Internal
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Top
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Outline on Social
Mobility
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External
Links
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- Project: Your Experience
of Social Mobilityv |
Link
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- Project: Social Mobility
in Other Societies & Today |
Link
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Social mobility is the frequency w/ which people move up or
down in a society's economic hierarchy |
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Social Mobility is also known as socioeconomic mobility
or simply
mobility |
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Socioeconomic mobility refers to mobility in all of the dimensions
of stratification: economic, prestige, & power |
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Social scientists frequently refer to upward social mobility or downward
social mobility |
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Kerbo demonstrates that the US class structure is very stable;
i.e., there is not great mobility
Percent of Income Earned by Lowest &
Highest Quintile |
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1947
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1970
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1992
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Lowest Fifth
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5 %
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5 %
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4 %
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Highest Fifth
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43 %
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41 %
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45 %
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NOTE: The 70s were the best years for the lower class & the
worst for the upper class /corporate class |
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The top & the bottom of the stratification system have the
lowest
levels of social mobility in the US |
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An example of the low level of social mobility in the US is that one
out of 10 sons of manual laborers will attain professional employment,
while seven out of 10 sons of professional workers will |
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In the US, the middle of the stratification system has the highest
level of social mobility ( i.e. low occupational inheritance w/ higher
intergenerational mobility ) |
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There is a strong relationship between stratification and socioeconomic
mobility in that there is more mobility in societies that have more equality |
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There are six fundamental types of stratification
systems, each of which dominated a particular historical period, each of
which fosters a particular level of social mobility
a. Primitive communal system ( aka hunter gatherer society
or tribal society )
b. Slavery system (two types: conquest &
racist)
c. Caste system
d. Feudal system ( aka estate system )
e. Class system ( aka capitalist or state capitalist
system )
f. Post-industrial system ( aka global system ) |
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Each type of economic system fosters a particular level of social
mobility |
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Furthermore, particular economic systems have subtypes as is seen w/
pure capitalism, state capitalism, industrial capitalism, a service economy,
etc. |
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There are EIGHT characteristics of strat systems in that they may be
open, closed, vertical, horizontal, exchange, intergenerational, intragenerational,
& structural |
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Open stratification systems have a high level of social mobility |
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In an open stratification system, a person's position in society is
attained as a result of what the person has done |
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Achieved status has substantial influence in an open stratification
system |
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Ascribed status has little influence in an open stratification
system |
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An open stratification system is the type of system where achieved
statuses have substantial influence over the social status a person attains
in adulthood |
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Closed stratification systems have a low level of social mobility |
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In a closed stratification system, a person's position in society is
attained by birth-right, e.g., race, sex, family, etc. |
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Achieved status has little influence in a closed stratification
system |
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Ascribed status has substantial influence in a closed stratification
system |
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A closed stratification system is the type of system where ascribed
statuses largely determine a person's life chances |
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Vertical social mobility is movement up or down the stratification
system, i.e. to a better or worse position; i.e. from working class to
middle class from corporate class to upper middle class |
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Vertical mobility is the movement form one occupational position to
another of higher or lower rank |
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Vertical mobility describes upward or downward movement in the
standard of living as measured by income, prestige, autonomy, etc. |
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Conditions affecting vertical mobility include disability, formal demotion,
lay-off, bumping, downsizing, closing, etc. |
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The greater the degree of vertical mobility, the more open the class
system, the greater the vertical mobility, the closer the society is to
the value of equal opportunity |
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An example of upward vertical example is movement from police officer
to public school teacher |
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Horizontal social mobility is movement across positions of roughly
equal rank |
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Horizontal social mobility is the mobility that most people
experience
It is primarily from one type of job to another while a person's income,
status, power, influence stay relatively the same
Of course people hope to do better on all dimensions as they advance
their career, but few achieve enough to change class |
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Horizontal mobility is the movement from one position to another
of equal rank in the occupational structure |
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Examples of horizontal mobility include
- moving from supervisor to manager or gaining seniority & status
on the job
- the Electrician who leaves job w/ GM for job w/ Boeing even though
it may include a sizable raise who is thus still a member of the middle
class |
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Exchange mobility, aka churning, denotes a type of social
mobility where there is little societal social mobility, but high levels
of individual social mobility |
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Exchange mobility, aka churning occurs when someone's absolute position
changes in relation to others |
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Exchange mobility, aka churning, denotes relatively equal amounts of
upward & downward social mobility, which often gives the illusion of
upward class mobility |
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The concept of exchange mobility, aka churning, denotes that |
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- there are many people moving up the socio-economic scale as there
are moving down the socio-economic ladder |
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- while it appears as if many people are moving up the socio-economic
