Social Stratification: Social inequality: Refers to Describes the way society is the unev en distribution of structured in a hierarchy, resources such as money & shaped like a pyramid. power, life chances or Social class is seen as the main source of Ascribed status: social position is fixed Each layer is smaller but opportunities related to stratification in Britain. Based on at birth and unchanged over time. more powerful than the one education, employment and economic factors such as occupations below it. health. and income. Social mobility is deemed to Achieved status: social position is be possible. earned on merit e.g. education, Karl Marx and social class (1818-1883) promotion. • The bourgeoise (the ruling class)- owned the means of Other forms of social stratification: production. • Feudalism: ascribed, little to no • The proletariat (working class) forced to sell their labour. chance of mov ing to the next strata. Experience alienation and lack of control. • The caste system in India: ascribed, Distribution of wealth and income • The bourgeoise exploit the proletariat. closed and little mov ement Wealth refers to assets such as houses, land, art, jewellery. • Ruling-class ideology and false class consciousness. • Apartheid: ascribed, little social Income refers to wages, benefits etc. Wealth is usually mobility distributed more unevenly than income.

Born into Life chances: The culture of poverty: poverty Peoples chances of achiev ing positive or People from the poorest section of society Deprived Become Embourgeoisement thesis negativ e outcomes as they progress are socialised within the subculture of childhood parents of affected by Working-class families are deprived through life. These are not distributed pov erty. As a result they are unable to break material, children. The becoming middle-class. cultural or equally between groups. Affected by free from pov erty. cycle financial Their norms and v alues are factors such as: religion, social class, The cycle of deprivation: continues deprivation changing as their gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability The policy to remov e poverty involves The cycle of deprivation standards of liv ing and employing social workers and using local income improv es. Social mobility: mov ing between social authority provision to help break children out Affluence has led to of the cycle of depriv ation. classes. Less likely to priv atised lifestyles Material deprivation: perform well Intra-generational social mobility- As adults they centred on the home and Having insufficient money to be able to at school and mov ement of their lifetime e.g. live in poverty gain family- based on promotion. afford goods and serv ices. As a result people qualifications consumerism. may not hav e a balance diet. Poverty may Future Inter-generational social mobility- opportunities mov ement between generations of a lead to ill health during childhood and are limited- low- inadequate housing. paid, unskilled family e.g. when a child enters a different work or social from their parents. unemployment

Davis & Moore (1945) Max Weber (1864-1920) Peter Townsend Fiona Devine (1992) Charles Murray (1996) (Functionalist) (Marxist) (1979)

