#HACCSOCI201 SocialClass

[sian90]

I found this article to be very interesting. Mostly because I can relate on some level or believe it to be true. Hillary Hoffower says (Hoffower.H.(2019). “ More people making at least $100,000 consider themselves working class than affiant…”(para 1). Growing up we all thought of someone making a income of 6 figures ($100,000) a year was rich. Income is defined as, money received by a person for work, from transfers (gifts, inheritances, or government assistance), or from returns on investments (Conley. D. (2017).p258) We all thought the ultimate goal in life to have a high status was to make 6 figures. But today that isn’t so true.

           In the article there was a survey given out to Americans and asked how much they made a year and what class they considered themselves to be in. A class system is, an economically based hierarchical system characterized by cohesive, oppositional groups and somewhat loose social mobility ( Conley. D. (2017).p 251) People who were surveyed, were asked to put themselves in one of these classes, poor, working class, middle class, upper class or affiant. “Of those who reported that they made $100,000 a year”(Hoffower.H(2019) para 3), a good amount said they felt like they are in the middle class. Which is surprising because we would think that they feel wealthy making that much a year.

            The results pointed out how many feel that way because of the rising cost it is to live. Rent, mortgage or even food. Everything is costing more. So when we once thought that making that much income was a good thing. Its coming out that its maybe just enough to get by these days. Even children who grew up or came from a family with money, don’t feel rich anymore. If you think about it in todays society, hardly anyone can make it with just one income. Even if they are making six figures. Most people need two incomes from people working full time to make all the bills they have. And even then in some cases aren’t enough. Today $100,000 doesn’t sound like a whole lot of money. We all could probably think about how to spend that in a second on stuff we need. Say a house, it would be a good down payment but most house cost a lot more. I think something needs to give to make it some what fair to live and work. Wages need to in a way match the rising cost live. Its also very hard to find jobs that even make $100,000 a year. You ever hear the saying, “ I work so much, I don't even have time to spend my money, or when people have a day off and just stay home and say “I'm staying home and getting my moneys worth!”. Its so true because we are all working so much, multiple jobs for some! We are at work more then our houses, for one of the reasons we work in the first place. We practically work to sleep in a house to go back to work. Its unfair to having to keep working so hard and not ever reaching any platform of relief. People wonder why there is such a high rise in depression and among other things people turn to when they are stressed.  

 Word Count-553

 References:

Conley, D. (2017). You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist (5th ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc

 Hoffower, H. (2019) More Americans making $100,000 consider themselves                                               working class than rich, and it shows just how                                                           expensive the US has become. Retrieved from:                           https://www.mysanantonio.com/technology/businessinsider/article/More-Americans-making-100-000-consider-13800559.php

[victoriamartinn-blog]

We live in a society with little to no social equality. Social equality is a condition in which no differences in wealth, power, prestige, or status based or nonnatural conventions exist (Conley, 2017). Rousseau argus there are two types of inequality, physical (natural) and social (political). The physical inequality consists of things such as age, health, body strength while social inequality is differences in wealth, honor, power, and position. He also argues there will always being physical inequality because “Someone is always going to be better than someone else at kicking a ball, hunting large game,doing math, or seeing long distance”, however social inequality exists due to privileges and uneven resources (Conley, 2017).

In the article above, it argues that social class determines a child’s success and will continue to stay that way for a long time. Poorer schools have less resources to books, fewer prestigious teachers, and have lower graduation rates. The poor schools are overflowing with social inequality due to the fact that they don’t receive the same privileges a rich school such as personal student laptops, up to date textbooks, and access to guidance counselors (Semuels, 2016). People often view education as a way to move up in social class with the careers they choose, however low income students’ social mobility is hindered because they do not and will not have the equal access to receive an education that will get them a job in a higher social class than their parents. Social mobility is the movement between different positions within a system of social stratification in any given society (Conley, 2017). The only way to improve this is to review the way schools are funded and try to create a new system allowing for more funding to the low income schools.

[Word Count: 296] 

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York, NY, United States: W. W. Norton & Company. 

[jangstadt-blog]

As we know, there are many different different social classes in our society. We often times hear others talking about the upper class, middle class, and lower class. There are individuals who are at the top of the upper class making more money than others could ever imagine. There are people who have jobs and have a decent salary but are not necessarily considered wealthy. Then, there is the lower class who have jobs but struggle to support their families.

