Exam 3: Breaking Down the Wealth Equation: Housing, Assets, and Debt

Debt is always bad, and access to credit markets and debt is unimportant for wealth.

Total debt is made up of both secured and unsecured debt. What is an example of a secured debt?

What are total assets? How do different assets affect inequality at different levels?

Sociologists often pay more attention to labour markets, but credit markets also play an important role in generating wealth inequality.

What is one way in which social well-being and social standing are measured?

Net worth measures are:

What shapes people's opportunities for advancement and prospects? What is the role of the credit market in creating inequality? How does it support a system of cumulative advantage?

Which of the following is not an aspect of policy we need to pay attention to in order to understand wealth inequality and the wealth equation?

How has homeownership affected wealth inequalities? How does this affect renters?

What are some factors that increase wealth disparities? How are Indigenous peoples, immigrants and other minorities affected by wealth disparities? Explain the challenges connected to wealth acquisition for them.

Wealth tells us about a person's flow of resources.

The Survey of Financial Security (SFS) provides very good data on the whole population including that of very wealthy people.

Which if the following is not true about wealth?

How does legislation affect wealth disparities in Canada? How has the restructuring of the social assistance system toward asset-based welfare affected the population?

What is the difference between total secured debt and unsecured debt? How can there be positive aspects of wealth?

What is one of the effects of the restructuring of the social assistance system toward asset-based welfare?

Wealthy people also tend to owe more than other people.

What are some barriers faced by young adults to build wealth and homeownership?

How is discrimination evident for Black, Indigenous and other minority groups in Canada when it comes to homeownership? What about women or gender and sexual minorities?

Describe the main wealth equation and its parts and the equation for home wealth. What needs to be included to effectively calculate wealth and understand the disparities that exist among levels of wealth in Canada?