Social Class inequality P2

• 7A.1 - hope goldthorpe classification 


  3 main classes further divided into 7 occupational classes:

  service class:

  1. higher professionals
  2. lower professionals

  intermediate class

  3. routine non manual workers

  4. small proprietors and self employed artisans

  5. lower grade technicians

  working class

  6. skilled manual labour

  7. semi-skilled and unskilled labour
• 7A.1 - national statistics socio-economic classification - NS-SEC

  classify people by social class in official stats such as the census and government surveys
• 7A.1 - the great British class survey

  Bourdieu suggests that social class can be measured in three types of capital:

  • economic
  • social
  • cultural

  from this created 7 classes now existing in the UK
• 7A.1 - Bourdieus 7 social classes

  based on 3 capitals

  1. elite - highest levels of all 3 capitals
  2. established middle class
  3. technical middle class
  4. new affluent workers
  5. traditional working class
  6. emergent service workers
  7. precariat
• 7A.2 - Weber


  term 'life chances' to describe how some members of society had much better opportunities than others, these may include:

  • long and healthy life
  • good education and higher education
  • own your own home in a desirable area
  • enjoy paid holidays
• 7A.2 - Income


  the flow of money to a person or household over a period of time, the main source of income for people include:

  • earnings from employment
  • state benefits
  • pensions
  • interest and dividends
• 7A.2 - family resources survey

  government sponsored survey that provides info about living conditions and resources of households in the UK
• 7A.2 - effects of taxes and benefits on income distribution

  in 2013 the poorest 5th payed less tax in cash terms than the richest 5th but the poorest 5th paid 37.4% of their income vs 35.1% of the richest 5th
• 7A.2 - 2012 high pay centre

  total pay of chief executives of the 100 largest companies on the London stock exchange had risen by 49% during the previous year alone
• 7A.2 - Wealth

  measures the economic resources and possessions of a person or household at a fixed point in time

  the ONS defines wealth as the following

  • property - houses, land
  • physical wealth - cars, watches
  • financial wealth - savings, investments
  • private pension wealth - cash value of pension
• 7A.2 - lord Alan sugar

  came from a working class background and built yp a business empire based on his company Amstrad

  building wealth based on own merits
• 7A.2 - Atkinson

  increasing amount of national income now comes from inherited wealth
• 7A.2 - absolute poverty


  lack of basic essential needs to survive physically:

  • food
  • clothing
  • housing
  • fuel
• 7A.2 - relative poverty

  judging whether a persons income is so far below that expected by the majority of people in society that they are excluded from a normal lifestyle
• 7A.2 - trussel trust

  provide food banks to help the poorest families

  in 201, 4.7 million people were in food poverty
• 7A.2 - intergenerational mobility


  mobility between generations

  • a man who's father was a coal miner but became a doctor
• 7A.2 - intragenerational mobility


  movement between classes by an individual during their work life

  • starting off as a secretary but end up running the company
• 7A.2 - problems of researching social mobility

  issues that arise:

  • classifying occupation - people don't agree on how people should be classified by occupation
  • studying the mobility of women - studies focus on male heads of household only
  • studying the mobility of the very rich and poor - top positions are more closed, poorest often have no occupation
  • studying current patterns of social mobility - can establish good careers until 40/50
• 7A.2 - Oxford Mobility Study

  sample of around 10,000 men

  used hope goldthorpe scale to compare occupational classes between fathers and their sons

  findings:

  • reative chances of social mobility has remained the same
  • 1:2:4
• 7A.2 - essex mobility study


  evidence of inequality in relative mobility rates with someone starting in the service class 7x as much chance to end up in the service class compared to someone in a working class background
• 7A.2 - Saunders


  should focus on absolute rather than relative mobility rates
• 7A.2 - Savage and Egerton - NCDS study


  includes both male and female data

  • service class sons more than twice as likely to end up with service class jobs
• 7A.3 - Parsons

  value consensus and stratification

  • some individuals better than others at achieving things that are regarded as worthy of reward
  • as lower class more likely to be in low paying jobs they have a lower reward due to lower demand
• 7A.3 - Davis and Moore

  principles of social stratification

  • allocates the right people to the most important roles
  • ensures that people in these roles perform them to the highest standard

  argue you can tell which positions are the most important by 2 factors:

  • functional uniqueness
  • the degree of dependence of others
• 7A.3 - Saunders


  in defence of inequality

  argues that a society based on social equality would only be possible if considerable forces were used

  supports equality of opportunity

  a degree of inequality is desirable to motivate people to compete
• 7A.3 - Murray


  the underclass

  us government policies provide welfare benefits for unemployed and lone parent families creating a dependency culture
• 7A.3 - Marx


  false consciousness

  alienation

  prevents revolution
• 7A.3 - Bowles and gintis


  hidden curriculum

  myth of meritocracy
• 7A.3 - Althessar 


  ISA

  RSA
• 7A.3 - Gramsci


  concessions
• 7A.3 Beck


  risks we are at risk of are indiscriminate of social class

  victorian times - biggest risk is living in poverty

  now - welfare benefits given to poor reduce poor quality of life - poor isn't a risk

  new risk: climate change, nuclear war
• 7A.3 Pakulski and Waters


  shift from production to consumption

  defined by what we buy not what we do