Discussion about Social class and poverty in America
According to the textbook of Introduction to sociology, a social class is defined as a social ranking according to the economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility. Sociologist Daniel Rossides describes five social class: the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the working class and the lower class. Social class is decided by achieved and ascribed characteristics, and we can change our class by achieved work. Social class has powerful impacts on a person’s life. Ascribed characteristics (like race, age, family composition, gender) decides the one’s class. For example, generally, high class family’s children have high social class. Family under female householders are poorer than male householders. Education, job opportunities, health, family life, political participation are influenced by social class. The people from lower class family face hard time staying in primary education, when people from high class family easily get the
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Tammy Crabtree works in the Burger King and she lives in mobile house with her four children. As she has no car, she walks 10 miles for the job and she works hard, still she has a low wage which is not sufficient to survive her family. His son Matt is doing well in school and he want to go in the community college. To seeing this situation, we cannot reconcile the social class with the position of that hard work is always rewarded by success. As Tammy work hard in her job, still she have low wages. From that situation, it is hard to do social movement towards the upper class for Tammy because they live in the backward or isolated area. It is very hard to do social mobility for the people who stay in particular area because they are counted as poor and they get low salary, less education chances, low job opportunities and less health
The largest if not only factor of class is wealth; how much income a family gets. To disprove the myths many more realities are listed. The first being, “There are enormous differences in economic status of American citizens. ”(334). Perhaps the most important reality states, “From cradle to grave, class standing has a significant impact on our chances of survival.
The lower-class is seen as the class that is struggling financially. They are the “blue collars” and “low wage workers” and people who work for other people. They are the social class with little to no college education. They are seen as the ones who rent properties and with little to no savings. They are seen as the social class that abuses of the welfare system.
When talking about social class the sub theme that is also brought up is reputation, and how reputation can differ depending on your social class. For example Thomas Putnam states that “We vote by name in this society, not by acreage.” The second point that will be brought up in
There is lower, middle, and upper class, but there are also subcategories that fill the gaps in between, like the impoverished and the top one percenters. “Class in America”, written by Gregory Mantsios, addresses the myths and realities about socioeconomic class in America and how they affect American lives. His article highlights the unequal divide that has persisted over the course of history and will continue to manifest in the future. To introduce the existence of this issue, Mantsios states that this country’s citizens “don’t like to talk about class...or class privileges, or class oppression, or the class nature of society” (Mantsios 378). This is the case in America today because people are neglecting to acknowledge the existence of these elusive
In James W. Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” he states that social class affects the way children are raised. He discusses the inequality in today’s society and how the textbooks in high school do not give any social class information. The students in today’s time are not taught everything they should be taught. He states that your family’s wealth is what makes up your future. Loewen discusses that people with more money can study for the SATs more productively and get a better score than someone who has less money.
Social classes have been in existence since we got off the mayflower and are still heavily relied on today. We live in a society where your social status matters wherever you go. Trust me, we’ve all have been victims to deeming different sides of a town “upscale” or “ghetto”. You have the people that define themselves as their social class or you have people that don’t really pay attention to it. Even if you don’t pay attention to it, the thought is still evident.
The American dream is a dream of a land in which one can prosper with ambition and hard work. This idea has created many illusions for some because in reality the American dream is proven to be something that is rarely achieved. No individual is guaranteed success or destined for failure, but it is apparent that women, people of color, and those born into poverty will face greater obstacles than others, despite being a greater part of the American population. An author that tackles the issue of class in the United States is Gregory Mantsios. In his essay, “Class in America-2009”, Mantsios aims to prove that class affects people’s lives in drastic ways.
I believe social classes have defined our society in many ways. In America, they separate people into three different classes: the upper class, middle class, and the lower or working class. Based on wealth and various occupations, social classes determine the population’s status in society. Social classes today define individuals and influence their actions. Although people born in a certain class may choose to stay there, they also have the choice of leaving.
Education is affected by social class; directly and indirectly. Looking at directly first we can see that individuals from higher social classes are more likely to have the resources to attend the elicit schools, and as a result have a better chance of receiving high exam results and continuing to third level. While indirectly, people who benefit from these higher educational opportunities are more likely to acquire the top jobs which in turn will result in the highest salaries. Thus education and social class closely connected and one impacts the other. This paper will explore how ones’ social class affects their educational experience and outcome particularly focusing on working-class students.
Social classes are a form of social stratification that refers to the existence of structured inequalities between individuals and groups in society. A social class is a group of people of comparable status, power and wealth which are usually classified as upper class, middle class, and lower class. For each class, there are some specific opportunities available that influence their social life. We can understand about the particularity of the chances through unequal distribution of these opportunities between individuals in social classes. In here belonging to a social class seems to be an obstacle for some individuals to obtain equal opportunity, unlike upper class people.
Introduction In the Caribbean, each territory has a unique social stratification systems which have been developed over the past centuries. This encouraged the people of these many cultures within the region to advance their social status - or his/her ‘social well-being,’ and the status of their family through the movement of social mobility. In this paper, it is my contention that social mobility is possible in the Caribbean since it allows persons to move in the social stratification system; secondly – to briefly address the current situation of social mobility within the Caribbean region, specifically in the countries of Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana. And finally, that social mobility has shaped better opportunities in the Caribbean.
Social class and electoral behavior introduction the electoral behavior , in other words can be known as voting , which is a word defined by the Merriam-webster dictionary as “ an expression of opinion or preference” . Considering everything about the one’s country are decided by elections , thus that shows how voting and participating in the elections is very important and that’s why the electoral behavior is a critical issue that has been studies over decades along with studying the factors and the attributes that do affect it . And one major factor here is the socioeconomic status Literature review socioeconomic status is various levels through which we can differentiate between society members and that’s through different contributes like household income, education , economic and social position , and the socioeconomic status has a direct relationship with voting registration and turnout . For example : Individuals of a lower socioeconomic status tend to vote
Social Stratification, a class structure system that provides different groups with varied rewards, resources, and privileges. For example, the basic hierarchy system follows the high class, the middle class, and the low class. For the majority, we are born into a class, which means we can’t control our social stratification status. Working Class, a group of people within the social stratification that are in the lower-middle class. According to our lecture, the working class is considered by those who make $40,000-$70,000.