Social Stratification and Inequality

Summary

The Stratification System of the United States

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Summary The Stratification System of the United States

Work Preference

Using one’s occupation as a partial measure of social class has another pitfall: it assumes that people are doing the kinds of work they prefer and for which they are best prepared. In a full market employment economy, people can generally find the kinds of work they want, but in a weak economy, people sometimes have to take jobs that do not reflect their interests, education, or experience.

Bias

Using occupation to place people in a certain social class reflects our society’s bias. As mentioned earlier, American society automatically accords some jobs more prestige than others. This does not mean that they are better occupations or that the people who do them are more worthy individuals.

Income

Of the three variables, income is perhaps the least reliable as a predictor of SES. Assuming that a person’s income is derived mostly from his or her job, the salary he or she receives is subject to influence by a variety of factors:

Geographic region
Size of company
Educational level
Work experience

Example: Being vice president of a company could mean many different things. In a small company in the rural South, the vice president of a company might make $30,000 a year, whereas the vice president of a Fortune 500 company would very likely have a six-figure salary. In the banking industry, vice president is a common term. It’s often given to people who make a certain salary, regardless of their actual position or level of responsibility.