Conley describes social equality as “a condition in which no differences in wealth, power, prestige, or status based on nonnatural conventions exist” (Conley, 2017, p. 239). Today’s world is far from social equality. In this Ted Talk, J. D. Vance discusses how he was raised in a run-down city in Ohio where they did not have much of anything. Vance’s goal was to get answers from society as to how we can provide help to children who come from run-down cities. Growing up in an area like this and experiencing what he did as a child, he is inspired to help make a difference. He also discusses that drugs are strongly affecting certain areas like these. Vance wants to make sure children who come from these circumstances have the opportunity to experience a different way of life in hopes that they will be inspired to live a better life than their families and neighborhoods did while they lived there. It is only fair that everyone at least has a chance at improving themselves and their social status. Social class correlates to racism in a way because those who are making a living, supporting their families, and living a happy life, look down upon those who are doing the complete opposite. As a society we can provide a helping hand, as Vance is attempting to do, in hopes of creating change.

[word count: 310]

References

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. (5th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton.

[ayohposts-blog]

I have always found reading about issues with social class difficult.  This article hit me harder than some others because it has to do directly with kids and their education, compared to privileged, middle class families.  Middle class is described as “characterized by a high material standard of living, sexual morality, and respect for property” (Conley, 2017, p. 260).  This article is about parents choosing a school for their children.  Some parents are even going as far as to buy or rent out a second home so their child can go to a better school.  It is obvious that only middle and upper class families would be able to have two homes, so that leaves lower class families to put their children in worse schools.  

A sociologist would look at this issue as being an issue with equality of opportunity, which is the “idea that everyone should have an equal starting point” (Conley, 2017, p. 246).  In the case of the children of lower class parents, this is not so.  The children may be stuck attending an underachieving school, just because their parents do not have enough money.  This difference in social class will impact the child for the rest of his/her life.  They may not receive as good of an education because they did not have the money to go to a better school, which could hinder them from going to college or getting a job.  

I think that students should go to the school district they live in instead of their parents paying for another house to go to a ���better” school.  The division in social class hinders lower class children from going to a different school, even if they would want to, because their parents are not as well off as the family that lives next door.

Word Count: 301

References

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

[brennaadewalt-blog]

This image is a good representation of the upper-class, middle class and the poor; which are the socioeconomic statuses within the world. The upper class is the economic elite therefore they have lots of money. The middle class is a term commonly used to describe those individuals with nonmanual jobs that pay significantly more than the poverty line, although it is highly debated (Conley, 2017, p. 260). Finally, the poor are the ones who basically have no income throughout the year and most of the time live off welfare or even are homeless. In this image the fish in the bowl on the left represents the upper class, where he is always being fed money, enough to the point where he is outgrowing the bowl and will soon need to be moved to a bigger bowl. He is constantly being fed everything in the world, so he is happy and “healthy.” In the bowl on the right you see numerous fish that are nothing but bone. This one could represent either the middle class or the poor depending on how you look at it. In this case I am going to have it represent the poor. The poor in this case are starving and would do anything for food in this case the money. They are all sad that they are seeing what the upper-class fish is doing and not caring to share anything with anyone else. Because they are only caring about themselves.  

Word Count: 244

References

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

[michelinaplantz-blog]

Equality of opportunity

    When we think about social class, we think of middle class, lower class and upper class. We think of the rich, the poor and the healthy. However, what we don’t think about the most is the idea of equality in this form of social class. More specifically equality of opportunity. Equality of opportunity is defined as, “The idea that everyone has an equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige, and power because of the rules of the game, so to speak the rules are the same for everyone” (Conley, 2017, pg. 245). This photo I feel does a great example of showing that. This photo shows some form a race (I’m assuming), showing one person standing like they won. However, the guy is stating “Your turn next” showing that everyone has a fair opportunity to feel as if they are a winner. When doing this, it shows a sense of equality and shows what mothers would say to their kids when they were little “effort means everything”.

     I also feel that, even though this isn’t something that you see at every event, there are events you do. One that hits close to home is special Olympic. The purpose of Special Olympics is to make everyone feel like a winner. That all that matters are effort. They always give every child a prize, a ribbon, something to just make them feel like they actually do mean something. When it comes down to it, people don’t see special children as they truly special people they are. That’s why I feel the equality of opportunity is important, I feel that is makes everyone in some way feel like they did something good.

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself:. New York: Norton.

