1. SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION
1.1. Slavery
1.1.1. Ascribed Status
1.1.2. Reincarnation
1.1.3. Closed System
1.1.4. No Social Mobility
1.2. Caste
1.2.1. Ascribed Status
1.2.2. Closed System
1.2.3. No Social Mobility
1.2.4. Based On Skin Colour
1.3. Feudal
1.3.1. Ascribed Status
1.3.2. Based On How Much Land Somebody Owns And What Part They Are Born Into
1.3.3. No Social Mobility
1.3.4. Closed System
1.4. Class
1.4.1. Open System
1.4.2. Achieved Status
1.4.3. Social Mobility Possible
1.4.4. Based On Qualifications, Job, Education And Wealth
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF STRATIFICATION
2.1. Universal
2.1.1. This is applicable to every member of society and it comes with a hierarchy. It combines those with similar natures or behaviours into a group
2.2. Gender
2.2.1. It is believed that women are treated differently within society due to their different rights, duties and norms. Therefore, stratification can be done due to gender
2.3. Inequalities
2.3.1. Not everybody in society is treated the same. Those with higher prestige and status are categorised together as they would receive different rewards to those who had lower prestige and status
2.4. Social Mobility
2.4.1. Whether social mobility is possible or not is a huge characteristic of a stratification system. Mobility means to move up or down the hierarchy. Most systems do not have the availability for social mobility
3. APPROACHES TO SOCIAL CLASS
3.1. Marxists
3.1.1. Key Marxist, Karl Marx, identified 2 classes- the Proletariat (working class) and the Bourgeoisie (ruling class). The classes depended on economic factors and were very different. The Bourgeoisie owned all the land and businesses. The Proletariat had to just work for them to earn wages. There was often conflict between the two classes
3.2. Interactionalists
3.2.1. Key Interactionalist, Max Weber, identified 4 main classes - property owners, professionals, the petty Bourgeoisie (shopkeepers) and the working class. The classes had different life chances. Weber believe class was determined by economic factors but he also stressed the importance of status and power
3.3. Functionalists
3.3.1. According to functionalists, modern society NEEDS a system of unequal rewards as it motivates the most intelligent to train for key occupations to allow society to continue. The top positions should give rewards such as high pay and status to attract the best suited people. Functionalists say that this stratification system fulfils the function of ensuring that the most important jobs are filled with the most able, qualified and talented people
4. MEASURING SOCIAL CLASS
4.1. The Registrar General's Scale
4.1.1. Many sociologists use this scale to measure social class as it determines someones class by using their occupation. It differentiated between manual and non manual occupations with un/semi/ skilled workers. It then used this to give someone a class
4.1.2. However it had its problems because:
4.1.2.1. It was difficult to determine the class of the homeless , retired, unemployed and students
4.1.2.2. A wife's class was determined by their husbands, which may be inaccurate and misleading
4.1.2.3. The wealthy upper class and property owners were difficult to place in a class based on occupation.
4.1.2.4. Two people may have the same job however would not be equal due to differences in income, wealth, status and qualifications
4.2. The National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification
4.2.1. This scale addresses some issues which the Registrar General's scale had
4.2.2. It uses occupation but includes the whole population which the other scale didn't include
4.2.3. The NS-SEC categorises people due to the occupations which are similar in ways such as:
4.2.3.1. The rewards which they provide (pay, career prospects and job security)
4.2.3.2. Employment status (whether someone is an employer, employee or self-employed)
4.2.3.3. Levels of authority and control (this takes into account whether someone is responsible for other workers or whether they are workers being supervised)
5. POVERTY
5.1. People experience absolute poverty when their income is so low that they cannot obtain the minimum needed to survive
5.2. People experience relative poverty when their income is well below average so that they are poor when compared to others in society. They cannot afford to have the general standard of living that most other people in their society enjoy
5.3. Poverty can also be defined in terms of exclusion from everyday activities and customs
5.3.1. Poverty is not just simply about low incomes, it is also about excluding the people who experience poverty from the activities and living patterns that post people take for granted
5.3.2. The idea of social exclusion can be used to criticise individual explanations of poverty. Socially excluded people are shut out from participating in society's social, economic political and cultural life by factors beyond their control.
