Even though there's a lot of wealth in the world, it is very unevenly distributed. Billionaires hoard their wealth and use it for personal gain, while the vast majority of the population struggles to make their day-to-day ends meet. This is 'inequality', which has several dimensions.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenEven though there's a lot of wealth in the world, it is very unevenly distributed. Billionaires hoard their wealth and use it for personal gain, while the vast majority of the population struggles to make their day-to-day ends meet. This is 'inequality', which has several dimensions.
Here, we'll be looking at social class inequality, its prevalence, and the sociology which explains it.
There's a lot to get through, so let's dive in!
Broadly, social class is considered to be a division of society based on three dimensions:
Moreover, social class is measured in economic terms, such as wealth, income, education, and/or occupation. Many different social class scales are used to examine social class inequality.
Let's consider inequality generally. Historically, there have been many different types of systems of stratification, such as the slave and caste systems. Today, it is the class system that determines the nature of our modern societies, such as that in the UK.
Check out our explanation on Stratification and Differentiation for a refresher on the topic!
It is important to note that stratification occurs across many dimensions. Generally, however, class is considered the primary form of stratification in society.
The other forms are secondary. Many people believe differences in economic rankings to be more influential in shaping people's lives than other, non-economic types of ranking.
Take care to note the difference between the concept of social class inequality and social inequality. While the former is more specific, the latter comprises a multi-faceted approach that refers to various forms of inequality, including dimensions such as gender, age, and ethnicity.
Examples of social inequalities besides those related to class include:
Now that we've considered the concepts of social class and inequality, let's look at social class inequality.
The term social class inequality, simply put, signals the fact that wealth is unevenly distributed across populations in modern society. This leads to inequalities between social classes based on wealth, income, and related factors.
The most famous scale was pioneered by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels (1848), who identified the 'two great classes' that emerged with capitalism.
For Marx and Engels, inequality was directly related to one's relationship to the means of production. They perceived social class inequality as follows:
SOCIAL CLASS | DEFINITION |
BOURGEOISIE | The owners and controllers of the means of production. Also known as the 'ruling class'. |
PROLETARIAT | Those with no ownership of capital, but only their labour to sell as a means of survival. Also known as the 'working class'. |
Marxism has been criticised for its dichotomous, two-class model. So, two additional classes are common across a variety of class scales:
John Westergaard and Henrietta Resler (1976) argued that the ruling class has the most power in society; the source of this power is wealth and economic ownership. In true Marxist fashion, they believed that inequalities are ingrained into the capitalist system, as the state perpetually represents the interests of the ruling class.
David Lockwood's (1966) views on the social class hierarchy are similar to those of Westergaard and Resler, based on the notion of power. Lockwood states that individuals assign themselves to particular social classes in a symbolic manner, based on their experiences with power and prestige.
Life chances are another common way to examine the distribution of resources and opportunities in society. The concept of 'life chances' was pioneered by Max Weber as a counterargument to Marxism's economic determinism.
Weber believed that economic factors are not always the most influential upon social structures and change - other important factors contribute to society's conflicts as well.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology (p.338) defines life chances as "the access that an individual has to valued social and economic goods such as education, health care or high income". This includes one's ability to avoid undesirable aspects, such as low social status.
A wealth of research proves the strong, historical relationship between social class, inequality, and life chances. As you might expect, upper social classes tend to have better life chances due to several factors. Here are some important examples.
Family: inheritance and access to important social networks.
Health: higher life expectancy and reduced prevalence/severity of illness.
Wealth and income: more earnings, savings, and disposable income.
Education: increased likelihood of completing schooling and higher education.
Work: higher-ranking positions with job security.
Politics: access to - and influence over - electoral practices.
It has been established that those from lower classes tend to have lower educational achievements and outcomes, lower work chances, and worse overall health. Let's look at some social class inequality statistics and their sociological explanations.
How do social class and education inequalities present themselves?
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds fall further behind in their academics as their school years go by. At age 11, the average gap in scores between poorer and wealthier students is about 14%. This gap increases to about 22.5% at 19.
Students who were eligible for free school meals earned 11.5% less than their colleagues five years after graduating.
75% of 16 to 19-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds opt for vocational education, which creates and perpetuates a class-based gap in education.
Vocational education equips its students with skills and competencies geared towards a particular trade, like agriculture. It's more hands-on than traditional education.
The following are common sociological explanations of the link between social class and educational achievement.
There is also a strong link between educational achievement and life chances at later stages, concerning dimensions such as work and health. This means that students with disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds are also more likely to struggle later in life.