Equal Opportunity Cartoons and Comics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/e/equal_opportunity.asp

[brandy-kay13-blog]

Social class is for the most part, apparent or at least known throughout most people. We know the basics when it comes to poor, middle class, and upper class but do our children? School lunches are provided day after day throughout the school year. Your parents add money to the account and that’s it, you go to lunch the next day at school and get in line for lunch. What if your child in confronted one day though, that they do not have enough funds? Is the school lunch aids supposed to tell the child that could embarrass the child or do we say nothing at all? These are questions school systems are struggling to over come because should we educate the students as most are old enough to realized the different social class structure or should their parents be. This would possibly and has in the past promoted the free rider problem which is defined as “the notion that when more than one person is responsible for getting something done, the incentive is for each individual to shirk responsibility and hope others will pull the extra weight” (Conley, p. 248) When the parents do not have the funds to pay for their children’s lunches, the school is left to pay. Although, your account may go delinquent, the school is still technically funding the child until funds are placed and paid in the mean time.

“This is the same sort of conversation I had with a mother whose child was on a nearly full scholarship at a private school (she requested she remain anonymous to protect her child’s identity). The mother can’t afford the basic things other kids have for her daughter – she couldn’t cover the expensive sweaters that composed part of daughter’s school uniform, for instance. And she sometimes misses school and parent meetings that are consistently held during the workday, and even some at night, when she can’t afford the extra babysitting. I tell my daughter that some people have a lot of money and have no love, and some people have no money and a lot of love,” she says. It has forced a conversation before it would have happened otherwise, but in wealthy and unequal areas it has to happen early. You have to keep the kid strong and confident in themselves through this” (Quart).

Another element the article mentions is that “some schools have set about tackling the issue of income inequality or income difference in the schoolyard. Pre-kindergarteners at New York City’s Manhattan Country School, for instance, participate in a program where students visit others’ houses and then discuss their neighborhoods, what they have in their homes, and what kind of food they eat, as a way of starting to talk about class (and ethnic and racial) lines and differences” (Quart). By doing both of these actions, the school is trying to allow the children to understand social class for themselves, even at a young age. This demonstrates class system which can be defined as “an economically base hierarchical system characterized by cohesive, oppositional groups and somewhat loose social mobility” (Conley, p. 251). By the time they get older, it would be not only be easier for the child to understand why Jane Doe can’t afford lunch but also why Jane Doe or John Doe is dressed a certain way or doesn’t have books. Some people don’t even notice the different class system and other notice it in their daily lives everyday. The real question here is if kids and especially as young as 5 whose parents may be struggling financially, should be made aware if they are not because their parents never let on their financial struggles. 

[615 words]

Quart, A. (2017, July 19). 'Lunch shaming' and other humiliations: How can we teach our kids about class? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/19/social-class-wealth-inequality-children-parenting

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

[lynleesheeler]

          We have become such a “PC” society where everything needs to be fair and feelings can’t get hurt.  Our youth is not always learning the values of hard work and equity, but rather that they will be rewarded through the equality of opportunity, the idea that everyone has an equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige, and power because the rules of the game so to speak, are the same for everyone. (Conley, 2017, p. 245) and even more so equality of outcome, the idea that each player must end up with the same amount regardless of the fairness of the “game.” (Conley, 2017, p. 247)

          The picture above of youth wrestlers shows how the value of hard work and equity are rewarded (left) and how the picture would change if equality of opportunity and equality of outcome were applied to this particular sport (right), either all would get trophies or no one would get trophies (could get them cut out of the picture, LOL!).  Equality of opportunity in this sport has changed the landscape by allowing girls to compete and now there is also greater involvement by other minority groups, but fact is this sport still remains very individualized and rewards the participate on performance.  If everyone was rewarded equally as suggested by the equality of outcome, these athletes would have no incentive or motivation to work hard because their equity would not be valued.  

          Therefore, rewarding athletes for participation only as many in our “PC” society suggest does not teach our children about life. It is unfortunate but there are winners and losers in life, just like in sports.  Those who work hard, receive the accolades and reap the benefits, and those who just show up should not be rewarded for just being there.

Word Count: 296

Conley, D. (2017). You May Ask Yourself. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

[abiafia-blog]

Social class

This simple picture describes the American social class perfectly. There are basically 3 economic classes that show the division of finances within America. A class system is an economically based hierarchical system characterized by cohesive, oppositional groups and somewhat loose social mobility. (Conley, pg. 401). To us drawing boundaries around class categories is very important to know where each on falls. Overall the class system boils down to two antagonistic classes in a capitalist society such as America. The employing class(the bourgeoisie) which can represent the upper class and the proletariat or working class which can represent both the middle and working class. The employing level benefits the most in the nation to the point of extracting the surplus value from the working class. This is why many believe they should be taxed more. The working class, on the other hand, works for the employing type and sells its labor and production to the bourgeoisie so that they can receive wages and survive. 

