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Impact of wealth on education
A topic on social mobility
Socioeconomic status effects on children
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In America, common belief is that one born with nothing can work hard to gain anything, when this is clearly not the case. People accept meager wages and conditions with the idea that it is simply a stepping-stone to better things. What causes some people to view their disadvantages as being positive? The newspaper, “The Economist”, believes that the success of minority figures such as Obama define a high degree social mobility in American culture. Many are not improving from their parent’s positions, and few maintain it if not falling below. There are several factors including income inequality, family background and lack of opportunity for mobility that contribute to this decline. What are the disadvantages will we suffer as Americans you ask? I will outline the trends and evidence to support the decline and future effects as it continues. The apparent decline in social mobility is contrary to what most Americans believe to be the “Land of Opportunity”. As much as we would like to believe that everyone has the same opportunities to advance, this is simply not true. Stories tell of people who far exceeded what any normal person could hope to achieve realistically, something far beyond their means. While it is certainly possible for someone to exceed his or her social class, it is simply more complicated than winning the lottery or a stroke of luck. Wealth and education both are heavy factors of determining a person’s ability to move up or down the latter of class, with some regards to family background and disadvantage. This also applies to an individual’s opportunity to attend college due to their social circumstance and financial responsibilities. According to the “Nation Center of Education Statistics,” Sixty-six per... ... middle of paper ... ...he government and other power figures are responsible; the average cost of tuition fees and room and board has risen fourfold since 1977 to an average of $10,315 according to “Commondreams.org”, which is devastatingly unnecessary. Americans must learn to be aware of these inequalities and not settle for the low end of stick, only then can we believe the American dream. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08). (Prepared August 2009.) SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) Student Financial Aid Estimates for 2007–08, Table 1-4 Education Pays. (2011, May). In Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm
Paul Krugman, in his article “The Death of Horatio Alger” suggests that social mobility among classes in the United States is becoming more difficult by the day. Krugman explains that the idea of the American Dream and moving from class to class was once semi easily attainable; but is now seemingly impossible. Although America is thought of as a classless society, the country has a whole is moving into a caste society run by the rich.
"How the Government Measures Unemployment." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 04 July 2017.
The American Dream, the national promise of equal opportunity and the endless possibilities of economic mobility, has and is still deeply inculcated in American culture. However, there is less economic mobility in the United States than originally thought as proven by many studies of economists, and therefore refutes the basic ideas of the American Dream. Class, one of the major causes to the decrease in economic mobility, remains a sensitive subject in America. This sensitivity stems from popular culture ideals of not debating or discussing class as well as the many myths Americans and foreigners are trapped into believing. Variations in the American life-styles, a component of the ideas of class presented by Mantsios, is another factor to the reduction of economic mobility. This variation is mainly a result of the diversity in the United States and its heterogeneous society. Race, a social construct, is also a major source to economic mobility. Through the help of the media, society has shaped Americans into associating success and wealth with Caucasians, and failure and poverty with minorities. Another major cause to the decline in economic mobility is parental influence, the idea of a child following or straying away from their parent or guardian’s footsteps. Education, America’s token to success, also determines an individual’s economic mobility. In American culture, it is believed that by furthering or completing education automatically guarantees individuals endless opportunities to a job, increased income and upward mobility. In conclusion, class, race, parental influence and education are all interrelated factors to economic mobility.
Does social mobility in our contemporary American society really exist? Is it possible for someone from the deepest depths of poverty to become successful, and ascend into the upper echelons of society? Could the American Dream still be attained in these times where we see the stratification of contemporary American society based on their wealth and social class so vehemently pointed out and perhaps emphasized to a certain degree? Or perhaps, could Charles Sackrey, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler (authors of Introduction to Political Economy) be right about the American Dream being a "particularly deceitful myth?" This is a topic which has been debated over a long period of time between different scholars, analysts, and people just like us - in American society today, it could be broken into many parts: some observe the rich, the middle class, and the poor, and others lean towards the 99% versus the 1%, in regards to debates stemming from wealth distribution. The American Dream, a long-standing national ethos which definitively puts forward the idea that our freedom allows us the opportunity for great prosperity and success, as well as upward social mobility through the application of hard work, is perhaps central to this idea of whether social mobility, as scholars continue to debate that it is less attainable in this day and age compared to previous generations, and that it is much less prevalent in the U.S. than in other western countries. As for social mobility, it's also argued that while it exists to a greater extent in other western countries, it is no less attainable in the United States today than it was in the past. The purpose of this essay is to really get a good look at both sides of the coin in terms of this i...
