Social Stratification Analysis Quiz

Social Stratification: An Overview

• Social stratification is the patterning of inequality and its lasting effects on individuals' lives.
• Inequality is shaped by relations involving unequal power, status, or economic resources.
• These factors influence life choices and opportunities.
• Social stratification analysis examines how these inequalities persist across generations.

Social Stratification

• Social stratification is a system of social inequality.
• This system determines who gets what, when, and why.
• Stratification is often depicted metaphorically as layers in rock.
• This illustrates how resources are unequally distributed across different social levels.

The Study of Social Stratification

• The study analyses how inequalities between people at any given time are perpetuated across generations.
• Social stratification refers to the ongoing presence of hierarchical inequalities within a society.
• Intergenerational transmission of inequality is significant; inequality in one generation impacts the next.

Social Stratification (Additional Points)

• Upper strata are comprised of individuals possessing more resources.
• Lower strata contain individuals with fewer resources.
• Social stratification assigns people to socioeconomic levels based on factors such as wealth, income, education, race and power.

Social Inequality

• Social inequality is beyond individual differences and refers to systematic inequalities.
• Inequality shapes opportunities related to economics, social and political life based on factors like group membership, race, ethnicity etc.
• Sociologists focus on structural conditions that create social inequality.

Examples of Inequality

• Women and children lack access to critical healthcare, resulting in preventable deaths.
• Migrants and refugees face a lack of opportunity and discrimination.
• One in five people globally experience discrimination prohibited by international human rights law.
• Statistics on global wealth inequality, such as certain groups holding a disproportionate share of global wealth.

Definitions of Social Inequality

• Social inequalities are differences in income, resources, power and status within or between societies.
• These inequalities are maintained through institutions and societal processes.
• Inequalities can be distinguished as economic, based on income conditions and broader living conditions or legalistic, based on individual rights and obligations.

Definitions of Social Inequality (Continued)

• Social inequalities are differences generated by differentiation and domination in human interactions, institutions and groups.
• These differences are frequently shaped by visible indicators like skin color, sex or appearance.
• Inequality often results in exclusion from societal opportunities or different levels of pay.

Implications of Social Inequality

• Race, ethnicity, gender, class and age are axes of inequality in societies.
• Inequality can also reflect differences in other aspects like language or sexual orientation
• Inequalities in these areas influence social relationships, institutions and groups often naturalizing these differences, as for instance, through assumptions about gender and opportunity.

Implications of Social Inequality (Continued)

• Dimensions of inequality (race, class, gender) often intersect, leading to cumulative effects of disadvantage, particularly for marginalized groups.
• The intersection of categories (like race, class and gender) affects both the experience and expression of inequality.

Implications of Social Inequality (Continued)

• Inequality can hinder societal and economic development, causing poverty reduction issues, and damaging a populace’s sense of self-worth.

Global Programs Related to Inequality

• Thirteen of the 17 UN Sustainable Development goals directly address forms of inequality.
• Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities) specifically targets inequality reduction.

Federal Policy (Canada)

• The Canadian government has strengthened the implementation of the Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus).
• This aims to create responsive and inclusive initiatives.
• Canada's First Poverty Reduction Strategy seeks to reduce poverty and systemic barriers.
• This strategy includes initiatives such as the Canada Child Benefit, Guaranteed Income Supplement, and the National Housing Strategy.

Social Exclusion

• Social exclusion is a shorthand term for the combined effect of several issues.
• The three main areas are resource access, social participation, and quality of life.
• Issues such as unemployment, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, and family breakdown.

Definitions of Poverty

• Poverty is an important concern and is often related to inequality.
• Poverty can be measured by income, either using absolute measures (basic needs like food, shelter) or relative measures (comparing to a society's standards).

Absolute and Relative Poverty

• Absolute poverty is the inability to meet basic needs (food, shelter).
• Relative poverty is a comparison to resources available in a society.
• It is important for context, as someone with a higher income could be considered still poor in a given area or society.