       As far as we know the middle class is what holds all the classes together without them, it will be broken. Therefore being in any of these classes tells your status and maybe your occupation criteria. This brings the question of how the wealthy are the upper class? Wealth is a family's or individual's net worth which includes total assets, minus total debts. (Conley, pg. 410). While income is the money received by a person for work. So those in the upper class are placed there based on their wealth and not that they make at work. The high class tends to save and invest while the middle or other class spend to keep surviving. How can we build our wealth then?

word count 283

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. Stratification. New York: W.W. Norton.

[itsdprowell-blog]

Social Class

https://nypost.com/2018/06/23/why-the-middle-class-cant-afford-life-in-america-anymore/  

           In the world today, there is no such thing as anyone being equal. We are all separated into three different “people” also known as, classes. Wealth will determine your class and they say that “money cannot buy happiness”, but in this world, you need money to be able to live a happy and comfortable life. If you are poor, then you are probably struggling to remain at a comfortable position to keep a roof over you and your family’s head while getting the essentials that are needed in life. If you are labeled as middle class, then you are still unfortunately struggling in a way and that is what this article by Larry Getlen explains to us.  

           One of the lucky ones in the world is considered to be the upper class that have the ability to live an extremely comfortable life without having to struggle. Historically speaking, “upper class was often distinguished by not having to work” (Conley, 2017, p. 258) When trying to figure out an actual term for middle class, it was brought to my attention that, “there is no consensus on what the term middle class really means” (Conley, 2017, p. 260). One thing that lacks greatly in America is Equality of Opportunity which is “the idea that everyone has an equal change to achieve wealth, social prestige and power…. are the same for everyone” (Conley, 2017, p. 245). Not everyone in this world can be handed their fathers multimillion-dollar company and sit back and enjoy life with little to no effort.

           Conway puts into perspective of how we can think of society and the different classes as a game of Monopoly. He states that “In this game, the person with the most money in the end is the winner” (Conley, 2017, p. 245). This really puts it into a different and unique standpoint to understand. But in all honesty, that is unreal because we all know that the middle class will never be the winners and the upper class will always win. Larry Getlen explains to us just how much the middle class truly struggles with their everyday working life.

 [word count: 355] 

Reference:

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

[rangersgonz-blog]

This article speaks on ways that we can overcome financial inequality and what it would take to fix the problem. Approaches such as needing to see inequality as a systemic problem. It seems as though every time there is a financial crisis, it does not affect those who are wealthy, instead somehow their income increases. What is it that they are doing financially when these financial crisis come about? Not only is it about money but also the education aspect of it. Tuition for college has increased and many states have reduced the support for higher education. We all want that equal opportunity or as Conley out it, equality of condition which he defines as “the idea that everyone should have an equal starting point” (p.246), to prosper and chase success. Without money you are limited to what you can do, so how can you save when you don’t make enough to save? According to polls, 75% support raising the minimum wage, and 68% support increasing taxes on people earning more than $1 million. Even 76% of our billionaires, a Forbes survey found, regard income inequality as a “serious societal problem.”(Anderson et al, 2016). When the wealthiest people also see a problem with financial inequality, that is a big problem and a problem that needs attention. The Obama administration has granted home-care workers the right to wage protections and has expanded the number of workers, receiving paid sick leave and over time pay. (Anderson et al, 2016). It seems as though the presidents that prioritize this problem are thinking of ideas to bring in more money to the working class. Instead of maybe hitting the problem from the stronger side of it, increasing taxes on the wealthy making them spread their money. At this point I believe it is more on the governments part of making a change. Although 76% of billionaires see financial inequality as a serious problem, I wonder how many of them will be willing to help and have their taxes increased. That should have been a question that the poll that was used in the Forbes survey.  

Words: 330

Source: 

Anderson, S., Bayard, M., Cavanagh, J., Collins, C., Hoxie, J., & Pizzigoti, S. (2016, February 18). Inequality will not go away on its own. Here’s now to close the gap. The Nation. Retrieved from https://www.thenation.com/article/inequality-will-not-go-away-on-its-own-heres-how-to-close-the-gap/ 

Conley, D. (2017). You May Ask Yourself. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p.246.

