Social stratification
Social stratification determines the arrangement within the societies and how people access various resources, perceived social worth and power. Stratification is done differently among societies, and as a result, this leads to a wide gap between the top 10% and the rest of the population within the US. Some of the factors that can lead to this divide are discussed below.
1. Poverty
Although the US is one of the most developed countries, there are more than 45 million poor people within the state. Poverty deprives people of basic human needs such as food, shelter, education, and safety from harm. As a result, individuals from high social class mostly prefer relating to people of the same standards. This implies that the rich only interact, school, help, and associate with the rich while the poor individuals are left on their own with nowhere to turn in case they are in need of needs such as food and shelter.
2. Distribution of wealth and income
Another significant factor that should be taken into account while trying to understand some of the causes of the gap between various social classes is how wealth and income are distributed among different societies. For instance, in schools, students group themselves depending on their parents’ income and how wealthy they are. Rich and wealthy students usually form groups with other students from the same social class. Students from the last quartile of the social class triangle also do most of their activities with those in the same social class division. Such divides lead to the wide gap existing between the poor and the wealthy individuals within the US.
3. Class conflict (conflict theory)
According to the article, another important concept that largely contributes to the wide gap in the US. Conflict theory identifies the relationship between one social class and the other social classes and how these classes relate to the economic system. Such a conflict leads to inequality in the distribution of power and other resources.
