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Social Categofication Of Social Stratification In The United States

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The question I chose to respond to is to explain stratification in the United States. Social stratification refers to a societies categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors such as wealth, income, race, education, and power (Introduction to Sociology, pp.189). Societies’ classes are based off of layers, consisting of people and earth’s resources which are unevenly distributed. Individuals with the most resources make up the top layer of social structure, and those with fewer resources represent the lower levels of social class. Social stratification is created and supported by society as a whole even when individuals fight against inequalities. Although different societies have different factors which effect stratification, many societies are based often on an economic system based on wealth and income. Wealth is defined as the net value of money and assets a person has, and income, is a persons wages or investment dividends (Introduction to Sociology, pp. 191). Therefore, wealth is mostly inherited money from previous generations, another way to be said, money a person was born into. On the other hand, income is the amount of money an individual makes and is more likely based off individual success. Social stratification reflects an unequal distribution of resources. For example the United
States has a higher standard of living than poorer countries such as Africa, East Asia, and India.

Keils 2
Standard of living is the level of

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