5.3.3. The idea of social exclusion stresses society's role in excluding some people from full participation
5.4. Measuring poverty
5.4.1. Low incomes
5.4.1.1. The main official UK government way of measuring poverty
5.4.2. Lack of items that the majority of the population see as necessaries
5.4.3. Subjective measures
5.4.3.1. People judge themselves to be living in poverty
5.5. Groups at risk from poverty
5.5.1. Lone- parent households
5.5.2. Single pensioners
5.5.3. Families with a child under 11
5.5.4. Households without paid workers
5.5.5. People who left school aged 16 or under
5.5.6. Children and young people
5.5.7. Poverty can be linked the gender, ethnicity and race
5.5.7.1. People living in households headed by someone of Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage are at risk of living in low income households
5.5.7.2. Women face a greater risk of poverty than men do
5.5.7.3. Children and pensioners are more at risk of poverty than other age groups
5.6. Structural explanations of poverty
5.6.1. The Marxist approach
5.6.1.1. In a Marxist point of view, poverty is the inevitable result of the class-based inequalities that are built into capitalist society.
5.6.1.2. Capitalism is an economic system that creates extreme wealth for the capitalist class while producing poverty among sections of the working class
5.6.2. Unemployment and the inadequacies of the welfare state
5.6.2.1. Many sociologists see unemployment as a key issue in understanding the causes of poverty
5.6.2.2. During economic recessions, unemployment levels (long and short term) rise so the number of people experiencing poverty also increases.
5.6.2.3. People also believe that welfare state benefits are too low. These people believe thee solution to the problem of poverty is to give more money to the people in poverty by increasing the values of pensions and welfare benefits
5.7. Individual explanations of poverty
5.7.1. The culture of poverty
5.7.1.1. People from the poorest sections of society are socialised within a subculture of poverty. They develop a way of life and a set of values to cope with their position, like being able to live in the moment which prevent them from taking educational opportunities or saving for the future
5.7.2. The cycle of deprivation
5.7.2.1. Poverty involves both material and cultural deprivation. It persists from generation to generation, locking their families into a cycle of deprivation
5.7.3. Welfare dependency and the Underclass
5.7.3.1. In the 1980s and 1990s, New Rights approaches identified the emergence in Britain of an underclass - a group of undeserving poor whose attitudes and values are different from those of mainstream society. This group remains in poverty because the welfare state encourages them to depend on state provision. Generous state provision makes the problem of poverty worse by creating welfare dependency and encouraging an underclass to develop
6. INEQUALITY BASED ON GENDER
6.1. Feminist approaches explore the gender inequalities in society.
6.2. Over the last 40 years, changes in areas such as education and employment have addressed some aspects of gender inequality
6.3. The government have introduced anti-discrimination laws such as the Equal Pay Act in 1970 to reduce gender inequalities
6.4. Today, women are more likely to achieve high level educational qualifications , high status jobs and good salaries
6.5. However, despite the changes, feminists argue that gender still remains the largest social division in today's modern society
6.6. Feminists still believe that society is patriarchal meaning men have the power within families, politics, the workplace and they tend to get a bigger share of rewards in ways such as wealth and status
7. INEQUALITY BASED ON ETHNICITY
7.1. Over the past 40 years, reforms and policies have addressed inequalities based on ethnicity in areas such as education, employment and criminal justice:
7.1.1. Many employers have equal opportunities policies to show their support for equality and diversity
7.1.2. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has powers to enforce the equality and to shape the public policy on equality issues
7.1.3. Within organisations, awareness of institutional racism has been raised
7.1.4. In 1976, Race Relations Act outlawed discrimination due to ethnicity
7.2. As a result of the changes made , some commentators argue that the inequalities based on ethnicity are therefore less significant today than they were 40 years ago
7.3. Other people often argue that these changes are not apparent and there has been little real change within the fields of employment, education and criminal justice.
7.3.1. For example, employment rates in England and Wales are high among those of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean heritage than those among White British or White Irish background
7.3.2. Research has also found that men and women of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage have much worse chances of getting professional and managerial jobs than their white peers of the same age and educational level.
