Introduction
The aim of any government and society is to promote life where people have fair chances of succeeding depending on their work and adherence to the law. Any society is primarily created to uphold peoples’ life, liberty, and to facilitate their pursuit of happiness. In America, social inequality is predominant and has led to perpetual social stratification and mobility, resulting in erosion of living standards of the people. This paper will discuss and analyze social stratification and mobility in the United States in relation to poverty, race, gender, and education and how they determine individuals’ belonging to a particular social class.
Poverty in the United States
Primarily, poverty refers to the state of lacking possession of material or money. The United States federal guidelines define poverty in terms of thresholds and guidelines. Poverty threshold provides statistical data for estimating the population of Americans living in poverty every year. Poverty guidelines are used to indicate the levels of poverty. The federal government use information on poverty guidelines for determination and setting of criteria for prioritizing government programs (Connect para 2). According to the United States Census Bureau, poverty is measured in terms of income and the numbers of members of a family. If the total income of a family is less than the threshold of the household, then the family is considered poor.
According to the statistics provided by the United States Census Bureau, the income inequality is huge where about 400 Americans own more money than over 158 million people in the same country (Bureau and Staff para 3). The cause of great income disparity is how the net worth of an individual is defined whereby anything that a person owns including the debt determines their net worth. Poor people tend to have more debts and might result in debts that exceed their incomes (Malter n.p). According to Nahigyan, the gap between the rich and the poor is influenced by factors such as poor immigration strategies, failure of American schools to prepare the students for upcoming technology, and minimum wage legislation that fails to maintain pace with high levels of inflation (para 6). To minimize this gap, the government should adopt taxation policies that take more from the rich and redistribute resources to the poor.
Social mobility
In essence, social mobility entails a natural process of transition where people move upward or downward through a social system. The two primary types of social mobility include social mobility within individuals’ careers and mobility within generations. Within careers, social mobility entails a change of occupation and can be vertical or horizontal depending on the direction in which social classes change.
In the United States, the aim of social mobility is to increase possibilities for people to succeed, and college education promotes this achievement (Haveman & Timothy 16). Disparities in income, which determine the social classes is growing. Thus, to increase social mobility would entail the provision of social facilities such as education that enhance person’s ability to move to higher social classes.
There are various difficulties associated with attempts to increase social mobility. Income disparity is one of such difficulties where only parents with higher income manage to ensure the academic success of their children while those from low-income families are left out. Another obstacle to increasing social mobility is the growing differences in college attainment as a result of income inequality where only children from wealthy families attain the college degree needed for employment.
Racial discrimination is still a standing obstacle to social mobility. Racial bias that is dominant in most institutions prevents people in a particular race from raising higher social status. In some countries, high social and economic classes are usually dominated by people from a particular race.
Women discrimination in the United States society
Undeniably, gender discrimination is predominant in the modern society, and the social structure tends to favor male over females. Women discrimination is apparent in various sectors such as workplace and leadership. Though women in the United States have made remarkable advances, gender discrimination still exists to some extent. The common hypothesis is that there is equality between the sexes in the United States, but according to some people, men get more income than women.
The general argument for this inequality is that most jobs require more time and physical strength. Another argument was that women often leave work during childbearing. Thus, compared to men, women are less productive and experienced hence they are less qualified for senior positions. The use of women in the advertising media is one of the major elements of women discrimination in the modern society. As demonstrated in the “killing me softly”, the society have turned women into objects for advertising, influencing peoples’ views, and gaining political support(Gordon n.p). All women in the society deserve to live a life with equal opportunity for education, work, and participation in all aspects of life. Governments in all countries should put continuous efforts to fight women discrimination to prevent violation of their rights and denial of access to essential services.
Importance of class differences and inequality in a society
Social classes though may set grounds for discrimination, have some benefits to the society. Income inequality enhances the motivation to work hard where people strive to attain higher social status. Additionally, economic and social disparities promote competition and social respect. In the United States, a higher social status of people with college education and well-paying jobs enhances peoples’ competitiveness as they strive to achieve higher social status resulting in increased desire to learn and work hard.
Conclusion
Poverty remains one of the leading causes of social and economic differences in any society. Governments should adopt effective strategies that enhance peoples’ abilities to achieve desirable social status. Education and access to essential services that promote persons’ potential to pursue their goals should be provided without discrimination. People should be offered equal opportunities irrespective of their gender, race, and nationality as long as they have the required qualifications.
Works Cited
Bureau, US Census, and Demographic Internet Staff. “US Census Bureau Poverty Main Page.” (2015): n.pag. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/measure.html.>
Connect. “2015 Poverty Guidelines.” (2015): n.pag. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines.
Gordon, Doni. Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women. Dir. Doni Gordon. Top Documentary Films, 1999. Film. 28 Mar. 2016. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/killing-us-softly-3
Haveman, Robert H., and Timothy M. Smeeding. “The Role of Higher Education in Social Mobility.” The Future of Children 16.2 (2006): 125–150. Print
Malter, Jordan. “Who’s to Blame for Income Inequality?” CNN. CNN, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/09/16/n-lehman-occupy-income-inequality-blame.cnnmoney/index.html?iid=EL.>
Nahigyan, Pierce. “8 Facts about American Inequality.” NationofChange, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.nationofchange.org/8-facts-about-american-inequality-1390315279. >
