Stratification refers to systematic inequalities between groups that arise from social processes and relationships. Social stratification creates a hierarchy in society where groups have unequal access to resources, power, and social worth. It can take various forms like class, race, and gender, which overlap and influence life chances. Theories of stratification like functionalism see it as necessary for society, while conflict theory views it as certain groups exploiting others. Stratification is evident in the United States through inequality in income, wealth, health outcomes, and poverty rates along racial and gender lines.

1. Stratification

2. What Is Stratification?
 Stratification refers to systematic inequalities
between groups of people that arise as
intended or unintended consequences of social
processes and relationships.
2

3. Social Stratification
 A relatively fixed, hierarchical arrangement
in society by which groups have different
access to resources, power, and perceived
social worth.
 In a sports organization:
◦ Owners control the resources of the
teams.
◦ Players earn high salaries, yet do not
control the team resources.
◦ Sponsors provide the resources.
◦ Fans provide revenue.

4. Diverse Sources of
Stratification
 Race, class, and gender are overlapping
systems of stratification.
 Class position is manifested differently,
depending on race and gender.
 Example: A Black middle-class man who is
stopped by police when driving through a
White middle-class neighborhood may feel
his racial status is his most outstanding
characteristic, but his race, class, and
gender always influence his life chances.

5. Forms of Stratification
The class system is
The caste system is an economically
The estate system is
a system of based system of
a politically based
stratification based stratification with
system of
on hereditary somewhat loose
stratification
notions of religious social mobility based
characterized by
and theological on roles in the
limited social
purity and generally production process
mobility.
offers no prospects rather than individual
for social mobility. characteristics.
5

6. Why do billionaires such as Warren Buffett (left) or
Bill Gates (right) support the estate tax?
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

7. Infographic, CEO Compensation, 1978-2008
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Figure 7.2 CEO Compensation, 1978–2008 Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

8. Infographic, CEO Compensation, 1978-2008
Figure 7.2 CEO Compensation, 1978–2008 You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

9. Figure 7.3 Average CEO Pay versus Production
Worker Pay, 1970–2002
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

10. Social Mobility
 The estate tax in the United States is related to
the issue of stratification because it goes to the
heart of questions about how to promote
business growth, how wealth should be
distributed, how to encourage meritocracy, and
how to build a more equitable society.
10

11. Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
Inequality
Motivates people to fill
Functionalism positions that are needed
for the survival of the whole.
Results when those with the
Conflict Theory most resources exploit
others.

12. Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
Class Structure
Differentiation is essential
Functionalism
for a cohesive society.
Different groups struggle
over resources and
Conflict Theory
compete for social
advantage.

13. Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
Life chances
Those who work hardest
Functionalism and succeed have greater
life chances.
The most vital jobs in
Conflict Theory society are usually the least
rewarded.

14. Social Stratification
 Why Is There Inequality?
 The Class Structure of the
United States
 Diverse Sources of Stratification
 Poverty

15. How Is America Stratified Today?
 The income gap
between high-income
and low-income
individuals has
increased dramatically
over the last 30 years.
 One out of two people
are living in or heading
to poverty in the United
States
15

16. Inequality in the United
States
 Nearly 1 in 6 children in the U.S.
live poverty:
◦ 30% of African American
children
◦ 29% of Hispanic children
◦ 12% of Asian American children
◦ 9.4% of White non-Hispanic
children

17. Inequality in the United
States
 15% of the U.S. population has no
health insurance.
 The average cost of a day’s stay in the
hospital is $1, 217—two weeks’ pay
for the average worker

18. Inequality in the United
States
 1% of the U.S. population controls 38% of
the total wealth in the nation.
 The bottom 20% owe more than they own.
 CEOs of major companies earn an average
of $13.1 million dollars per year.
 Workers earning the minimum wage make
$10,712 per year, if they work 40 hours a
week for 52 weeks per year and hold only
one job.

19. Social Class in the U.S.
 Upper class
 Upper-middle class
 Middle class
 Lower-middle class
 Lower class

20. The Laddered Model of Stratification

21. The Double Diamond Model of
Stratification

22. Median Income by Race and Household
Status

23. Wealth and Income
 Wealth is the monetary value of
everything one owns, minus debt.
◦ It is calculated by adding all financial
assets and subtracting all debts.
 Income is the amount of money
brought into a household from various
sources during a given period.

24. Distribution of Wealth and
Income
 The wealthiest 1% own 38% of all net
worth; the bottom 80% control only
17%.
 The top 1% also owns almost half of
all stock; the bottom 80% own only 4%
of total stock holdings.

25. The Tax Burden: For Whom?

26. Poverty Among the Old and
Young

27. Defining Social Mobility
 Social mobility is a person’s movement over
time from one class to another.
 Social mobility can be up or down, although
the American dream emphasizes upward
movement.
 Mobility can also be either
intergenerational, occurring between
generations; or intragenerational, occurring
within a generation.

28. You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Table 7.1 Relative Social Prestige of Selected U.S. Occupations Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

29. Social Mobility
 Mobility is a collective effort that involves
kin and sometimes community.
 Upward Mobility
◦ People who are upwardly mobile are often
expected to distance themselves from
their origins.
 Downward Mobility
◦ As income distribution is becoming more
skewed toward the top, many in the
middle class are experiencing mobility
downward.

30. Globalization and Sweatshops
Supporting the Brands You Love:
Two Views
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2sW2wt3nLU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a_D-azUogg

31. Who are the Poor?
 In 2002, there were 34.6 million poor
people in the U.S.
 The poor:
◦ 31% of Native Americans
◦ 24% of African Americans
◦ 22% of Hispanics
◦ 10% of Asians and Pacific Islanders
◦ 10% of Whites
U.S. Poverty Rate Climbed To 15.1 Percent in
2011, Total Number Hit All-Time Record Total
Population - 312,000,000 – 47,000,00 in poverty

32. How do we compare to the
world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpKbO6O3O3M

33. The lines at the local food bank.

34. Who are the Homeless?
 A 2001 survey of 27 cities found that
the homeless population is:
◦ 50% African American
◦ 35% White
◦ 12% Hispanic
◦ 2% Native American
◦ 1% Asian

35. Who are the Homeless?
 Battered women
 Elderly
 Disabled
 Mentally Ill (20-25%)
 Veterans
 AIDS victims

36. What do you think are the
Reasons for Homelessness?
 Unemployment and/or eviction
 Reductions in federal support for
affordable housing
 Eroding work opportunities
 Inadequate housing for low-
income people

37. What do you think are the
Reasons for Homelessness
 Reductions in public assistance
 Inadequate health care
 Domestic violence
 Addiction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E
-naXAOUslM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I
Cx3AfSlc-w&feature=related

38. Explanations of Poverty
 Culture of poverty - poverty is a way
of life that is transferred from
generation to generation.
 Structural causes of poverty -
poverty is caused by economic and
social transformations taking place in
the U.S.

39. Arguments Against
―The Culture of Poverty‖
 Fewer than 5% of the poor are
chronically poor.
 41% of the able-bodied poor work.
 The pattern of ―welfare cycling‖ is
promoted by wages too low to support
a family.