Wealth and Poverty in Global Perspective - Global stratification - The unequal distribution of wealth on a global basis - Wealth - Value of individual’s or family’s economic assets - Is calculated based on the value of property and financial assets, minus debts Owed - Those at the top own the most wealth in the U.S - Life chances - Extent to which individuals have access to important societal resources - High-income nations - Countries with highly industrialized economies - Technologically advanced industrial, administrative, and service occupations - High levels of national and per capita income - Middle-income nations - Undergoing transformation from agrarian to industrial economies - Low-income nations - Agrarian countries - Little industrialization - Low levels of national and personal income - Absolute poverty - No means to secure the most necessities of life - Relative poverty - Afford necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter - Cannot maintain an average standard of living Analyzing U.S Class Inequality - Social stratification - Hierarchical arrangement of large social groups - Basis of their ownership or control over basic resources - Power - Ability to achieve goals despite opposition from others - Prestige - Respect, esteem, or regard accorded to an individual or group by others Wealth Versus Income Inequality - Extreme wealth - richest people in the world - A life of ease and luxury - Philanthropic causes - Disparities in wealth - U.S across lines of race and ethnicity - Income - Economic gain derived from wages, salaries, income transfers, or ownership of Property - Income gap - U.S gap is wide Divisions in the U.S. Class Structure - Upper class, or capitalist class - Wealthiest and most powerful class - Investors, heirs, and executives - Upper-middle class - Professionals - Middle-class - White-collar office workers - Working class - Factory and other industrial workers - Working poor class - Working people with income near or below the poverty line - Chronically poor - Working aged people who are unemployed or outside labor force Poverty in the United States - Poverty rate - Proportion of the population whose income falls below the government’s official Poverty line - The level of income below which a family of a given size is poor - Poverty line - Market basket – a low-cost food budget that contains a minimum level of nutrition For a family Who are the Poor? - Age, gender, household composition, and poverty - Feminization of poverty – the trend whereby women experience poverty at far higher Rates than men - Racial feminization of poverty – the intersectionality of gender and racial inequalities In problems associated with poverty Consequences of Poverty - Health and nutrition - Disparities intertwined with other inequalities - Housing - Lack of affordable housing - Education