Download - 7. SOC 101- Social Class
Sociology 101 Social Class, Stratification, and Middle Class Culture
Social Class
The social structural position groups hold relative to the
economic, social, political, and cultural resources of their society.
Can Include: • Possessing goods & wealth
• Having income • Having access to particular
jobs • Quality of everyday life
Life ChancesThe opportunities that people have in common by virtue of
belonging to a particular class
Social Class
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Social Class
Social Class
Socioeconomic Status (SES) Ranking based on three factors
Income: The amount of money a person receives in a given period
Wealth: The total value of what one owns, minus one’s debt
Occupation:a person's
principal work as a means of
earning a livingEducational Attainment:
Measured as the total years of formal education
Class
Structurein the United
States
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper Class
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper Class
5%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
hFinancial Wealth 72%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
90%
Financial Wealth 72%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
10%of US
Wealt
h
90%
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 28%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
hFinancial Wealth 72%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Financial Wealth 72%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
80%
Fin
ancial
Wealth 7
%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Lower Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Lower Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
a.k.a. “The Working
Poor”
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Lower Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
17- 20%
a.k.a. “The Working
Poor”
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Lower Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
17- 20%
a.k.a. “The Working
Poor”Little formal
education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Lower Class
Under Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
17- 20%
a.k.a. “The Working
Poor”Little formal
education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Lower Class
Under Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
17- 20%
a.k.a. “The Working
Poor”Little formal
education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed
10%
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Class
Structurein the United
StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle
Class
Middle ClassLower-Middle
Class
Lower Class
Under Class
Owns the major share of corporate & personal
wealth 5%
90%
of US Wealt
h
15%
Have attained high incomes & high
prestige – but not wealth
40-50%
Hard to clearly define
Less about economic attainment & more about
ideology & values
Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers
a.k.a. “The Working
Class”
17- 20%
a.k.a. “The Working
Poor”Little formal
education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed
10%Permanently unemployed & without much means of
economic or relational support
Financial Wealth 72%
Financial Wealth 21%
Music & Middle-Class Ideology
Billboard #1 Hits:January 2007: “Low” by Flo RidaJanuary 2009: “
Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” by Beyonce
January 2011: “We R Who We R” by Ke$ha