[lhesssociology-blog]

The United States has four categories for social class, Upper class, Middle class, working class and, Lower class. Upper class is considered economic elite, they have more than enough money to live and they have the best jobs. Middle class is commonly known as the jobs that definitely pay more than poverty even though most of the middle-class are still living paycheck to paycheck (Conley, 2017). Lower class otherwise known as poverty makes up 29 percent of Americans today (Meggitt, 2019). The middle class makes up half of the Americans in the United States at a whopping 51 percent (Meggitt, 2019). Now, every state has different standards for defining middle class but that’s beside the point. Working class is anyone who works in minimum or a low wage job and manual labor jobs like a janitor or plumber.

There is constantly people who are in upper class trying to take advantage of the middle and even lower class. John Oliver on Last Week Tonight shared some important information on mobile homes. The federal housing surveys that about one in 18 Americans live in mobile homes (Horton, 2019). Recently private equity groups have bought up mobile home parks, their strategy is deceptive loan practices (Horton, 2019). They do this because the mobile home just like a car loses its value over time. An example that John Oliver uses is the Clayton Homes which he said generated roughly $911 million in pre-tax! By having exorbitant fees and interest rates going beyond %15 this essentially traps buyers in loans that they just can’t afford. When you own a mobile home you don’t own the land underneath you so if the owner of the lot wants to raise the rent then they can.

So while the rich get richer the poor get poorer and it’s quite sad. People work so hard just to keep their head above water struggle the most. I could sit here and talk about this all day because I am a part of the working class. I work for an okay wage and between my boyfriend and I we make just enough to live in our house. The middle class and working class are getting pushed out and soon there won’t be any of us left due to all the greed in this country.

Word Count- 384

References

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

Horton, A. (2019, April 08). John Oliver rips private equity in mobile home parks as if 'income inequality came to life'. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/apr/08/john-oliver-rips-private-equity-mobile-home-parks

Meggitt, J. (2019, January 28). Lower, Middle and Upper Class Income Levels. Retrieved from https://finance.zacks.com/lower-middle-upper-class-income-levels-9877.htm

[caseyelizabethsociology-blog]

Module 6: Social Class

Ah, the topic that basicallydefines who we are, this should be a good one. So we are all ranked by our socioeconomic status, which is an individual’s position in a stratified social order. There is 3 rankings for this class. The upper class, middle class, and lower class. The upper class is the economical elite (rich). The middle class, are those individuals with non manual jobs that pay significantly more than the poverty line. The lower class, is the poor. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that we are judged by how much money we make. This effects those who need money for college, loans, and much more.

Conley, D. (2011). You may ask yourself: an introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

[hersheywiss-blog]

At only 21 years old, Kylie Jenner has become the youngest “self-made” billionaire according to Forbes's annual billionaire list.  Forbes wrote in July of 2018 about how she was set to become the youngest-ever self-made billionaire and by March 2019 she has reached that goal (Del Valle, 2019).  How self-made it really is I guess is a matter of opinion. She was born into an already very wealthy family.  She spent her whole life being surrounded by people who gave her advice on how to invest her money, something that the average person does not have. This inequality I'm sure, in my opinion, has given Kylie a step ahead of the rest of other 21 year olds.  According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, there are two forms of inequality: physical (age, health, bodily strength, mind) and social, which consists of the different privileges which some men enjoy to the prejudice of others, such as that of being more rich, more honored, more powerful, or even in a position to extract obedience (Conley, 2017, p. 240).  

According to Forbes (2016) there are 540 billionaires living in the United States.  These members are at the very top of the 1%, living life as the upper class, which is a term used for the economic elite (Conley, 2017, p. 258).  People who are worth this much money do not rely on wages, instead they are reaping the benefits of investments they have made. The upper class does not spend as much of their money like the middle class does.  The middle class has a lot less to spend, and with stagnate wages and ever increasing costs of daily living, it creates many economic issues which sometimes leads to a crash in the economy.

But many in the middle class are responsible for the success and rise of Kylie to billionaire status.  Young girls and women strive to be her and will spend obnoxious amounts of money on her products.  Her socioeconomic status, or her position in a stratified social order (Conley, 2017, p. 258), has set her ahead of the game.  She can't be blamed for this.  She had no control over the family she was being born into and she took advantage of every opportunity available to her.  If it were you or I, we would have done the exact same thing.  Equality of opportunity is the idea that everyone has an equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige, and power because the rules of the game are the same for everyone.  So what this comes down to is how bad do you want it?  How much work and energy are you willing to put into building your own success?  It might seem a lot easier when you have a last name like Jenner or Kardashian, but is it really?  You might just be able to reach billionaire status a little sooner than most, like before your 22nd birthday.

