Socioeconomic status
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The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (July 2010) |
Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation. When analyzing a family’s SES, the household income, earners' education, and occupation are examined, as well as combined income, versus with an individual, when their own attributes are assessed.[1]
Socioeconomic status is typically broken into three categories, high SES, middle SES, and low SES to describe the three areas a family or an individual may fall into. When placing a family or individual into one of these categories any or all of the three variables (income, education, and occupation) can be assessed. Additionally, low income and little education have shown to be strong predictors of a range of physical and mental health problems, ranging from respiratory viruses, arthritis, coronary disease, and schizophrenia. These may be due to environmental conditions in their workplace, or in the case of mental illnesses, may be the entire cause of that persons social predicament to begin with.[2][3][4]
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Main Factors [edit]
Income [edit]
Income refers to wages, salaries, profits, rents, and any flow of earnings received. Income can also come in the form of unemployment or workers compensation, social security, pensions, interests or dividends, royalties, trusts, alimony, or other governmental, public, or family financial assistance.
Income can be looked at in two terms, relative and absolute. Absolute income, as theorized by economist John Maynard Keynes, is the relationship in which as income increases, so will consumption, but not at the same rate.[6] Relative income dictates a person or family’s savings and consumption based on the family’s income in relation to others. Income is a commonly used measure of SES because it is relatively easy to figure for most individuals.
Income inequality is most commonly measured around the world by the Gini coefficient, where 0 corresponds to perfect equality and 1 means perfect inequality. Low income families focus on meeting immediate needs and do not accumulate wealth that could be passed on to future generations, thus increasing inequality. Families with higher and expendable income can accumulate wealth and focus on meeting immediate needs while being able to consume and enjoy luxuries and weather crises.[7]
Education [edit]
Education also plays a role in income. Median earnings increase with each level of education. As conveyed in the chart, the highest degrees, professional and doctoral degrees, make the highest weekly earnings while those without a high school diploma earn less. Higher levels of education are associated with better economic and psychological outcomes (i.e.: more income, more control, and greater social support and networking).[5]
Education plays a major role in skill sets for acquiring jobs, as well as specific qualities that stratify people with higher SES from lower SES. Annette Lareau speaks on the idea of concerted cultivation, where middle class parents take an active role in their children’s education and development by using controlled organized activities and fostering a sense of entitlement through encouraged discussion. Laureau argues that families with lower income do not participate in this movement, causing their children to have a sense of constraint. An interesting observation that studies have noted is that parents from lower SES households are more likely to give orders to their children in their interactions while parents with a higher SES are more likely to interact and play with their children. A division in education attainment is thus born out of these two differences in child rearing. Research has shown how children who are born in lower SES households have weaker language skills compared to children raised in higher SES households. These language skills affect their abilities to learn and thus exacerbate the problem of education disparity between low and high SES neighborhoods. Lower income families can have children who do not succeed to the levels of the middle income children, who can have a greater sense of entitlement, be more argumentative, or be better prepared for adult life.[8]
Research shows that lower SES students have lower and slower academic achievement as compared with students of higher SES.[9] When teachers make judgments about students based on their class and SES, they are taking the first step in preventing students from having an equal opportunity for academic achievement. Educators need to help overcome the stigma of poverty. A student of low SES and low self-esteem should not be reinforced by educators. Teachers need to view students as individuals and not as a member of an SES group. Teachers looking at students in this manner will help them to not be prejudiced towards students of certain SES groups.[10] Raising the level of instruction can help to create equality in student achievement. Teachers relating the content taught to students' prior knowledge and relating it to real world experiences can improve achievement.[11] Educators also need to be open and discuss class and SES differences. It is important that all are educated, understand, and be able to speak openly about SES.[12]
Occupation [edit]
Occupational prestige as one component of SES, encompasses both income and educational attainment. Occupational status reflects the educational attainment required to obtain the job and income levels that vary with different jobs and within ranks of occupations. Additionally, it shows achievement in skills required for the job. Occupational status measures social position by describing job characteristics, decision making ability and control, and psychological demands on the job.
Occupations are ranked by the Census (among other organizations) and opinion polls from the general population are surveyed. Some of the most prestigious occupations are physicians and surgeons, lawyers, chemical and biomedical engineers, and communications analysts. These jobs, considered to be grouped in the high SES classification, provide more challenging work and greater control over working conditions but require more ability. The jobs with lower rankings include food preparation workers, counter attendants, bartenders and helpers, dishwashers, janitors, maids and housekeepers, vehicle cleaners, and parking lot attendants. The jobs that are less valued also offer significantly lower wages, and often are more laborious, very hazardous, and provide less autonomy.[5][13]
Occupation is the most difficult factor to measure because so many exist, and there are so many competing scales. Many scales rank occupations based on the level of skill involved, from unskilled to skilled manual labor to professional, or use a combined measure using the education level needed and income involved.
In sum, the majority of researchers agree that income, education and occupation together best represent SES, while some others feel that changes in family structure should also be considered.[14] With the definition of SES more clearly defined, it is now important to discuss the effects of SES on students' cognitive abilities and academic success.[14] Several researchers have found that SES affects students' abilities.[14]
Other Variables [edit]
Wealth [edit]
Wealth, a set of economic reserves or assets, presents a source of security providing a measure of a household's ability to meet emergencies, absorb economic shocks, or provide the means to live comfortably. Wealth reflects intergenerational transitions as well as accumulation of income and savings.[5][15]
Income, age, marital status, family size, religion, occupation, and education are all predictors for wealth attainment.
