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Chapter 6 examines the concept of social class and how people are stratified according to socioeconomic position. Social class has consequences beyond wealth, affecting outcomes for educational attainment and health. Because of class’ consequences in social life, sociologists and people at large are interested in class mobility: moving up, and at times down, the socioeconomic ladder; and what it is that leads to social mobility, both for an individual, and from one generation to the next.
While popular ideas about class explain it as a consequence of individual merit, a sociological analysis demonstrates that social class is a consequence of social structure. We see this in the patterning of, for example, the gender wage gap between men and women, and in the lower median income for Indigenous populations compared to non-Indigenous populations.
Functionalist explanations suggest that social class is a sorting mechanism, allocating scarce resources to socially-valued work and incentivizing people to enagage in valuable work. Conflict theorists identify how social class is a product of exploitation between those who must work for a wage and those who own and control capital, resulting in alienation and battles over workplace conditions. A feminist approach has analysed the gendered wage gap mentioned above, and has identified the intersection of multiple inequalities with social class. The symbolic interactionist approach shows how social class is not just about access to wealth but about how people signal their class position to themselves and others, through conspicuous consumption and the culture of class distinctions.
There are many measures of social class, but in all cases we see that social class and its consequences do not affect all populations equally. The legacy of colonialism and racism has harmed the socioeconomic position of Indigenous populations, compounding the effects of inadequate health care, education, and food insecurity.
The challenges of class are concentrated in issues of poverty, homeless, and food insecurity, which government and private agencies attempt to address. Their efforts make up part of the social safety net, which is meant to alleviate these harms but is not always successful. Other components of the social safety net includes child care, notably in Quebec’s case, and formal education, as education is a fundamental determinant of social class and upward class mobility.