15-10-05

Social Inequality
Social inequality is the uneven distribution of
social goods (e.g., wealth, income, education,
prestige, occupation, health, life chances)
between societies, social groups, and individuals.
(p. 288)

Social Stratification,
Inequality, and Class

This distribution is affected by such factors as

race, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation,
and age

SOC 103 How Societies Work Section 3

Week 4, Oct 1-2, 2015

Socioeconomic Status &

Social Stratification

What does your sociological imagination

suggest about this man?

socioeconomic status (SES) a composite

measure of a persons social standing based on
a combination of income, education, and
occupational prestige rankings (p. 288)
social stratification the system by which
members of a given society are organized into
hierarchically ranked layers or strata

Poverty in Canada

Poverty in Canada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I75oeLugi7E

Low-income cutoffs (LICOs) are one official

measure of poverty

also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RQ1ypJ2erpw

LICOs are a set of income thresholds below

which families are found to use a larger share of
income to the physical necessities of lifefood,
shelter, clothingthan the average family would
Statistics Canada determines these by analyzing
family expenditure data
in 2007, 9% of Canadians 2,952,000 people
including 637,000 children lived in households
where combined household income was below
the relevant LICO

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Child and Family Poverty

Child Poverty

Child poverty numbers have not improved since

1989

child poverty results from adult poverty, of course

census data show that poverty rates for certain

groups of children are much higher than the
average rate.
Immigrant children are almost three times more
likely to experience poverty than Canadianborn children.

What poverty means to a

nine-year-old
not being able to go to McDonalds
hearing mom and dad fight about money
not going to birthday parties

in 1989, the House of Commons passed a

resolution to end child poverty in Canada within
ten years
child poverty has not declined since then
immigrant and Aboriginal children the most at risk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=GIWroI1wymg

Child and Family Poverty

Poverty rates also vary significantly by family
type.
Use of food banks can be one measure of
poverty.

not getting a hot dog on hot dog day

not being able to have friends over
being teased for the way you are dressed
not having breakfast sometimes
not going on school trips

Types of Households Using Food Banks, 2011

Low Income in Canada

In Canada, low income is concentrated in five
groups:
lone parents;
off-reserve Aboriginal people;
people between the ages of 45 and 64 and
not in families;
people with work-limiting disabilities;
recent immigrants.

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Low-Paying Jobs
in International Perspective

Proportion of low-paid workers among selected OECD countries

low-paid workers are full time workers whose

income is less than 2/3 of the national median
Canada has one of the highest proportions of
low-paid workers, with totals higher than
European countries and similar to the American
rate.
in 2004, Canada and the US had the highest
proportion of low-paid workers among 12
comparable industrialized countries.
Finland had the lowest proportion of low-paid
workers

Income Inequality

Income Inequality Growing

In Canada income disparities (expressed in 2007

constant dollars) rose between 1995 and 2007.

Income is becoming more concentrated in

Canada. From 1990 to 2000:

by 2007, the top quintile received 2.6 times more

income on average than the middle three
quintiles and 9.1 times more than the bottom
quintile
Also, there are regional disparities in income
across Canada.

Income Inequality and

Gender
Most of the highest income earners in Canada
are men.
The higher the income, the more skewed the
gender composition.
in Canada in 2004:
75% of the top 5% of income earners were men

the top 5% of all income earners saw their share

of all income earned in Canada increase by
about 25%
the top 1% of income earners saw their share
increase by 50%
and the top 0.01% had nearly a 100% increase.
If we look at the bottom 95% of income
earners, we see a decrease in their share of the
income pie

Wealth Inequality
Wealth is defined as total assets minus total
liabilities, and is based on marketable assets that
are in the direct control of households.
income does not necessarily predict wealth;
many wealthy individuals have moderate
incomes

90% of the top 0.01% of income earners were

men

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Wealth Inequality

Wealth Inequality

in 2005, the top 20% of households in Canada

owned 75% of total household wealth (Statistics
Canada)

Gini coefficient: measure of the inequality of a

statistical distrubution

in 2009, 3.8% of all households owned 67% of total

household wealth
wealth inequality is growing

0 = total equality (everyone has same income)

1 = total inequality (1 person has everything)
in mid-2000s, Canada ranked 18th out of 30
selected countries, and below average, with a
Gini coefficient of 0.32

Question

Positive vs. Negative effects

of inequality for a society?
(class discussion)

What does this all mean?

+ reward people for working harder or smarter

different opportunities available to different people

+ motivate people to work harder or smarter

positive social functions of inequality

+ motivates innovation, efficiency

discrimination
feeling entitled to privileges that others dont get

+ some people get to achieve more

government policies, e.g. minimum wage, taxes

- distribution of wealth and income is not proportional to hard

work

competition means inequality

- unequal rewards makes us work for money, not passion

loss of personal initiative

- intense competition can encourage cheating

individualist vs. collectivist social values

- perception of opportunity may be unrealistic

Positive vs. Negative effects

of inequality for a society?
(class discussion)

Theories of Social Class

Critical thinking question:

how do we know which, if any,
of these pros and cons are
actually the case?

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Max Weber (1864-1920)
problem: the rise and fall of the new middle class

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Marxs Theory
all history is the history of class
struggle
class is defined by ownership of the
means of production
the means of production are the
land, resources, and technology
used to produce wealth

The Capitalist Mode of

Production
in the capitalist mode of production, the
means of production are privately owned
commodities
a commodity is something that can be
bought and sold for money
in capitalism, labour-power is also a
commodity

a mode of production is a way of

organizing the control and use of the
means of production

Class in Capitalist Society

Alienation

two main classes:

bourgeoisie (capitalist class) owns the means
of production and buys the labour-power of others

alienation = separation

proletariat (working class) does not own

means of production and must sell its labour-power
to survive
intermediate classes:
petit bourgeoisie (small, self-exploiting capitalists)
elite managers and professionals (workers who
control the means of production on behalf of
capitalists)

we are alienated
from ownership of the products and
services we produce through our own
labour
from the process of work itself
from our own humanity and our own
authentic selfhood
from other people

Exploitation

Exploitation example

exploitation is the appropriation (taking) of

surplus value from workers by capitalists

you make 12 cakes in nine-hour shift

surplus value is the value that a worker

creates over and above what is paid to her
as a labour cost by the capitalist who
employs her
even well-paid workers are exploited in this
sense
capitalists have to exploit workers to make a
profit; its not malice, its social structure

the employer sells each cake for $44

the employer spends $7 per cake on nonlabour expenses and pays you $20/hour
you create $37*12=$444 in value
you receive $180 in wages
you are deprived of $264 in surplus value

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Revolution
for Marx, revolution meant working people
taking control of the means of production
this would abolish the distinction between
workers and owners, hence class distinctions
as such
this would not abolish all inequality, but
would democratize economic production so
that it serves human needs

Webers liberal
conflict theory
class situation an individuals
economically determined life
chances, including social actors
orientations, skills, abilities, and
conditions of life
note that this includes factors
which Marx did not include in his
definition of class, like income and
lifestyle

the motive is not altruism but selfishness, or

self-realization

Class situation (Weber)

market situation (two types)
property market property class
services market acquisition class
possibility for mobility between classes

Status groups

Key Points

a group of people who claim certain kinds of

social esteem for themselves, such as honour,
prestige, celebrity, or cool

there is more economic inequality in

Canadian society than people tend to think

race is an example of a status group that has

been fixed into caste a status group that an
individual cannot enter or exit

sociologists examine how economic

inequality is produced by social structures
beyond individual control