SOC 030 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Social Theory, Gini Coefficient, Economic Inequality
Economic Class
Class: “ groups of families, more or less equal in rank and differentiated from other families
above or below them with regard to characteristics such as occupation, income, wealth and
prestige” (Gilbert 2014)
Socioeconomic status (SES)
- Why do social scientists often use the term “socioeconomic status” instead of class?
- SES recognizes social factors that influence class as well as the economic
- Occupational prestige
What are ways we can measure SES?
- Income, education, occupational prestige, wealth, home ownership, insurance status…
etc.
- Why not just ask someone what class they are?
- 80-90% of people will say they are either middle or working class
How does Marx measure social class?
- In relation to the “means of production”
- Only two classes- bourgeoisie vs proletariat
Class According to Gilbert (2014)
Capitalist Class (1%): Graduates of high-ranking universities who are in top level executive
positions or are heirs who have an income average of $2million mainly from assets.
Upper Middle Class (14)%: individuals with at least a college degree who are in higher
professional or managerial positions or owners of medium sized businesses who have incomes
of about $150,000.
Middle Class (30%): Individuals who have high school degrees and maybe some college who
are in lower managerial or white-collar, or high-skilled, high-pay, blue-collar occupations who
make about $70,000 a year.
Working Class (13%): Persons with high school degrees who are in lower-level white collar
(e.g., clerical, sales workers) or blue collar positions (e.g., operatives) whose incomes are about
$40,000 per year.
Working Poor (13%): Those with some high school who are service workers, or are in the
lowest paid blue-collar and clerical positions who have average incomes of $22,000.
Underclass (12%): Individuals with at best some high school education who work part-time, are
unemployed, or are on welfare, and who have incomes under 15,000.
What are some critiques of Gilbert’s class model?
Intersectionality:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Class: groups of families, more or less equal in rank and differentiated from other families above or below them with regard to characteristics such as occupation, income, wealth and prestige (gilbert 2014) Ses recognizes social factors that influence class as well as the economic. Income, education, occupational prestige, wealth, home ownership, insurance status etc. 80-90% of people will say they are either middle or working class. Capitalist class (1%): graduates of high-ranking universities who are in top level executive positions or are heirs who have an income average of million mainly from assets. Upper middle class (14)%: individuals with at least a college degree who are in higher professional or managerial positions or owners of medium sized businesses who have incomes of about ,000. Middle class (30%): individuals who have high school degrees and maybe some college who are in lower managerial or white-collar, or high-skilled, high-pay, blue-collar occupations who make about ,000 a year.
