Sociological Perspective of the Consumer Expenditure Survey ...

To Site this in APA: Pattison, J. R. (2012, November 18). Sociological Perspective of the Consumer Expenditure Survey. Drained Apple. Retrieved?January?13, 2013, from http://drainedapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Pattison-Midterm-Paper-SOCU-101.pdf

To Site this in MLA: Pattison, Jerry R. ?Sociological Perspective of the Consumer Expenditure Survey.? Drained Apple. N.p., 18?Nov.?2012. Web. 13?Jan.?2013. <http://drainedapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Pattison-Midterm-Paper-SOCU-101.pdf>.

The economy has become a staple of news networks, hardly a day goes by when there isn?t a new article or blurb on the nighttime news bemoaning the failing economy and the consequential loss of jobs for millions of Americans, or the cuts to various budgets. As the problems increase for Wall Street, big business and the government they trickle down to the common American with devastating consequences. As the monetary standard has inflated many people have become dependent on the system for their elderly care ? mainly through Medicare and social security, neither of which seems to have a bright and financially secure future. The consequence of this is that most Americans will have to rely on themselves and their families for financial support in old age.

More to the point, the average American will have to more than save for a rainy day, he or she will have to plan on amassing a sum large enough to support themselves through decades of declining health without major income. This is especially difficult in an economic climate that has created large expenditures without equally inflating income. According to an article in Forbes the average annual income is $63,685 and the average annual expense is $49,705 ? which leaves $13,980 per year on average for a typical American to live on (Laura, 2012). When taxes are taken into account the authors notes that ?average American, given government income and spending patterns, has a whopping $1,243 per year on which to get ahead? and characterizes a persons financial dreams to be like an ?impenetrable fog? given the figures and leaves the reader with the warning: ?you can no longer afford to be average!?

This paper will analyze the report based on the Structural Functional perspective as well as the Symbolic Interactions perspective. It will also explore the Social Stratification in America and how Conspicuous Consumption is driven in part by modernization which all, in turn has resulted in a decline of the middle class and left the average American without the required financial backing to ensure a stable retirement.

According to a paper on the Structural-Functional approach by Devi Prasad Subedior the approach is ?a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which interprets society as structure with interrelated parts. The various parts of society ? from the government and its many arms, to entrepreneurs, large corporations, the middle man and finally towards the average working American. Each part of society works together as a whole to support the other parts. Companies do not exist without? customers, and customers do not get their products without the company to provide them. At a base level society is a function of its parts. In modern society on of the most basic parts is the family unit ? which revolves around the immediate biological family (mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters) and extends outward towards grandparents, in laws. ?People in this system interact with each other through roles. Children expect to be taken care of, which parents are expected to take care of their wards. Monetary security is an increasingly large part of this ? since the majority of Americans use a standard currency for transactions now that the barter system is in the past. With a downward spiraling economy, more expensive life (and a longer life to expect), fewer opportunities for upward social mobility, more stagnate income levels and an increasing median personal debt Americans need to reconsider the ?traditional? plan for retirement.

Although much of the American Dream is based on the idea that anyone can be successful, statistics show that monetary success may be on the decline. According to data from the new York Times 27% of the population moved up or down two or more quintiles during the 1970?s (The New York Times). The 1980?s showed a 24% mobility rate and the 1990?s slowed more, dropping to 21%. This shows that mobility between economic classes was on the decline over those three decades. America is typically split into three sections of social class ? high wealth, middle class and poverty class. The middle class worker? typically earns an income between $ 32,563 and $48,979 per year, an opinion survey done in 2000 echos? those figures ? with 49% of respondents with similar incomes classifying themselves in the middle class (Social Class in America PBS).

Unfortunately this distinction has grown less rigid as the first decade of the 21st century came and went. According to a report by the Washington Post, Federal Reserve data shows that the economic recession has resulted in a 39% drop in the median net worth of an American household(Mui, 2012). The same article continues to describe the federal data as ? ?one of the most detailed looks at how the economic downturn altered the landscape of family finance. Over a span of three years, Americans watched progress that took almost a generation to accumulate evaporate. The promise of retirement built on the inevitable rise of the stock market proved illusory for most. Homeownership, once heralded as a pathway to wealth, became an albatross.?(Mui, 2012). As the wealth in America has dropped the average debt continued to grow as many found themselves upside down on home and car loans. As the debt rose median income did not, leaving many with increasingly tight budgets. This has caused the middle class to slip towards the bottom of the pole, gaining more debt without gaining income the majority of Americans are in the process of social mobility downwards. Due to the lack of discretionary income planning for retirement becomes a hallow dream.

