Social Inequality

• Social inequality


  Refers to any differences among individuals that have consequential effects for the rights and opportunities that they exercise and for the privileges and rewards they enjoy
• Social differentiation


  Factors that are consequential for establishing unequal relations among individuals on a recurring basis
• Social stratification


  An institutionalized system of inequality that allocated individuals and groups according to various hierarchies of differing status, power, or prestige
• Open system


  Achieved status means opportunities for upward or downward mobility
• Closed system


  Ascribed status, leading to little or no opportunities for mobility
• Not all positions in a hierarchy, even in an open system, reflect merit or achievement. For example, the strongest predictor of student university attendance is parental class background.
• Social class


  • Upper-class
  • Middle-class
  • Working class
  • Underclass
• Status group


  Power derived from prestige or social honour
• Power


  The ability to get others to do what you want them to do
• Figure 7.1 Average net worth of the 87 wealthiest as a factor of average Canadian net worth ($2016)


  • Source: Macdonald, David (2018, July). Born to win. Wealth concentration in Canada since 1999. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. ISBN 978-1-77125-417-5. Retrieved from https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/ files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2018/07/Born%20to%20Win.pdf
• Status inconsistency


  A mismatch between one's position in one hierarchy versus another
• Status consistency


  The relationship between a person's ranking and a set of social hierarchies
• Research finds that norms around status achieved at particular ages are changing. Technological innovations, such as artificial intelligence, automation, and remote work are prompting us to redefine the way we think about our jobs and careers.
• Significant growth in part-time and temporary work.
• Standard employment relationship (SER)


  Full-time, permanent job, that is done on the employer's premises, with workplace protections and worker benefits
• Workplace casualization


  Employing people either on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis for an undefined task or specified job without issuing a permanent contract
• Precarity


  Workers whose jobs are temporary or casual
• Precarious employment


  Work that is uncertain, low-paying, impermanent, and limited in entitlements and social benefits
• There are also subjective elements of precarity: how precarity is experienced by workers.
• Involuntary part-time work
• Companies choose to employ temporary labourers because it is cheaper than employing full-time workers.
• Growth in temporary work has surpassed permanent employment since 1998
• Women are disproportionately affected by non-standard work arrangements.
• Women are more likely to be in temporary, part-time, and minimum wage employment.
• Even in full-time jobs, women are more likely to earn low wages, to lack a pension plan, and to work in small firm than men.
• Feminist scholars argue that women are overrepresented in precarious work because they have more responsibility for unpaid domestic work.
• Feminization of employment norms.
• All women, regardless of their ethno-racial background or their age, are the most precariously employed of the work force. They are more likely than any other group to be in non-standardized work arrangements.
• Visible minority women and men and more recent immigrants to Canada also experience more unstable work arrangements than their non-visible minority and native-born Canadian counterparts.
• Young Canadians (under 25) and older Canadians (over 65) are also more likely to be concentrated in work that is part-time, temporary, or casual.
• Precarity penalty


  Accumulated setbacks from continued engagement in non-standardized work
• Reflected in lower income earnings among the precariously employed, at both the individual and household levels
• Frequent periods of unemployment, irregular work schedules, unpredictable earnings, and increased short-term employment uncertainty.
• Precarious employment is increasing even in high-skill, high-wage jobs, including higher education.
• Income inequality


  The extent to which income is distributed unevenly in a country
• Nationally, income inequality in Canada has increased over time.
• Gini coefficient


  The most common measure of income inequality, with 0 representing total equality and 1 representing total inequality
• In Canada, the Gini coefficient has grown from 0.281 in 1989 to 0.32 in the 2000s.
• Figure 7.5 Distribution of wealth in Canada by decile, 2012

  • Source: Broadbent Institute (2014).
• Wealth inequality


  Looks at the distribution of the value of assets, minus the debts of individuals and families