Measuring Social Inequality

• Gross Domestic Income (GDI) per capita comparisons are used.
• The distribution of income across a population is important. The Gini Index shows inequality, with a higher Gini index indicating greater inequality.
• Household surveys provide individual income data.

Social Inequality is Not Just Unequal Income

• Income inequality is a common metric for inequality but isn't the sole factor.
• Social inequality encapsulates poverty, difficulty, danger, and disrespect for dignity.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs describes levels of human needs (physiological, safety, love, esteem, self-actualization).
• This hierarchy is presented in a pyramid format.
• Critics point out that the needs are not always progressive or hierarchical.

Capability Approach

• Amartya Sen's work on 'capabilities' suggests that evaluating well-being is vital.
• This approach values capabilities of people in terms of what they can do.
• Sen argues that people’s capabilities are impacted by their living circumstances.

Human Development Index (HDI)

• The HDI is used in assessing development by considering factors other than income.
• It includes components of health, education and a decent living standard.
• This index is used to measure inequality across several countries and regions.

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

• The global MPI is an international resource tool measuring multifaceted poverty in developing nations.
• It reviews factors like health, education, and standard of living as criteria for analysis, instead of single measures like income.
• The MPI is computed using deprivation profiles for households reviewing 10 dimensions.

Global Inequality

• 44% of the global population lives below the upper middle-income line.
• 8.5% lives below the extreme poverty line.

Global Challenges and Patterns : COVID-19

• COVID-19 increased existing inequalities, impacting livelihoods, income, and wellbeing.
• Differences across demographics and circumstances were heightened.
• Data showed that the pandemic exacerbated inequality.

Measuring Inequality: Examples

• Tables of Gini coefficients from countries show the income disparities.
• Comparison tables of countries show different HDI values, providing insight on global development disparities.

Social Divisions and Inequalities (additional points)

• Housing policy, as observed across major developed countries, includes various interventions to assist in maintaining a degree of balance between private and public housing.
• Housing policy has undergone dramatic changes, moving away from extensive state interventions in favour of free-market and private sector models.
• The transition in housing policy has led to greater social stratification as individuals face uneven access to affordable accommodation.

Social divisions by:

• Class is a societal division resulting from wealth, prestige, and power inequality.
• Education inequality exists across gender lines and between ethnic groups and social classes.
• Ethnicity forms social divisions based on cultural identities.
• Status is a social positioning within society related to wealth, prestige, material possessions and lifestyle, including an understanding of the various levels of social status within a given society.

Case Study: Disabled People and Inequality/Covid-19

• People with disabilities face discrimination related to employment, access to services and promotion opportunities.
• Impacts of Covid-19 have highlighted the widening gaps in inequality across various communities with disabilities.

Case Study: Age and Inequality

• Older people often face material deprivation and limited social rewards due to their labour market history and experiences.
• Ageing societies are increasingly challenging with respect to income, health and social protection.

Sociological Theories about Age

• Functionalist theories suggest that older people must adapt to their changing roles and may disengage from society as they feel less useful, thereby enabling societal function.
• The life-course perspective sees aging as a continuous process from birth to death.

Age-Friendly Cities and Communities

• Age-friendly communities are encouraged globally via the WHO initiative to adapt services and environments to better support people as they age.
• Age-friendliness is a multifaceted community approach focusing on policy, services, and physical and social structures to accommodate the needs of older people, not on a limited set of design features.

Other Challenges from Age-Friendly Cities

• How to achieve an equitable integration of older people into the design of their environment,
• Identifying reliable ways to measure age-friendliness or age adaptation indicators across various cities.

Group Discussion:

• Discussion prompts focus on the impact of the pandemic on homelessness and inequality.
• It aims to explore consequences, positive and negative, of the pandemic on relevant social groups.
• The discussion includes considerations of the impact on those who had already been experiencing disadvantages and those who might now be in that position.