Steve Cohen shows the disparity between the rising cost of college and a family’s capability to afford it. Cohen explains “Tuition has risen almost 1,200 percent in the last 35 years, and the sticker price for many four-year private colleges and out-of-state public universities exceeds $250,000.” Moreover, he goes on to say that even at public universities, it is about $80,000 for four years for tuition and other college related expenses. Later in his article, Cohen explains how this leaves middle-class families in a very uncomfortable situation. The parents or other money-making entities in the household want their student to go to college and earn a degree, but now there can be an element of stress in figuring out how the fees will be paid for. Furth...
America has always seen as the symbolic ideal country of prosperity and equality. This is the reason why people come to America hoping to become successful, but in matter of fact we all have an equal plan field to be successful is not entirely true. For there are social boundaries that keep use limited based upon our own status. Whether we are born of a low class or of a high class the possibility of economic mobility in a sense are predetermined by two factors of social class and success together they both affecting one’s another opportunity of success. In order to achieve success, we must know that it is made up of two main concepts and they are fortune and position. But when a person is limited by their class prohibiting them to achieve success, the point of trying is meaningless. However, there is a way to break the construct that keep groups stuck in the lower-class and is through education. Education gives more opportunities for success to the individuals and since education is very important, culture and the government should focus more directly upon this to reach economic stability. Class standing directly affects economic success in America by limiting a person’s chance of success however; one can overcome by focusing more upon education and culture.
The United States has a long, brutal history of social inequality, including but not limited to: racism, sexism, and classism dating all the way back to the European colonizers. When we look at America’s past, we start to notice horrendous instances of injustice and the early formations of modern day social stratification. A way to describe social stratification is “the creation of layers of a population who possess an unequal share of scarce resources” (Loder 2015). Since the resources are not equally distributed, there are some people who have a copious amount of resources and others who barely have enough to survive. Thus rendering social stratification as problematic, because it allows little room for those who were assigned to a lower
The skyrocketing price of college tuition is causing a tremendous concern over whether higher education will be a viable financial concept to the average citizen over the next decades. Some families have opted to explore different means of obtaining a higher education for their children as these costs escalate. There is overwhelming evidence that colleges need to restructure the way they are run because tuition prices are increasing at a rapid rate causing changes in the way students fund their education and in the way the government provides educational subsidies.
In her article she points out how social class has become the main gateway to opportunity in America. The widening academic divide means that kids who grow up poor will most likely stay poor and the kids who grow up rich will most likely stay rich. About fifty years ago the main concern about getting a good education relied on your race but now it's about your social class. Researchers are starting to believe that children who come from higher income families tend to do better in school and get higher test scores.
America was once known as a land of opportunity and prosperity. Now we are seeing that upward mobility is increasingly rare in the US. In fact, many Northern and Western European nations provide greater opportunity than the US. Despite this, many Americans continue to believe that social class is determined by hard work. 69% of Americans in a survey agreed that people are rewarded for intelligence, skill, and effort (139). This is obviously not the case, or millions of Americans would not be in the situation they’re in today. For instance, Terry Neumann strived to find full time work, but she could not afford her house after years of part time jobs and her divorce. The Stanley’s were also very hardworking, but stayed in their class. After years of work from both Jackie and Claude, they still had to put Keith’s college tuition on a credit card. Both of the families illustrate the challenge of upward mobility and America’s declining prosperity.
Johnstone, Bruce. "Investing more equitably and efficiently in higher education, creating value for America." National Dialogue on Student Financial Aid (2003): 6-10. Print.
How does the rising cost of college tuition affect us? Every year thousands of students attend a college or university, usually of their choice, with the goal of achieving a higher education and to better their future. The cost of attending college is too high and it needs to go down; there needs to be more scholarship and grant opportunities. The high cost of attending college is a major reason that students aren’t able to achieve higher education; others take this as a challenge and it is motivation for them to work harder to achieve their goal. One might ask why would someone want to spend money to receive more education and miss out on more years of work that they could’ve performed? For many, it is so they can receive more salary for the jobs that they will have later in life, also so that they can get training for their wanted career. The cost of attending college is high and continues to rise without indications of decreasing. The rising cost has many benefits such as earning more pay, but it also has its disadvantages such as the debt that is accumulated from student loans. Not everyone can afford to drop down thousands of dollars and attend school for a few more years. Students who wish to receive a post-secondary education must decide whether it is the right choice for them depending on their financial standpoint, meaning that they must decide if they have the resources to further their education.
Marcus, Jon. "Financial aid not always going to neediest college students." Hechinger Report . N.p., 25 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. .
Social stratification systems are present in every functioning society. A stratification system organizes the members of the society into different categories so that members of the society know their social position in society (Larkin, 2015). Members of the society are placed into the different categories based on their race and gender. Every stratification system allows for a different amount of social mobility. In this essay we will look at three social stratification systems, slavery, caste, and class, and we will compare males and females by race, class, and education.
National Center for Education Statistics. "Postsecondary Education." Nces.ed.gov. May 2012. Institute for Education Sciences. 17 Jan. 2014 .