Lecturer #22 Social inequality and social classes

By Mudassar Zulfiqar Mudssar.1983@gmail.com University of central Punjab

Social inequality
Social inequality is characterized by the existence of

unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society

Dimensions of social inequality

Income

Wealth

Occupational prestige

Schooling

Income
Earning from work or investment The richest 20% of families received 48.2% of all

income, while bottom 20% received only 3.9%(U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) Very richest people now receive a much large share of all income 1978, Highest-paid 0.1% of all earners receive, 2.7% of all income 2008,a share that is four time larger, 10% of all income(Fox; Internal Revenue Service,2010)

Wealth
Total value of money- outstanding debts Bonds, real estate

The richest 20% of U.S. families own roughly 85% of

country s wealth 1 Rockefeller Family Standard Oil 2 Morgan Family J. P. Morgan & Co. 3 Ford Family Ford Motors 4 Harkness Family Standard Oil 5 Mellon Family Aluminum Company

Occupational prestige
Work is an important source of social prestige Evaluation kind of work

High prestige occupations?

Physicians Lawyers

Professors

Social class
Any group of people found in the same class

situation or same economic situation In U.S. approximately 15 to 20 percent are in the poor, lower class 30 to 40 percent are in the working class 40 to 50 percent are in the middle class 1 to 3 percent are in the rich, upper class

Upper class
Comprising only 1 to 3 percent of the United States

population, the upper class holds 85 percent of the nation's wealth upper-upper class Aristocratic and high-society families with old money Live off the income from their inherited riches lower-upper class Working rich- get money by earning, new moneyfrom investment, business venture

Middle class
These white collar workers have more money than

those below them on the social ladder, but less than those above them upper middle class Highly educated business and professional people, such as doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, and CEOs lower middle class Less educated people such as managers, small business owners, teachers, and secretaries

Working class
Minimally educated people-manual labor with little or

no prestige working poor Unskilled workers in the classdishwashers, maids, and waitresses Blue collar workers Skilled workers in this classcarpenters, plumbers, and electricians

Difference Class Makes

Health Value and attitude Politics

Difference Class Makes

Health Children born into poor and rich families have same health?
Richer people live on average five year longer

(National centre for health statistics,2010)

Why?

Values and attitudes

Old rich favor manner and taste, while new rich

using home, cars, airplanes as status symbols (Lareau, 2002;NORC,2009) Affluent people are more tolerant than working class (Lareau, 2002;NORC,2009)
Politics Do political attitude follow the class lines?

Lecturer #23 Global stratification and Poverty

By Mudassar Zulfiqar Mudssar.1983@gmail.com

Global Stratification
It is an uneven distribution of privileges,

material rewards, opportunities, power, prestige and influence among individuals and groups Pattern of social inequality as whole

Global Stratification
A world where some live in comfort and plenty, while half of the human race lives on less than $2 a day, is neither just, nor stable. President Bush

Quotes
Almost half the worlds population lives on less than two dollars a day, yet even this statistic fails to capture the humiliation, powerlessness and brutal hardship that is the daily lot of the worlds poor. Koffi Anan, UN Secretary General `Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity. James Wolfe son, The Other Crisis, World Bank, October 1998

Global Stratification

High income countries USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Norway Middle income countries Bulgaria, Albania, Ukraine, Latin America: Costa Rica, Brazil Asia: China, Thailand, India Middle East: Iran, Syria Africa: Algeria, Namibia Low income countries Latin America: Haiti Asia :Cambodia, Bangladesh, Africa: Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger

Global Stratification
High Income Countries GDP of $12,000 per person Generally those first to industrialize Account for 23% of the worlds population Enjoy 79% of the world total income Production based on factories, big machinery and technology Control the world financial market

Global Stratification
o Middle-Income Countries

GDP of $2500 - $12,000 per

person Most began to industrialize late in the 20th century. Includes 61% of the worlds population Only accounts for 21% of world total income Average standard of living

Global Stratification
Low Income Countries
GDP under $2500 per person Mostly agricultural economies that have only

recently began to industrialize Accounts for 17% of the worlds population Produces only 1% of total income Low standard of living

Poverty
A poverty refers to the condition of not having the

means to afford basic human needs such as clean water, nutritition, health care, clothing and shelter

Types of Poverty
Absolute Poverty Relative Poverty

Relative poverty is Absolute or extreme when some peoples way poverty is when of life and income is so people lack the basic much worse than the necessities for survival. general standard of living in Example: They may be the country or region in which starving, lack clean water, they live that they struggle to proper housing, sufficient live a normal life and to participate in ordinary clothing or medicines and economic, social and be struggling to stay alive cultural activities.

Slavery
Chattel slavery Slavery imposed by the state

Child slavery
Debt bondage Human trafficking

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and slave trade shall be prohibited in all their form
(United Nation universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948)

Explanation of Global Poverty

Technology Population growth

World highest birth rate- Africa, population double every 25 year, 43% people are under the age of fifteen Cultural patterns Social stratification Gender inequality Global power relationship Colonialism Neocolonialism