How do social class and work inequalities present themselves?
People with working-class backgrounds are 80% less likely to work professional jobs than those from the middle or upper classes.
If they do land a professional job, working-class employees earn, on average, about 17% less than their colleagues.
The risk of unemployment is statistically higher for members of lower classes.
The following are common sociological explanations of the link between social class, education, and work chances.
A well-educated person with high levels of cultural capital may know how to dress and behave appropriately for a job interview, which is likely to have them make a good impression and land them the job (as opposed to their working-class peers).
How do social class and health inequalities present themselves?
The Health Foundation reports that in the year 2018/2019, more than 10% of adults from the poorest measured socioeconomic class reported having 'bad' or 'very bad' health. This statistic was only 1% for people from the highest measured socioeconomic class.
According to the World Health Organisation and the World Bank, COVID-19 vaccine administration is approximately 18 times higher in high-income countries than it is in low-income countries.
Life expectancies are statistically higher among the rich than the poor across all social classifications (such as gender, age, and ethnicity).
The following are common sociological explanations of the link between social class and health.
There is a link between socioeconomic status and other forms of inequality. For example, ethnic minorities and women are more likely to live in poverty. For this reason, they also generally report poorer overall health.
There is a link between socioeconomic status and other life chances, like education and work. For example, those who are poorer tend to be less educated and are thus generally less aware of the markings of healthy/unhealthy lifestyles (with reference to habits like exercising or smoking).
How do social class and gender inequalities present themselves?
The following are common sociological explanations of the link between social class and gender.
Let's consider how much impact social class still has on life chances.
There have been many notable changes in the class structure over the years. Generally, alterations in the class structure are the result of changes in the dominant modes of production used in society. An important example of this is the shift between industrial, post-industrial, and knowledge societies.
Industrial society's biggest industry was manufacturing, which was characterised by developments in mass production, automation, and technology.
The boom of service industries has been a significant feature of post-industrial society, particularly in the fields of information technology and finance.
Finally, the knowledge society (that emerged in the late twentieth century) values intangible assets (such as knowledge, skills, and innovative potential), that are now of much higher economic value than before.
As a result of the change in the dominant modes of production used in society, working conditions and labour-market requirements have transformed as well. This is indicated by changes in every class on the hierarchy.
The upper class has generally declined in size, as shareholding as a form of ownership is now more common among the middle class.
Middle classes have expanded as the knowledge industry gave rise to many more middle-class occupations (such as managerial and intellectual work).
The decline of the manufacturing industry has resulted in a smaller lower class.
These structural changes indicate that life chances, to a very small extent, may have begun to equalise in British society over the past few decades. Many people's life chances have improved as inequalities of earnings have narrowed with the shift in dominant modes of production.
However, there is still a long way to go before total equality is achieved. That journey must account for other relevant factors such as gender, ethnicity, and disability.
'Social class inequality' is the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources across the stratification system of socioeconomic classes.
Examples of social inequalities besides those related to class include:
Those higher up on the social class scale generally have better health. This is due to structural inequalities, such as better living standards, affordability of advanced medical treatments, and longer life expectancies, due to the lower overall probability of physical disability.
Social class inequalities can be improved by the government through generous welfare policies, progressive tax systems, more employment opportunities, and universal access to quality healthcare and education.
In sociology, social class is considered to be one of many forms of inequality that exist in society. Generally, 'class' is defined in terms of people's economic access to goods, resources, and opportunities that society values. Not everybody has the economic capital for this - so the differential access to life chances through economic means is what places people in different classes, and ultimately causes inequalities to exist between them.
What do sociologists mean when they say that social class is the "primary form of stratification"?
When sociologists say that social class is the "primary form of stratification", this means that economic factors are more influential in shaping people's lives than other dimensions, such as gender, ethnicity and age.
What are the three dimensions of social class?
The three dimensions of social class are the economic dimension, the political dimension and the cultural dimension.
According to Marx and Engels (1948), what are the "two great classes"?
According to Marx and Engels (1948), the "two great classes" are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Which are the two classes that have been added to a variety of scales in addition to the upper class and the working class?
The two classes that have been added to a variety of scales in addition to the upper class and the working class are the middle class and the underclass.
What is the main source of power in society, according to Westergaard and Resler (1976)?
Wealth and economic ownership.
According to Lockwood (1966), how do people assign themselves to social classes?
According to Lockwood (1966), people assign themselves to social classes in a symbolic manner, based on their experiences with power and prestige.
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