be viewed as a social structure defined by institutionalized inequality, a social process of competition and conflict, or a social problem causing disconnect. The basic components are social class, referring to socioeconomic standing, and social status, one's position within a class. A society's stratification system is influenced by social institutions and can be closed, with inherited status, or open, allowing social mobility. The Philippines has a stratification system with indigenous and colonial influences, consisting of a small upper class, emerging middle class, and large lower class, defined by factors like occupation, land ownership, and ethnicity.

1. CHAPTER 19:
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

2. • Nature of Social Stratification:
All known societies are stratified;
however, stratification systems vary. Social
Stratification tend to be transmitted from one
generation to another. Social positions are
also ranked rated within subgroups.

3. Meaning of Social Stratification
• It is the hierarchical arrangement and establishment of social
categories that may be evolve into social groups together with
statuses and their corresponding roles.
• It’s elements have varying ranks of superiority and inferiority.
• It may be viewed as a social structure, as a social process, or as a
social problem.
• As a social structure, it may be considered as the differentiation of
statuses and social roles into ranked orders or system of layered
hierarchy of social relationships; in other words, “Institutionalized
Inequality”.
• As a social process, it can be thought of as the division of society
competing, and/or conflicting with one another for the status quo
or social change.
• As a social problem, it involves bitter feelings of disconnect and of
strong demands for equality or “social justice”.

4. Basic Components of Social Stratification:
• Social Class - refers to a stratum or category of
persons who have similar socio-economic
priviliges in a society.
• Social Status – is the social standing of a
person or group within a social class or in the
entire social stratification system.

5. Types of Social Classes
• A) Upper Class – consists of the elite families who
are the most productive and successful in their
respective areas like agriculture, industry,
business or government.
The Elite are of 2 types:
1) New Rich – are those who have within their
lifetime amassed enough wealth to enable them to
afford the lifestyle of traditional upper class.
2) Traditional Upper Class – is composed of the
descendants of elite members.

6. • B) Middle Class – small business and industry
owners and managers professional office
workers, and farm owners with income that
provide a comfortable lifestyle class belongs to
this class.
• C) Lower Class – are the farm employees,
unskilled and skilled artisans, service workers,
and the unemployed, indigent families.

7. The Types of Social Stratification
• Caste System – is a type of social stratification that is mainly
based on “inherited inequality.”
• Class System - had existed during the Roman Empire but it
was only with the emergence of industrial society that this
kind of stratification system spread around the world.
• Class Consciousness – is the awareness of one’s social class
position as different from that of another.
• Social Distance – means reserve or restraint in the social
relationships of member of different racial ethnic groups,
social classes, or institutional roles.
• Class Conflict – is the struggle between social classes for more
equitable distribution of wealth, power, and prestige.

8. • Social Mobility – refers to the movement of persons or
groups in the social stratification system. It may be vertical or
horizontal.
• Vertical Social Mobility – occurs when persons or groups move
from one social position to another
• Horizontal Social Mobility – it take place when persons or groups
shift from one social position to another with roles of varying importance
within the same social class.

9. Factors Affecting Social Mobility:
• The Degree to Which Children Succeed their Parents in
their Occupations - is an important indication of social
mobility.
• Education – is a basic factor in occupational mobility but the
quality of education depends to a considerable degree on
parent’s socio economic status
• Geographical & Horizontal Mobility – generally go hand-in-
hand and they maybe significant prerequisites to vertical
mobility.
• High Fertility – it hinders upward mobility especially for the
very poor.
• Vertical Mobility – it underlies the explosition of rising
expectations calling for change in the social stratification
system in developing countries all over the world.

10. • Social Institutions and Social Stratification:
Social Institutions like family, school, labor
market, & government, exert the greatest influence
upon the society’s stratification system. Along with
other institutions like the church and recreational
institutions, they help maintain the status quo just as
they give the means for changing it.

11. Measurement of Social Stratification
Social class or social status has been measured in various
ways. Sociologists have concentrated on variations of two
basic techniques evolved by W. Lloyd Warner.
• The Evaluated Participation (EP) technique assumes that
people within the community are conscious of the ranking
system that develops therein and are able to evaluate each
other.
• The Index of Status Characteristics (I.S.C.) technique uses
factors such as occupation, source of income, house type,
and dwelling area.
They involve basic tools like self-classification, the use of
criteria, and reputational tools.

12. • Social Stratification systems may be closed or
open. Where status is ascribed and “inherited
inequality” is established, the social
stratification system is relatively closed; where
status is achieved and social opportunities are
equalized as much as possible to bring about
greater social mobility, the social stratification
system is comparatively open and is called
CLASS SYSTEM.

13. • Social Stratification System in the Philippines
-Has an indigenous foundation with selected Oriental and
Occidental accessories. The Cultural Communities, The
Christian Filipinos, Chinese, Americans, Indians, and
Europeans have evolved in differentiated unity to compose its
social stratification system.
According to Spanish chronicles, there were distinct social
classes during the pre-Spanish period. They were:
• The datus or “chiefly class” who were the decision makers and
had absolute powers over the followers.
• The maharlika or nobility class who accompanied the datus in
the latter’s economic pursuits, raids, social and religious
activities.
• The timagua or the “common class” who were characterized
as the freemen.
• The aliping (ayueg) or the dependent class who were the
servile debtors.

14. While social mobility was possible, intermarriage
between the social classes was discouraged. Wealth
and personal ability were the criteria for leadership.
Muslim society has three distinguishable social
classes: the hereditary aristocracy, the freemen and the
slaves. The distinctions are based mainly on the
amount of property and the number of slaves owned,
titles and fees received, differences in prestige,
connections with influential political leaders, and
personal qualities. Muslim society is a part-closed
substratification system.

15. J.N Anderson (1962: 41-50) identified the social
classes and statuses of rural communities in
Luzon. Based principally on the type of access
families have to land, the six status distinctions
are:
1. Medium landlords, small owners, owner-famers, and
owner-tenants.
2. Small owners, owner-farmers, and owner-tenants.
3. Tenants.
4. Laborers, agricultural workers, underemployed and
unemployed.
5. The regularly employed in nonagricultural occupations.
6. Those who receive a small regular pension or have
accumulated capital work outside the Philippines.

16. In a Bikol community, people are
classified into social class statuses as “big
people” (dakung tao) or “little people’ (sadit
na tao). In the majority of rural communities,
the substratification systems are not very
distinct and separate. The BARRIO people
(tagabukid) are distinguished from town
people (tagabayan) on the basis of resisdence.
But they do not form distinct social classes.

17. A Filipino “middle class’ is recently emerged
class and is very small. The Filipino lower class
is made up of two subclasses:
• COSMOPOLITAN- is made up of the typical
city dwellers, laborers, minor clerks, drivers,
etc.
• PROVINCIANO-are recent migrants from the
rural areas who are characteristically poor and
as yet ill adjusted to city life.

18. • The Philippine Social Stratification System has
features of the closed and the class stratification
systems. It may be visualized as a predominantly
two-class system, composed of a ver small upper
class and a very large lower class with an
emerging middle class and diverse underlying
substratification systems in the rural and urban
areas. All of these are being subjected to the
influence of land ownership, transfer and tenure,
ethnic background, family ancestry, friendship
ties, education, occupation and international
developments.