Sociology 8th Edition by Margaret Andersen ,Howard Taylor ,Kim Logio

Exercise 1

The Fragile Middle Class
The hallmark of the middle class in the United States is its presumed stability. Home ownership, a college education for children, and other accoutrements of middle-class status (nice cars, annual vacations, an array of consumer goods) are the symbols of middle-class prosperity. As has become clear in the recent economic recession, the rising rate of debt, foreclosure, and bankruptcy among the American middle class shows that the middle class is not as secure as it has been presumed to be.
Personal bankruptcy has risen dramatically with more than one and a half million nonbusiness filings for bankruptcy in 2010. How can this be happening in such a prosperous society? Twothirds filed because of job loss; one-half because of health reasons. One-third are women filing alone (U.S. Courts 2010). Sociologists Teresa Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Lawrence Westbrook have studied bankruptcy, and their research shows the fragility of the middle class in recent times.
Research Question: What is causing the rise of bankruptcy?
Research Method: This study is based on an analysis of official records of bankruptcy in five states, as well as on detailed questionnaires given to individuals who filed for bankruptcy.
Research Results: The research findings of Sullivan and her colleagues debunk the idea that bankruptcy is most common among poor people. Instead, they found bankruptcy is mostly a middle-class phenomenon representing a cross-section of those in this class (meaning that those who are bankrupt are matched on the demographic characteristics of race, age, and gender with others in the middle class). They also debunk the notion that bankruptcy is rising because it is so easy to file. Rather, they found many people in the middle class so overwhelmed with debt that they cannot possibly pay it off. Most often people file for bankruptcy as a result of job loss and lost wages. But divorce, medical problems, housing expenses, and credit card debt also drive many to bankruptcy court.
Conclusions and Implications: Sullivan and her colleagues explain the rise of bankruptcy as stemming from structural factors in society that fracture the stability of the middle class. The volatility of jobs under modern capitalism is one of the biggest factors, but add to this the "thin safety net"-no health insurance for many, but rising medical costs. Also, the American dream of owning one's own home means many are "mortgage poor"-extended beyond their ability to keep up.
In addition, the United States is a credit-driven society. Credit cards are routinely mailed to people in the middle class, encouraging them to buy beyond their means. You can now buy virtually anything on credit: cars, clothes, doctor's bills, entertainment, groceries. You can even use one credit card to pay off other credit cards. Indeed, it is difficult to live in this society without credit cards. Increased debt is the result. Many are simply unable to keep up with compounding interest and penalty payments, and debt takes on a life of its own as consumers cannot keep up with even the interest payments on debt.
Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook conclude that increases in debt and uncertainty of income combine to produce the fragility of the middle class. Their research shows that "even the most secure family may be only a job loss, a medical problem, or an out-of-control credit card away from financial catastrophe" (2000: 6).
Questions to Consider
What evidence do you see in your community of the fragility or stability of different social class groups?