Is defined as ?buying and displaying products that make a statement about ones? social class and position? (Macionis 2004). This activity has become rampant in modern America ? specifically in generation Y ? where fashion is dominated by? the logo of company X or Y. This phenomenon is well noted even among those of the generation itself. One college student and blog writer notes that ? here at the University of Connecticut the

fashion among students is to wear jackets and pullovers (preferably black) by Northface and, for women, boots made by Ugg.? (Wright 2008). Other examples of this in modern culture is the rise of the iPhone ? which was a symbol of being ?cool? and wealthy enough to afford the phone and data plan. A more enduring example is Ivy League colleges, whose graduates are elevated to a higher social status because of where they attended post-secondary education. In a world of decreasing income, but increased desire for high prices social status items the middle class is being bled dry.

Surprisingly, Conspicuous Consumption can be often be tied to racial stereotypes. For example a study by economists from the University of Chicago found that ? African Americans not only had less wealth than whites with similar incomes, they also had significantly more of their assets tied up in cars.? (Postrel, 2008). The article expanded on the topic, stating that ?An African American family with the same income, family size, and other demographics as a white family will spend about 25 percent more of its income on jewelry, cars, personal care, and apparel?. Although much of this could be attributed to taste and social norms, the question of causation lingers. What causes the norm, what mechanics of society drive the economic differences between African Americans and their Caucasian counterparts ? which are, by all accounts, biologically, mentally and morally equal. It was proposed that this discrepancy in purchasing habits between two otherwise homogenous groups (who had the same income, just a different skin color) may be due to a social pressure for African Americans to prove their wealth, since the majority were not wealthy on the whole. This scarcity caused those who did have money to flaunt it more readily.

This same concept occurs outside of racial norms, the entire middle class has become infected with the idea. The housing bubble after the turn of the century was due to large, almost decedent homes being owned by people with no financial ability to maintain them when money became tight. Yet there was a palpable desire to buy the biggest home in the nicest neighborhood, preferably with the newest vehicle possible. This has been increased as money became tighter, many people purchased consumer products at a high price as a status symbol, to prove that they were financially stable even in a tough economy.

Technology has revolutionized the world and its societies. It has created entirely new sections of industry, inquiry and education. It has also created a new category of expenditure, one that if often rooted in conspicuous consumption and the use of status symbols. This has become especially heinous as income levels have stagnated and fallen, yet cell phone bills for overages and data plans have continued to increase in price. Additionally cable bills have increased and popular alternatives like Hulu and Netflix are often used to supplement an already existing collection of entertainment choices. additional accessories like a Roku box, Xbox 360 or Playstation are needed to get the most out of the connection and large LED television set. These products and services are hugely popular with the tech savvy generation, which is also mostly middle class citizens ? already struggling with expenses for food, vehicle maintenance and continually higher housing expenses.

The economy has a toll on the many parts of society. Corporations, consumers and the government do not operate in a bubble. As each changes in response to economic conditions the changes cascade into other aspects of society. Consumption of status symbols has placed the middle class in a precarious position economically. The average citizen is surrounded by expenses ? many so large that it results in high amounts of debt. These expenses have continued to rise and have placed the middle class in a position that has become perilous in light of Americas economic decline. As debt has risen income levels have not. This is leading to the decline of the middle class and can eventually result in a less diverse social stratification of America, leaving only two classes. As the financial ability of individual families has hit maximum money for retirement has become more and more scarce. The average person cannot afford to place large amounts of money into savings, yet the average American will be unable to support themselves without a healthy savings. It has become impossible to be financially successful in this economic climate. Thus those who desire a comfortable retirement are unable to spend, earn and save as their peers do.

Consumer Expenditures?2011. (2012, September 25). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved?November?18, 2012, from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm

Felson / University of Illinois at Urbana (1975). A Modern Sociological Approach to the Stratification of Material Life Styles. Advances in Consumer Research, 02, 33-38.

Laura , R. (2012, November 8). You Can?t Afford To Be Average ? Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved?November?8, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaura/2012/11/08/you-cant-afford-to-be-average/

Macionis, J. J. (2004). Society: The basics (11th?ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.

Mui, Y. Q. (2012, June 11). Americans saw wealth plummet 40 percent from 2007 to 2010, Federal Reserve says. Washington Post [Washington, DC]. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fed-americans-wealth-dropped-40-percent/2012/06/11/gJQAlIsCVV_story.html.

Postrel, V. (2008, July). Inconspicuous Consumption. The Atlantic. Retrieved?November?17, 2012, from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/inconspicuous-consumption/306845/

Social Class in America. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved?November?18, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/resources/stats.html

Subedi, D. P. (2010, July 11). STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE IN SOCIOLOGY [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://subedi.orgfree.com/docs/Structural_Functionalism.pdf

The New York Times (n.d.). Graphic: How Class Works. The New York Times. Retrieved?November?17, 2012, from https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_03.html

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