Questions and Answers
What does income refer to?
What is the Gini Coefficient used for?
To represent income distribution of a nation’s residents.
The poorest fifth of the population pays more tax proportionally than the richest fifth.
True
What did the High Pay Centre report about CEOs in 2012?
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What did sociologists link social class to?
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Who developed the Hope-Goldthorpe scale?
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What is the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC)?
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What is the Great British Class Survey?
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Murray argued that a new social class, the __________, has emerged below the working class.
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What is a weakness of measuring social class based on occupation?
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Study Notes
Social Class and Income
- Income is the flow of money to individuals or households over a specified period, typically monthly or annually.
- The UK experiences significant income inequality compared to other developed nations.
- Key measures for assessing income inequality in the UK include the Family Resources Survey (FRS), Annual Survey Of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and the British Household Panel Survey.
- The Gini Coefficient quantifies income distribution, ranging from 0 (equality) to 1 (inequality).
- Functionalist and New Right perspectives suggest that income disparities are beneficial for society, motivating talents and hard work.
- Marxist and Weberian views criticize that elites (senior managers) can self-determine salaries, creating cultures where large rewards are normalized.
Statistics on Social Class and Income
- In 2013, Adele's income was approximately 1,000 times greater than the average UK worker's salary.
- The poorest fifth of the UK population paid a 37.4% proportion of their income in taxes, while the richest fifth contributed 35.1%.
- The High Pay Centre in 2012 highlighted that FTSE100 CEOs' pay rose by 49% over a year, averaging 145 times their employees' pay.
- About 45% of British workers earn less than two-thirds of the average hourly wage.
- In 2015, net income for the bottom 10% was £8,468 compared to £79,042 for the top 10%.
Definition of Social Class
- Social class is a form of social stratification in modern industrial societies, marked by shared economic positions, occupations, and educational levels.
- Economic inequalities often correlate with inequalities in status and power.
- Differences in class can influence attitudes toward education and preferences in leisure activities and consumerism.
Goldthorpe's Contribution (1980)
- John Goldthorpe developed the Hope-Goldthorpe scale for researching social mobility.
- He identified three main social classes, further divided into seven occupational categories.
Murray's Concept of the Underclass (1989)
- Murray posited the emergence of a new social class, the underclass, which includes the poorest segments of society such as the unemployed and lone-parent families reliant on state benefits.
National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC)
- NS-SEC is a classification system employed in official statistics like the Census to categorize people by social class.
The Great British Class Survey
- This survey assessed individuals based on their possession of social, economic, and cultural capital, resulting in recognition of seven social classes in the UK:
- Elite
- Established Middle Class
- Technical Middle Class
- New Affluent Workers
- Traditional Working Class
- Emergent Service Workers
- Precariat
Weaknesses of Social Class Measurement
- A key criticism is the reliance on occupation for classification; wealthy individuals without formal jobs may be misclassified, highlighting the limitations of such measures in representing true economic status.
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Description
Explore key concepts related to social class and income with these flashcards. Understand how income inequality is measured in the UK and the significance of various surveys like the Family Resources Survey. Test your knowledge on the definitions and implications of social class disparities.
