Factors That Affect Social Class

Many questions have risen in this day and age in which ones wealth can greatly effect almost every aspect of their lives. There has been much controversy as to whether the recognition of socioeconomic classes are for the benefit of society as a whole. Socioeconomic class is defined as some combination of occupation, education, and income level (Heimer 802). A good society consists of equality, support for the government, educated individuals, better living conditions, and low crime rates. As research will show, socioeconomic classes contribute to social inequality, lower support for the government, subpar education levels, income insecurity for some classes, lower living conditions, trouble transitioning into adulthood, and higher crime rates. Therefore, socioeconomic classes are a detriment to society and do more harm than good for the people.

Individuals within a society are grouped into certain rankings that is based on their wealth, income, race and education known as the social stratification. Sociologist use this to determine the social standings of individuals within a society. Social stratification can also appear in much smaller groups. These groups such as the work place, schools, and businesses can “take the form of a distribution of power and authority down the ranks”. (Cole, 2017) The Caste system is also another form of stratification that one does not get a choice in. They are born into it and regardless of their talents will hold positions that are given to them their whole life. Social mobility is the ability for individuals to move about their social standings.

Social class is a “tag” to define your status in a community. One of the main requirements you must have to be in the Upper class, is to have wealth and power. That is basically it, and obviously the absence of those characteristics could mean you are in a Middle or even in the Lower class. Sports are an activity that people do for pleasure that requires physical activity and sometimes has rules for the players to follow in order to play the game. It is most commonly played outdoors. It can improve your cardio, health, and physical condition. For example, it can prevent things like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer or even mental illnesses like depression.

Social class is a division of a society based on social and economic status which can include levels of wealth, success, power of authority, and influence. Status is can be defined or grouped having common economic, cultural, or political interests.

But from textbook data and me and my family experiences I consider social mobility process is still in force today. How much opportunity is there is the factors that determine people’s occupational location and, hence their income, prestige and ultimately their life chances. Therefore, the only things we can control that can determine our future is our work ethic. Some societies tend to assign people’s position at birth by ascription, others who believe in their ability, knows that they can earn a live hood from their jobs, which they obtain based on a combination of hard work, and ability. According to the book “The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States.” (Beeghley, Leonard. 2008) Sociologists assess this degree of opportunity by Social mobility. Which refers to Intragenerational mobility and Intergenerational

Social stratification as defined by Brinkerhoff et al. is “an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social statuses are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce resources” (Brinkerhoff et al. 152). By scarce resources, many people have to deal with poverty and having a lack of money to buy the things they need in their lives. Social class is defined as “a category of people who share roughly the same class, status, and power and who have a sense of identification with each other” (Brinkerhoff et al. 155). Your social class has to do with your socioeconomic status along with the power and connections you have. Social mobility on the other hand is “the process of changing one’s social class” (Brinkerhoff et al. 153).

In the novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, the author depicts a story about a young boy named Ponyboy, finding out the rights and wrongs in society and the struggle to survive. S.E Hinton brings up the meat and potatoes of the novel, that is social mobility. According to Dictionary.com social mobility is defined as “ the movement of individuals, families, households, or other categories of people within or between layers or tiers in an open system of social stratification. Open stratification systems are those in which at least some value is given to achieved status characteristics in a society.” Three main points that will be brought up about social mobility , are living conditions, power of wealth and education.

In this course, we have learned about different social classes and how they developed over time. In fact, the idea of social classes has been around before what we know it as to today. The concept has not changed. The “higher” classes usually have land, money, and jewels. The “lower” classes are broke, servants, and no valuable possessions. Prior to this course, I only knew of the upper class, middle class, and lower class. In today’s society, the separation between classes is not as bad as it use to be. School is an example of this. I grew up in Cobb County, Smyrna- Vinings area and I went to school with people who parents are CEOs of companies, successful entrepreneurs or even music artist. I would consider my family middle class but we did have students who were also lower class families. Some higher-class families enroll their children in private school. Private schools charges tuition whereas public schools are free of cost. The upbringing up children can determine their social status in schools. In this essay, I will discuss “cliques” and their differences in high schools.

Social class has always been influential in America even though many people put forth that someone’s social class is insignificant when building friendships or any other relationship. But the reality is that those thoughts are mistaken because the truth is social class has become a larger concept than what it’s thought to be. Due to the class difference all the social classes have been drifting apart from each other and avoid interacting with each other (Bartlett 1).

For hundreds of years, there have been great dividers between the working class and the upper class, although the system has changed and the identifiers for each class have blended together, there still is a difference. The barriers, however, murky they seem to be are still very much present. These barriers are broken by some, Bill Gates and Benjamin Franklin are two of the most well know to have moved classes. Gates from the upper middle to the top of the system, whereas Franklin went from being unknown and poor to one of the most influential men in the United States. Classes are mixed and broken down into many micro classes such as the lower-middle and upper-middle, not to mention countless others. Mobility in the class system is incredibly difficult but it is not impossible. The lines which have always separated the classes so severely, are now hard to see in American culture. Although there still is mobility there is no instantaneous movement. In many cases, the generation before made sacrifices so that the next generation would not have to hurt in the same way. This can go on for years each generation moving a little higher on the class ladder. However, it is hard to tell if this completely true, because what was a novelty item fifty years ago, is now in every home no matter the income level. The class system is still present and it does still affect how people in every group are seen and judged. If mobility

Socioeconomic mobility in the United States refers to the movement of Americans from one social class or economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying. Vertical mobility can be the change in socioeconomic status between parents, and children, and intergenerational. It typically refers to relative mobility the chance that an American 's income or status will rise or fall compared to others in another income or status group, however social mobility can also be waste of time, by how much living standards is in America. The belief that there is significant social mobility in America, or in other words that Americans can and do rise from humble origins to riches, is called the American Dream.

Throughout the centuries, social class and mobility has always been a big concern for Americans. Today, social mobility has been known to be roughly the same over the past few decades. Social mobility, to begin with, is defined as a movement, either upward or downward, in social class. The social mobility is greatly influenced by the level of openness within a society, in which a person can gain their social status by their own efforts.

Parents' social class has a greater impact on how well their children perform at school than IQ. Social class has become the primary pathway as well as a towering obstacle to opportunity in America. Below I will discuss three articles on this topic.

For many, the American Dream entails upward social mobility. For a few, the dream of increased social status comes true. Throughout my life, I experienced many changes in my socio-economic class. I was born into a working Middle Class family. Both of my parents graduated from high school but neither attended college. My father worked the stereotypical nine to five job as a bank teller. My mother was a stay at home parent raising me along with my two older brothers. We could have been described as the typical Middle Class American family. As the term Middle Class implies, our family was not wealthy, but at the same point, we were not considered poor. My parents were able to afford a roof over our head, food on the table, and heat to keep us warm during the cold Wisconsin winters. Our class status changed when my father began earning more money. Along with the increase in monetary items came changes to my father’s social status. He was suddenly being offered opportunities that were previously off limits to him. He was introduced to individuals who in their own right were wealthy and well off. Through those new personal connections, my father’s wealth, power, and prestige increased. Those three factors are what make-up Max Weber’s concept of Socio-Economic Status. By reflecting on my own experiences regarding changes in socio-economic status, it is easier to understand the various categories that make-up socio-economic status.

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).