The wealth gap, like income inequality, is very large in the United States. There exists a racial wealth gap due in part to income disparities and differences in achievement. According to Thomas Shapiro, differences in savings (due to different rates of incomes), inheritance factors, and discrimination in the housing market lead to the racial wealth gap. Shapiro claims that savings increase with increasing income, but African Americans cannot participate in this, because they make significantly less than whites. Some argue that African Americans oftentimes live above their means, and thus more accurately describes their lack of savings. Additionally, rates of inheritance dramatically differ between African Americans and whites. The amount a person inherits, either during a lifetime or after death, can create different starting points between two different individuals or families. These different starting points also factor into housing, education, and employment discrimination. A third reason Shapiro offers for the racial wealth gap are the various discriminations African Americans must face, like redlining and higher interest rates in the housing market. These types of discrimination feed into the other reasons why African Americans end up having different starting points and therefore fewer assets.[16]
Effects [edit]
Health [edit]
Recently, there has been increasing interest from epidemiologists on the subject of economic inequality and its relation to the health of populations. There is a very robust correlation between socioeconomic status and health. This correlation suggests that it is not only the poor who tend to be sick when everyone else is healthy, but that there is a continual gradient, from the top to the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, relating status to health. This phenomenon is often called the "SES Gradient". Lower socioeconomic status has been linked to chronic stress, heart disease, ulcers, type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, certain types of cancer, and premature aging.
There is debate regarding the cause of the SES Gradient. A number of researchers (A. Leigh, C. Jencks, A. Clarkwest—see also Russell Sage working papers) see a definite link between economic status and mortality due to the greater economic resources of the wealthy, but they find little correlation due to social status differences.
Other researchers such as Richard G. Wilkinson, J. Lynch, and G.A. Kaplan have found that socioeconomic status strongly affects health even when controlling for economic resources and access to health care.[17] Most famous for linking social status with health are the Whitehall studies - a series of studies conducted on civil servants in London. The studies found that although all civil servants in England have the same access to health care, there was a strong correlation between social status and health. The studies found that this relationship remained strong even when controlling for health-affecting habits such as exercise, smoking and drinking. Furthermore, it has been noted that no amount of medical attention will help decrease the likelihood of someone getting type 2 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis - yet both are more common among populations with lower socioeconomic status.
Psychological [edit]
A study published in the December 2008 issue of Psychological Science found that children of parents with a high socioeconomic status tended to express more "disengagement" behaviors than their less fortunate peers. In this context, disengagement behaviors represent actions such as fidgeting with other objects and drawing pictures while being addressed. Other participants born into less favored circumstances tended to make more eye contact, head nods and signs of happiness when put into an interactive social environment. Authors hypothesize that the more fortuitous peers felt less inclined to gain rapport with their group because they saw no need for their assistance in the future.[18]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ National Center for Educational Statistics. 31 March 2008. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/glossary/s.asp
- ^ Erica Goode. 13 April. “For Good Health, it Helps to be Rich and Important.” New York Times http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E5DA1230F932A35755C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
- ^ Marmot, Michael. 2004. The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity. New York: Owl Books.
- ^ Werner, Shirli, Malaspina, Dolores, and Rabinowitz, Jonathan. Socioeconomic Status at Birth is Associated with Risk of Schizophrenia: Population-Based Multilevel Study. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 18 April 2007.
- ^ a b c d e American Psychological Association, Task Force on Socioeconomic Status. Report of the APA Task Force on Socioeconomic Status. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2007.http://www2.apa.org/pi/SES_task_force_report.pdf
- ^ Wisdom Supreme. 6 April 2008. http://www.wisdomsupreme.com/dictionary/absolute-income-hypothesis.php
- ^ Boushey, Heather and Weller, Christian. (2005). Inequality Matters: The Growing Economic Divide in America and its Poisonous Consequences.. “What the Numbers Tell Us.” Pp 27-40. Demos.
- ^ Lareau, Annette. (2003). Unequal Childhoods: Race, Class, and Family Life. University of California Press
- ^ American Psychological Assoication. (2012). ''Education & Socioeconomic Status. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/factsheet-education.aspx.
- ^ Gollnick, Chinn.(2013). Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society.
- ^ Gollnick,Chinn.(2013).Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society.
- ^ Stanek.(2012).Talking About Class.
- ^ Scott, Janny and Leonhardt, David. “Class Matters: A Special Edition.” New York Times 14 May 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/national/class/15MOBILITY-WEB.html
- ^ a b c Milne, A., & Plourde, L. A. (2006). Factors of a Low-SES Household: What Aids Academic Achievement?
- ^ MacArthur Research Network on SES and Health. 31 March 2008. http://www.macses.ucsf.edu/Research/Social%20Environment/chapters.html
- ^ Shapiro, Thomas. (2004). The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Wilkinson, Richard; Pickett, Kate (2009). The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. Allen Lane. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-84614-039-6.
- ^ Kraus, M.W.; Keltner, D. (2008), "Signs of Socioeconomic Status: A Thin-Slicing Approach", Psychological Science 20 (1): 99–106, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02251.x, PMID 19076316
External links [edit]
- US Census Bureau report on educational attainment in the United States, 2003. 8 April 2008. http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf]
- American Psychological Association's Socioeconomic Status Office
