Other Components of Social Class in the USA

Although income is usually what people think of first when they think of social class, there are many other elements that are a part of social class.  All of these components both exemplify social class inequality and they exacerbate it.  Please read about each element below.  As you go through, think about what an average American looks like and how your family compares.  I want you to have a better understanding of where your family fits compared to the average American when the lesson is finished.

Wealth

Wealth is tricky to understand.  It is everything that a household owns, such as the home, vacation home, cars, 401K, savings, stocks, jewelry, etc...But, you must subtract what the household owes.  So, if my house is $200,000 but I owe $160,000 then my wealth is only $40,000 on the house.   One way to examine wealth is through quintiles (20% increments).  if you lined all the households up in the U.S. by wealth, what percentage would the top 20% own? And then the next 20% and so on...Another way to think about this is if you have 5 people who are sharing a pie, what percent of the pie does the first person get, and the second person and third, etc...

How much of the wealth (the pie) in the U.S. do you think each quintile (person) has:
Bottom 20%:______   2nd 20%_______  3rd 20%________  4th 20%_______ 5th 20%_______Top
(least)                                                                                                          (most)

How much do you think each quintile should have?

Bottom 20%:______   2nd 20%________ 3rd 20%________  4th 20%_______ 5th 20%_______Top


After you have finished answering the questions above, watch this video:


What is the reality?



The disparity of wealth is greater than that of income (see the pie graph below).  From the Huffington Post, In 2010, "The median household net worth -- the level at which half the households have more and half have less -- was $77,300  For a much more detailed analysis of wealth, see this post from business insider.


How does your family or community compare to the average American?

Average American:  50% own 2 cars,  50% have a 401K, 66% own 1 home, 6% own a second home

Education
In the US, here are the percentages of adults over the age of 23 who have attained each degree in 2012:

High school graduate	87.65%
Some college	57.28%
Associate's and/or Bachelor's degree	40.58%
Bachelor's degree	30.94%
Master's degree	8.05%
Doctorate or professional degree	3.07%

This link shows that on average, the higher a family's income, the higher the ACT score. 

The higher your education is, the more money one can earn.  Link to College Board research report here.

Here is a post from sociological images that has a lot of info showing the connection between your degree and your income.


This graph shows that the less education that parents have, the less education their children obtain.


This research from Natasha Quadlin shows that the major a student chooses at college is influenced by social class.

From The Upshot, Ny Times, this interactive site allows you to see what percent of students from the top 1% and bottom 60% attend each school of higher education.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/18/upshot/some-colleges-have-more-students-from-the-top-1-percent-than-the-bottom-60.html

This graph shows where students from different social classes end up after high school:

Elite Colleges Constantly Tell Low-Income Students That They Do Not Belong
from Clint Smith in the Atlantic.

How Admissions Really Work: If The College Admissions Scandal Shocked You, Read This from NPR.

There are lots of ways that wealthy families get a boost in the college admissions process. Most are quite legal.

Location
The price of a home depends on a lot more than the physical structure of the home.
The average home price in the United States in 2012 was $175K.  The average price in BG was $346,000.  And in LG it was $765,000.  Click here to see some houses for sale in Lake County, IL in 2014.  Which do you think are the most expensive?  Which are the least? When you see the actual prices, why do you think that is?

This heat map from Trulia shows the median sales price for areas across Lake County.

Opportunity Insights provides data about how neighborhoods shape residents' life chances.

Here is a map from Time showing the most economically segregated cities in America.  Can you find your town?  How does this segregation affect the residents?

This research from Harvard shows that zipcode is a better predictor for health than genetic code.

Here you can find data by zipcode about the average home price ( as well as income and other data).



Location is also related to mobility:

This report from NPR's Planet Money details how where you grow up can affect your income later in life.

And here is a video and stats from CNN Money that show how where you grow up limits or benefits you.

An online data tool called Opportunity Atlas  finds a strong correlation between where people are raised and their chances of achieving the American dream.
Here is an NPR piece explaining it.
Here is the NY Times Upshot explaining it.

Where College Grads Move

WSJ data shows where college grads are likely to move after they graduate.

Here is Indiana U and U of I:

 

Try Accessing the data through this link:

Where Graduates Move After College

Try to make your own conclusions about the data:

What does this data say about your life after college?

On a less personal level, what does this data say about the U.S. in general?

If the link above does not work, these might:

Accessible through this facebook link:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/486893378140308/?multi_permalinks=1004035523092755&notif_id=1532189664367938&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

For full access to the WSJ when you're on campus, you need to use the following special link: www.wsj.com/highschool

Once there, the fastest way for you (and your students) to find the article you're looking for is to click the search icon and enter the words  "grads database"

The only result that pops up should be "Where Graduates Move After College" and you should all be able to access it. 

Or the original story here:
https://www.wsj.com/graphics/where-graduates-move-after-college/?mod=e2fb

Prestige and power
People view different occupations with different levels of prestige.  This prestige can translate to real power such as being appointed to boards or committees.  It can also simply give you credibility or respect in social situations.  Here is a chart of prestige ratings.

Power, according to Max Weber, is the ability to impose one's will on others.  One example is how the world's most powerful leaders gather in secret meetings annually to discuss how they can shape policy, economics and laws among other things. One such meeting is the American Enterprise Institute held every year on an island off the coast of Georgia where attendees can fly their jets on and off the island in private.  Another meeting is the Bilderberg meeting.

Some examples of power are the abilities to keep yourself out of jail, influence politicians and enact laws that are you favor.  Here is one example from The Daily Show comparing teachers and Wall Street Investors.  Can you guess who has the power?

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

Here is a link to a Washington Post article explaining that wealthy Americans use their power to create favorable government policies.

And this article from the NY Times shows that an executive at United Airlines accused of corruption charges was forced to resign. Imagine if a teacher was accused of corruption and was forced to resign. That would be it - out of a job and no compensation. But,

United filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday indicating that Mr. Smisek would receive nearly $4.9 million in a separation payment, and 60,000 shares of stock, valued at over $3 million.

Creating a Social Class Ladder in the U.S.
All of these combine to form a rough picture of social class.

The NY Times did a series of articles about social class called Class Matters. You can explore numerous graphs and stats there, including an interactive graphic that shows where a person places on various aspects of class.

What does an average American look like?  Here is a an article from the Washington Post explaining the difficulty of defining the middle class.

Here is Gilbert's model of social class:

 Here is another  representation of how all of those components might work together:

Look over your information for income, wealth, education, location and prestige.  Are they mostly above, average or below? Then try to think where that person falls on this ladder?  Why would you place them there?  Share this your group.

Was it difficult to share with the group?  Why or why not?



After you have thought about your own personal example, classify the four people in this Esquire article and analyze what class they are and why?  Try to use components other than income.  How is each person shaped by their social class?


Here are other resources for examining the components of social class that comprise the "rules" about what is possible in the USA in terms of class:


Here is a link to the Stanford Center on Poverty where you can view slides about inequality in the USA.


Here is a link to 15 statistics about inequality in America.