WORD COUNT: 485

References:

Conley, D. (2017). You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist (5th ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Forbes (2019).  The states with the most billionaires. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/pictures/hdgi45edgg/the-states-with-the-most/#6e7d0f915bc0

Del Valle, G. (2019 March 7). How Kylie became the wealthiest member of the Kardashian-Jenner family. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/7/18254738/kylie-jenner- forbes-self-made-billionaire-lip-kits

[justinefilburn-blog]

In this article Robert Reich is talking about flattening wages and productivity. Jeb Bush has proposed a 4% growth, but he said Americans need to work harder. Reich is arguing that Americans do work hard but it will be hard to have a 4% growth because of the flattening wages.  For the past thirty years, wages for middle class men have not increased. This has created flattening wages. When I watched Reich’s movie he talked about some things Americans could do to deal with the flattening wages. Reich described three coping mechanisms that the middle class had to endure to stay a float. The first coping mechanism was for women to go into the work force. Since the wages weren't increasing for men and they weren't making enough, they thought if women went to work they would be making enough money. The problem with this was not every woman could go to work. Many had to stay home with their children and look after them. The next coping mechanism was to work more longer hours. This worked out great at first. People were making more money because they were working more days and longer hours. This could only help so much though. Reich explained that there are only so many hours in a day and only so many days in a week. You couldn't possibly work all those hours so people would eventually work their capacity and couldn't work any more to make more money. This resulted in the third coping mechanism. The third coping mechanism is to borrow more money and go into debt. Housing prices increased dramatically but wages stayed the same, so people had to start borrowing money to pay for houses and other things. People today still borrow money and are going deeper and deeper into debt. Unfortunately, this is the only way families can stay a float with these flattening wages.

Flattening wages and the coping mechanisms can be looked at as an example of structural mobility. Structural mobility is the mobility that is inevitable from changes in the economy (Conley, 2017, p.268). People are having to change the way that they are earning money because they are being paid wages that do not align with the current economy. They are using ‘coping mechanisms’ to change their way of life to cope with the concrete minimum wage.

word count: 392

Conley, D. (2017). You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

[mmhec]

Income. We don’t typically discuss it unless you’re in a room full of high schoolers all earning around minimum wage. What exactly does income determine though? One thing it determines is someone’s socioeconomic status.

Socioeconomic status is an individual’s position in a stratified social order. This is often based on income and wealth. Income is the money received by a person for work, from transfers, or from returns on investments, whereas wealth is a family’s or individual’s net worth (Conley, 2017, p. 258).

The link above is to a research study published by the New York Times comparing parent’s socioeconomic status to the achievement levels of the students. Two graphs are displayed, both the overall school achievement and the differences between different group of students. Both of these graphs display the effects socioeconomic status has on education.

School districts are based on the surrounding neighborhoods and areas. Therefore, there is often a common theme of income (as with anything, there are a few outliers of course). These differences in social class can drastically influence an education experience.

Many school districts that are in lower income areas have lower taxes which result in less money being given to school districts. Furthermore, many low-income families are unable to provide their children with the items necessary to succeed in school. Despite the likely higher cost of living in higher income locations, families have more income to budget to spend on their children’s educational necessities and additional non essential items.

Furthermore, this can apply to the opportunities to attend college. For some families, financial income prevents children from attending college. Social mobility however can allow people to switch between social statuses. Social mobility is the movement between different positions within a system of social stratification in any given society (Conley, 2017, p. 267). Going off of the example above, social mobility would include an adult attending college as they now have the means to do so.

Income is largely based on the job that someone has. Changes in the economy can cause people to lose their job as companies try to maximize their profit. In this case, the change in social position would be due to structural mobility. Structural mobility is simply mobility that is inevitable from changes in the economy. One example of this is high loss of jobs following a stock market crash.

Can you think of a time that your social class has affected you? Can you think of a time that you have moved between social classes? This could be another example of how sociology could apply to your life!

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist (Core 5th ed.). New York, United States: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Rich, M., Cox, A., & Bloch, M. (2016, April 29). Money, race and success: How your school district compares. Retrieved January 10, 2019, from The New York Times website: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/29/upshot/money-race-and-success-how-your-school-district-compares.html

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