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Answer to q. 1
Some social analysts focus on the characteristics of individuals that they assume contribute to poverty. These include dropping out of school, having children at a younger age, averaging more children than women in the other social classes, and their desire for immediate gratification. Other social analysts focus on the social structure to explain why some people are poor. They stress that some features of society deny some people equal access to opportunities based on their ascribed statuses and changes in the labor market.
Answer to q. 2
Although there is no definitive profile of the poor that is universally applicable, the poor are overrepresented in several areas. The poor are unevenly distributed among the states, clustering in the South. There is also a higher rate of poverty among rural America than in the inner city. One of the strongest predictors of poverty is race and ethnicity with African Americans and Latinos being over represented (22 and 21 percent, respectively). Whites and Asians only account for 10 percent of the poor, but because the numerical majority of the population is white, there are more whites in poverty than any other racial or ethnic group. Those in poverty are likely to be poorly educated, lacking a high school diploma or GED. As one's educational achievement increases, their chance of being in poverty decreases. Statistics show that only 3 out of 100 people who finish college end up in poverty. Women who are heads of households have a much higher rate of poverty than two parent families and men who are heads of households. Although being old was once synonymous with poverty, this is no longer the case and the elderly are less likely to be poor compared to the general population.
Answer to q. 3
Basically, there are three types of social mobility: structural, intergenerational, and exchange mobility.
(1 ) Structural mobility refers to a change in the structure of society that affects the social class of a number of people.
(2 ) Intergenerational mobility is the change that family members make in their social class from one generation to another.
(3 ) Exchange mobility occurs when large numbers of people move upward or downward on the social class ladder, but the result is that the class systems remain basically unchanged because the upward and downward movement of people is more or less balanced out.
Answer to q. 4
Lower-class parents focus on getting their children to follow rules and obey authority while middle-class parents focus on developing their child's creativity and leadership skills. Lower-class families are also likely to use physical punishment to discipline their children while middle-class families will rely more on verbal persuasion.
Answer to q. 5
(1 ) First, medical care is expensive. The insurance to guarantee medical care is expensive. Social class opens and closes the doors to medical care by making insurance either affordable or provided as a part of employment.
(2 ) Second, lifestyles are shaped by social class. Generally speaking, the higher one's social class, the healthier one's lifestyle. People in the lower social classes are more likely to smoke, eat foods with high fat content, be overweight, abuse drugs and alcohol, avoid exercise, and practice unsafe sex. People in the upper classes are more body conscious, want to make good impressions in social settings, and enjoy the benefits their wealth has provided.
(3 ) Third, life is harder on the poor, more stressful, provides fewer alternatives to solve problems, and creates greater wear and tear on their bodies.
Answer to q. 6
Together the working poor and underclass comprise 20 percent of Americans, ranking next to each other at the bottom of the class ladder. They both qualify as being in poverty, have limited opportunities, are poorly trained for the job market, often are high school dropouts, may be illiterate, are unlikely to be able to resist deferred gratification if they happen upon a wind fall of wealth, and engage in unhealthy practices such as smoking, drinking, and other risk-taking behaviors. The difference in the two classes is the working poor have part-time and even full-time jobs but because of the poverty index, still qualify as being in poverty. For example, a traditional family of five with the father working full-time earning 8 an hour earns about 16,640, well below the poverty line for a family of that size. The working poor create more life opportunities for themselves, are more likely to contribute to the community by being members of community organizations, and may have aspirations that reduce the culture of poverty that traps the underclass in poverty. Those considered working poor are often found among the rural poor and the underclass in urban settings. The working poor are three times greater in size than the underclass.
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