Exam 8: Social Class in the United States

Since 1970,the richest 20 percent of U.S. families has grown richer,and the poorest 20 percent of U.S. families has grown poorer.

The trend in the United States in which MOST poor families are headed by women is called ________.

A husband and wife are from a middle-class family that has just won a $125 million lottery. Based on their newly acquired wealth,what precautions would you suggest the couple take immediately and within the next few days?

Changes in society that cause large numbers of people to move up or down the class ladder,which causes one class to increase while others decrease,is called ________ mobility.

Phil,a janitor for an expensive apartment-house complex in Chicago,is a union janitor who makes quite a bit more money than many of the tenants in the building he maintains. Lenski would note that Phil's high income but low occupational prestige demonstrates a condition of ________.

Identify the top three positions you currently identify as being a professional aspiration. Using,how do these choices compare in prestige? What are the qualifying factors that made you choose these particular positions?

Status inconsistency is common for winners of multimillion-dollar lotteries,especially when the status of their new wealth exceeds the status of their education and occupation.

Because of tradition and a reluctance to change,few sons exceed their fathers' positions on the social-class ladder.

What is meant by the term "status inconsistency"? What consequences have been linked to being status inconsistent?

Develop a profile that answers the question,"Who are the poor?"

The median annual compensation package for CEOs is more than 7.6 million dollars. What does this mean in relation to all CEO compensation packages?

What is the relationship between births to single women and their level of education?

What is the upward or downward movement in social class by family members from one generation to the next?

Defining social class in America is an objective science because there are clear-cut,agreed-upon definitions of each class.

By definition and example,who are the nouveau riche?

Distinguish between the individual and structural explanations of poverty.

Politically,the class of people who are more likely to feel that the government should intervene in the economy to make citizens financially secure are the ________.

How long does poverty last for MOST people affected by it?

Summarize the U.S. social-class ladder as proposed by Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert.

Poverty is relatively equally distributed in America by state,and between rural and urban settings.