ladder, in reality those moving up are replacing those moving down |
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- people fall in and out of each class ( churning ) because of continuing
economic competition |
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- once a person is poor, the chances are good that they will get out
of poverty, but not very far |
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The concept of churning describes the fact that while a particular
number of people may experience upward vertical mobility in a given year,
usually nearly an equal number of people experience downward vertical social
mobility |
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The media & our ideology reflects upward class mobility ( things
are improving ) therefore we are more likely to see the upward mobility
& ignore the downward mobility |
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Churning is also created by simultaneous status churning & by horizontal
mobility |
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While the US has a poverty rate of 15 %, in a ten year period, 25 %
will be in poverty at least once |
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43 % to 60 % of the poor do not move out of poverty for any length
of time & thus, 67 % to 40 % do get out for at least a while |
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Thus, at least 17 mm adults & children are chronically poor &
33 mm fall in & out of poverty or rise into the Working Class or higher |
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It is the group of poor who rise into the working class who could significantly
benefit by structural changes |
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Intergenerational mobility is the attainment by people of a
socio-economic status that is higher or lower than their parents |
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W/ Intergenerational mobility, there is a changing proportion of higher
& lower class families |
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When sociologists compare a person's status with that of his or her
parents, they are looking at intergenerational mobility |
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Upward intergenerational occupational mobility occurs when a
person's occupation/class as compared to parents, is higher |
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Intragenerational mobility compares the occupational position
of a person over an extended period of time |
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Intragenerational mobility compares a persons 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
etc. jobs |
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Upward intragenerational occupational mobility occurs when a
person's occupation/class as compared to contemporaries, is higher |
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Mobility in the US is slightly above average for industrialized country,
but it is less than most people assume |
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There is a direct relationship btwn stratification and mobility as
seen in the fact that only one out of 10 sons of manual laborers will attain
professional employment, while seven out of 10 sons of professional workers
will attain professional employment |
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The top & the bottom of the stratification system have the
lowest
levels of social mobility in the US |
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From the view point of inflow & outflow mobility, low social mobility
is created by high occupational inheritance & low intergenerational
mobility |
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Thus, the top & bottom of the stratification system have high occupational
inheritance & low intergenerational mobility |
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In the US, the middle of the stratification system has the highest
level of social mobility |
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In the US, the middle of the stratification system has low occupational
inheritance & high intergenerational mobility |
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Structural mobility is a type of mobility where classes of people
improve their socio-economic position |
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Structural mobility occurs when there has been a growth in the economy
of better paying, more pleasant, higher status, white collar jobs, and
a decline in the number of blue collar jobs |
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Structural mobility describes ability to move to different occupation;
such as from industry to service, & results from large scale changes
in the economy |
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The occupational opportunity structure is dependent on structural
mobility, the health of economy, immigration, etc. |
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In the industrialized modern nations, structural mobility occurs because
of an increased proportion of jobs in the higher status, white collar categories |
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Growth in the economy of better paying, more pleasant, higher status,
white collar jobs, & a decline in the number of blue collar jobs increases
structural mobility |
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Structural mobility is the opposite of exchange mobility |
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The US has a strong value that there is a high level of social mobility,
but in reality there is a high level of exchange mobility & little
structural mobility |
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Although the US has little more mobility than most other industrialized
societies, Americans believe & feel that there is a lot of mobility
& that America is the land of opportunity where everyone who works
hard can get ahead |
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Historically, the US experienced positive structural mobility,
but there have also been periods of negative structural mobility |
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The historic eras which marked changes in structural mobility include:
- "the land grab" in the mid 1800s
- after the Industrial Revolution & the legalization of unions
- in the 1930's, the Great Depression
- after WW2
- after the Vietnam War
- the Reagan Era 1980s & early 1990s
- from the early 1990s to 2001
- today? |
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The US experienced positive structural mobility until "the land
grab" was completed in the mid 1800s & then there was a long period
of exchange mobility |
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After the Industrial Revolution & the legalization of unions, the
working class gained & experienced positive structural mobility |
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In the 1930s, the US experienced negative structural mobility as a
result of the Great Depression |
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After WW2, the US experienced positive structural mobility as a continuing
result of industrialization, the Labor Movement & Pax American |
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After the Vietnam War, from the mid 1970s until the early 1990's the
US experienced negative structural mobility |
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From the early 1990s to 2001, the US experienced slight positive structural
mobility but mostly exchange mobility |
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70 % of Americans agree that "America is the land of opportunity where
everyone who works hard can get ahead" |
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80 % agree that "people who grew up in rich families have an average
or better than average chance of getting ahead" |
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50 % believe that blacks, women, & working class families have
an "average or better than average chance of getting ahead" |
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But the groups of blacks, women & working class families have a
poorer than average chance of getting ahead |
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The Horatio Alger Myth is the belief that anyone, no matter
how poor, can succeed on a grand scale |
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