In Australia, a Person's Social Class Impacts Their Life Chances
In Australia, a person's social class impacts their life chances'. Critically evaluate this statement.
Social class affects one’s life chance across a broad range of social occurrence from education achievement to health care to contact with the criminal justice system. This essay will argue that class has a remarkable impact on the life chances of an individual. It will further expostulate that high outcomes in academic performance in Australia is more prevalent on students from the high rank of hierarchy than those from poor families, that health issues are more profound in people from lower socioeconomic, and that youth from disadvantaged background are more likely to commit a criminal act.
As one of the major systems of stratification, class is based on ownership of resources and on the type of work that people do. Marx and Webber acknowledged social class as a determinant of social inequality and social change. For Marx, people’s wealth determines their class position. The stratification of society into different social groups results in disparity in income and wealth and uneven access to available goods and services. People with high income or wealth have more opportunity to control their own lives. People with less income have fewer life chances and must spend their restricted resources to obtain basic living requirements.
Throughout Australian history there existed a myth of egalitarianism which was sometimes promoted by politicians who have made claims that Australia is an open society (Aspin, L J 1996). However, McGregor states that this is a myth that most Australians would like to hold on to because class, is one of the most unpleasant and unjust ways to divide up people. (McGregor, 2001). When asked, four fifths of the Australian population acknowledged the existence of class division. Wild (1978, as cited in McGregor, p4) says that “Class awareness in Australia is extremely high. Most surveys indicate that approximately 80 per cent of people
Social class affects one’s life chance across a broad range of social occurrence from education achievement to health care to contact with the criminal justice system. This essay will argue that class has a remarkable impact on the life chances of an individual. It will further expostulate that high outcomes in academic performance in Australia is more prevalent on students from the high rank of hierarchy than those from poor families, that health issues are more profound in people from lower socioeconomic, and that youth from disadvantaged background are more likely to commit a criminal act.
As one of the major systems of stratification, class is based on ownership of resources and on the type of work that people do. Marx and Webber acknowledged social class as a determinant of social inequality and social change. For Marx, people’s wealth determines their class position. The stratification of society into different social groups results in disparity in income and wealth and uneven access to available goods and services. People with high income or wealth have more opportunity to control their own lives. People with less income have fewer life chances and must spend their restricted resources to obtain basic living requirements.
Throughout Australian history there existed a myth of egalitarianism which was sometimes promoted by politicians who have made claims that Australia is an open society (Aspin, L J 1996). However, McGregor states that this is a myth that most Australians would like to hold on to because class, is one of the most unpleasant and unjust ways to divide up people. (McGregor, 2001). When asked, four fifths of the Australian population acknowledged the existence of class division. Wild (1978, as cited in McGregor, p4) says that “Class awareness in Australia is extremely high. Most surveys indicate that approximately 80 per cent of people
Bibliography: Life chances at 15 & 16 Nelms, L and Taylor J, 2008 http://www.bsl.org.au/pdfs/TaylorNelms_life_chances_at_16.pdf Viewed November 10th, 2010 http://www.youth.gov.au/Documents/YoungPeopleReport.pdf Viewed October 20th, 2010 http://www.aic.gov.au/publications Viewed November 22nd, 2010 http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/11/43619343.pdf Viewed November 23rd, 2010