Social stratification was a Classes are formed in market Dev ine tested Lockwood’s idea Society had a growing Identified three ways of defining ‘univ ersal necessity’ for ev ery places, such as the labour that ‘privatized instrumentalism’ underclass. Government policies pov erty: The state’s standard of society. The system must match market. One class hire, the other would become typical amongst hav e encouraged the members pov erty on which official statistics the most able people with the sells their labour. A class is a the working class. This term refers of this underclass to become are based, The relativ e income functionally most important group of people with similar life to social relationships centred on dependent on benefits. standard of poverty based on positions in society. These high chances- being successful. the home with work only to an Traditional values such as identifying those households rewards would encourage Weber stressed the importance end, when affluent workers honesty, family life and hard whose income falls below the ambitious people to compete of status (prestige) and power in joined with their workmates. Paid work were being undermined by av erage for similar households. for them, with the most talented determining life chances and work is a means to a the members of the underclass, Relativ e deprivation, when achiev ing success. shaping patterns of stratification comfortable lifestyle rather than to be replaced by an alternative families are unable to e.g. members of aristocracy may hav ing job satisfaction. v alue system that tolerated participate in activities and have hav e no savings, but have a title crime and v arious forms of anti- the liv ing conditions that are that giv es them status. social behaviour. widely available in society Gender & Poverty: • Women have longer life expectancy so more female pensioners liv ing alone. Sex & Gender Age Absolute Poverty: Income is • Women more likely to head lone-parent families. Sex: Male or female (biology) Chronological, biological or a insufficient to hav e the Usually have a low income. Gender: masculine or feminine. social category. When does minimum to surv ive. No • Gender pay gap Gender & power: ‘youth’ begin and end? access to the basic • Women are more likely to be in part-time income than Feminists see gender inequality as Childhood & Power necessities in life e.g. shelter, men. the most important source of Families are agency of social food, clean water, heating & div ision in society. Society is mainly control so they are expected to clothes. Ethnicity & Poverty: controlled by men who have authorise discipline of their • Lower income families Poverty Relative Poverty: Cannot considerable power within politics children. Parents exercise power • Generally disadvantaged in employment, pay and afford the general standard and the workplace. when they try to influence their quality of job. The crisis of masculinity: child’s behaviour against their will. of liv ing of most people in Men are currently experiencing this Young People & Power their society. Income is much Child Poverty: More likely to live in poverty if: because of the underachievement Authority from teachers ov er less than the av erage for that • Household has four or more children. of boys in school, the decline of students based on their status in society. • Where the head of the house is a lone parent or from paid work in manufacturing, the school setting. Some students an ethnic minority women’s increased participation in do not conform to this authority • With no paid workers. paid employment. however. See Paul Willis. Inequalities: Inequalities: • Gender dominated • Ageism- age discrimination. Poverty Power occupations e.g. fire-fighting, Younger or older people tend nursery worker. to be v ictim of this. Focus on the positiv e functions of • Glass ceiling for women- • Negativ e stereotyping pov erty for some groups e.g. knowing you could liv e in pov erty means people inv isible barriers for promotion. • Older people liv ing in pov erty. Gov ernment and politics serv es a will undertake undesirable jobs, creates • Gender pay gap. purpose to regulate main stream norms jobs for groups who deal with the poor. • Women’s triple shift. and v alues. • Childcare provision- barrier The poor also reinforce mainstream

prev enting women from Functionalists norms and provide examples of returning to work. dev iance such as lazy and dishonest. The welfare state: (a system in which the Pov erty is the result from class-based state takes responsibility for protecting the Weber- power is based on coercion or Ethnicity inequalities. It is inev itable that some health and welfare of it’s citizens and for authority. The main sources of authority A social group that share an people will be poor in a capitalist meeting their social needs.) are traditional, rational legal and identity based on their cultural society. Pov erty serves the interests of • The National Health Service (NHS): charismatic authority. traditions, religion or language the bourgeoise who can hire and fire Funded by central government from Marxists argue the bourgeoise use their Ethnicity & Power: Marxists people e.g. if they demanded higher national taxation. Provided GPs, power to exploit the proletariat. They Under-represented in political wages, the bourgeoise could threaten hospitals, opticians and dentists. hav e economic and political power. power/decision makers. Also to higher from the unemployed. under-represented in teaching, Welfare Benefits: armed forces, police officers, • National Insurance Benefits: If you have paid into the system (National Insurance Women face the greatest risk of particularly at high lev els of the pov erty than men, lone-mothers and Patriarchy- the system of our social organisation. Although 40% of Contributions) you are entitled to the older women liv ing alone in structures and practices are male highest positions in the NHS are Jobseekers Allowance and the state particular. The gender pay gap and dominated and they use this power to from ethnic minority groups retirement pension. • Income Support and Child Tax Credit Feminists the inequality of the div ision of caring oppress and exploit women. Inequalities: responsibilities contribute to this. • Unemployment • Local Benefits could include free school • Discrimination in the labour meals, educational subsidies, housing benefits. Focus on indiv iduals behaviour rather market than structural causes of pov erty. Stress The gov ernment does not meet it’s • Minority groups have become the importance of traditional v alues peoples needs, and they believe their an underclass (see Charles and self-reliance. Welfare dependency should be minimal gov ernment Murray) and the underclass are key ideas in this interv ention from the welfare state. • Racism is built into the workings RightNew approach. of capitalism.