8. INEQUALITY BASED ON AGE
8.1. Sociologists argue that age, like gender and ethnicity, is socially constructed. This can be seen in the historical and cross-cultural differences in expectations surrounding age
8.1.1. Although child labour is now illegal in Britain, it was a very normal thing in the 19th century among working class family. Child labour still exists in areas of the world today
8.2. The status of older people can vary between different cultures.
8.2.1. In some cultures, ageing is something that wants to be avoided
8.2.2. In other cultures, age comes with power and status within society.
8.3. The term 'ageism' or age discrimination describes a situation where somebody is treated differently and less favourably based on their age
8.3.1. In Britain there are now regulations against age discrimination in employment and training
9. WEALTH AND INCOME
9.1. Stratification involves the unequal distribution of resources such as wealth and income
9.2. Wealth refers to the ownership of assets that are valued. Marketable assets included houses and land that can be sold for money. Wealth also includes savings and shares
9.3. Income refers to the flow of resources which individuals and households receive over a specific time period.
9.3.1. Income can be in the form of cash (wages, welfare benefits and pensions) or in kind (petrol allowances)
9.4. The distribution of wealth is unequal in the UK
9.4.1. In 2001, the wealthiest 1% of people owned 33% of marketable wealth - excluding their homes' value. But the poorest 50% owned only 3% of this wealth
9.5. Income is distributed unequally in the UK
9.5.1. In 2007, the poorest 10% of people received 3% of total income while the top 10% received 40% of total income
9.6. Wealth and income influence life chances
9.6.1. People on high incomes have a choice between NHS and private healthcare, state and private education or renting or buying a property. Most people on low incomes do not have these choices
10. MERITOCRACY AND SOCIAL MOBILITY
10.1. Some sociologists argue that Britiain is a meritocracy
10.2. This means status is achieved and people are allocated to occupations on the basis of individual ability
10.3. This would mean that gender, ethnicity and social class origins are less significant than talent and motivation in determmining an individual's occupation and class position
10.4. The availability of social mobility is one reason why it can be argued that Britain is a meritocracy
10.4.1. It shows that opportunities are available to everyone, regardless of their social class origins
10.4.2. Routes to mobility include educational qualifications, financial windfalls and changes in the occupation structure such as growth in white collar occupations
10.4.3. Barriers to mobility include gender discrimination, lack of skills and lack of qualifications
10.4.4. Findings from Goldthorpe's 1972-74 mobility study showed that some long range mobility had occured.
10.4.4.1. Working class children didn end up in middle class occupations but they were much less likely than middle class children were to do so
10.4.5. Crompton has said that mobility in Britain is declining due to changes in the occupation structure
10.4.5.1. Growth in professional and managerial jobs has slowed down so there is now less room at the top
11. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCIAL CLASS
11.1. One view is that social class divisions are less clear cut in Britain today compared with how they were in the 1950s
11.1.1. Traditional working class communities centred on heavy industry, coal-mining and shipbuilding have declined
11.1.2. Class identities have weaked and people no longer strongly identify themselves as working or middle class
11.1.3. Britain now operates as a meritocracy in allocating individuals to jobs
11.2. The decline of class suggests that class divisions have become less significant than gender, ethnicity and age
11.2.1. Women, some minority ethnic groups, children and older people are now at higher risk of poverty
11.2.2. Divisions based on gender can be seen as gender inequalities in the workplace, the gender pay gap and the under representation of women in political life
11.2.3. Divisions based on ethnicity can be seen in the over representation of some ethnic minority groups among low income housholds, the under representation of some thnic minority groups among MPs and in the professions
11.3. Other sociologists argue than inequalities based on class, gender, ethnicity and age are all significant in modern Britain
11.3.1. Gender, ethnicity, age and class are all seen as interlinked aspects of inequality rather than as completely separate aspects
11.4. Despite many changes, many sociologists believe that social class remains a central concept in sociology as it still has an impact on people's daily lives.
11.4.1. Class based inequalities in life chances are still apparent in the 21st century. So while class may have changed, it hasnt declined