Social Mobility: Crash Course Sociology #26

Today we’re exploring social mobility in some more depth. We’ll look at intergenerational and intragenerational mobility and the difference between absolute and relative mobility. We’ll go over the long run upward social mobility trends in the United States, as well as recent declines in absolute social mobility. We’ll also explore how opportunities for social mobility differ by class, race, and gender.
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References:
Sociology by John J. Macionis, 15th edition (2014)
Measuring relative mobility, part www.brookings....
Five Bleak Facts on Black Opportunity www.brookings....
Pay Equity & Discrimination iwpr.org/issue...
In the U.S. and abroad, more young adults are living with their parents www.pewresearch...

[@TokenBlackman7]

"The Owners of this country know the truth! It's called 'The American Dream'... 'Cause you have to be asleep to believe it!" -- George Carlin

[@DuelJ007]

One like for wit

[@mikewilson2052]

Or just asleep, in an Eastern philosophical manor. The majority of U.S. population.

[@JK-gu3tl]

How much was Carlin's net worth?

[@salmanmdkhan]

This is what the Occupy Wall Street Movement was about, in 2011. Both USA and my country India have great socioeconomic hurdles that prevent Social Mobility. The richest 1% people own more wealth than the remaining 99% population; and this gap is unfortunately widening everyday. So most of the time, children of the rich will go on to rule over the children of the poor. The factors that prevent Social Mobility are: a loan & interest based economic system, Consumerism, Neoliberalism promoted by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and a society that is based upon commerce instead of family & community. If we are to achieve better social mobility and socioeconomic equality we must roll back all the said evils.

[@owen3721]

What about just expanding the social safety net and making the tax system more progressive?

[@arturyeon]

Looking at these comments, with people going on about some personal experiences of their 3rd cousin who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, makes me realise that this really well-crafted series is casting pearls before swines. It's like you don't *want* to learn.

[@camellia_black]

People just tend to pick and choose whatever points agree with them, then ignore the rest.

[@Mr_c-tm3hu]

Yeah if you want to believes the odds were stacked against you and you shouldn't try and want to avoid self improvement and self criticism, ignore the life stories, then yeah believe that social mobility is a myth. On the other hand, if you want to believe that you can always improve, ambition is a positive trait, opportunities of entrepreneurship have increased ridiculously (internet, advertising, SCIENCE etc.) and can be harnessed as you are an individual who is perceptive to opportunities and marketable needs/ hard working which would make it profitable for the company that hired you to promote you/ intelligent enough for scholarships and can create the next big innovation, imaginative enough to tackle new ways of approaching problems/ artistically creative enough to write music, art and poetry/ resourceful enough to post on KZbin (add money) and a go fund me type site to make a living/ a person with an interesting enough life story people would bay to listen to you/ charismatic enough to convince and manipulate the masses and form advantageous relationships you call open for "favors", then yeah believe social mobility is a fact and opportunities are out there.

[@jesse4246]

I find it telling that you think this is about what people "want to believe", rather than about trying to understand what's actually happening.

[@Mr_c-tm3hu]

Statistics and fancy graphs are trends and estimates NOT ABSOLUTES. Anyone telling you that graphs and statistics are a perfect simulation of reality that allows one to predict the futures of all who fall under said demographics is lying to you. Most of those things anyway like racism is on a downward trends meaning they are just going to get better as new (more excepting) generations replace the dyeing bigoted ones. Don't get me wrong, there will always be bad apples, but there is little the state can do about that. The responsibility to make those vast minority of bigots even smaller falls to you/citizens debunking and education new generations to be better than the last. Anyone telling you millennials are less tolerant when it comes to race and gender than there parents are also lying to you. With the advent of the internet/ social media, new sciences, and gender/race quotas (as racist and sexist as those are) opportunities are abundant (especially for minorities). If the odds are stacked "against you" that does not mean total failure is inevitable and so you should give up. Don't get me wrong, you will fail but you can learn from your mistakes and try something different. If reality (friends/family/peers) say "you cant do something", you should try harder than ever to prove reality wrong. No one notable in history gave up when faced with "the odds". Did Han Solo decide to turn him and his crew into the empire when C3PO told him the odds of making it out of an asteroid belt? Did Martin Luther King JR go like "Welp, the white man say I will never be equal so I better just rip up my "I had a dream" speech." People with worst odds have succeeded (TRUMP) for good or bad so you can do it too. The only thing certain about life is life is never certain/ can never be predicted. Being successful is a mind set (so yeah it is about what people internalize or "want to believe") so if you want to abandon success there is no better way than to put all the blame on some outgroup, avoid self criticism, and internalize total failure is inevitable. If someone tells you over all success has little or nothing to do with your input/contribution they are a moron. You cant be given something if you actively refuse to take it.

[@jesse4246]

"Statistics and fancy graphs are trends and estimates NOT ABSOLUTES" "Most of those things anyway like racism is on a downward trends meaning they are just going to get better" Glad you know anyone telling you they have a perfect simulation of reality is lying to you, at least.

[@legoboy468]

Great video but one gripe, I’d love to see the us compared to other countries in the world to see where they compare based on social mobility

[@areamusicale]

When I turned 18 I HAD to leave my family, my father was forcing me to get a job in a factory calling it "job for life". They wanted me to be just like them: miserable! My father has insisted for another 10 years for me to "get back home" and take THAT job. My conclusions are the following: poor families have more "family values" than "life values" or money.

[@Alitari]

I think an aspect of social mobility that is often lost is that it's often framed as a way to merely climb the ladder. If we want to really live in a meritocracy, it should be just as easy to slip down the slide as it is to climb the ladder ... social mobility MUST go both ways.

[@fromthe4621]

I know the script writer was just using one of Drake's most iconic if not most iconic hits to use according to the intro BUT HE NEVER STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM LMAO

[@Samzillah]

I find it funny cause my cousins went to school with him when younger and that was no poor neighborhood. Dude became a famous actor as a teen. What bottom?

[@fromthe4621]

Sam Girardin word. he obviously worked hard for his success but it's not like he was poor

[@turtle4llama]

I think they were just discussing the song, not Drake's personal experience. You said it yourself, it is his best known hit. People like the story, even if it isn't true.

[@allieskinner-youniqueprese9014]

great video helped me to understand what social mobility really was and how it fits in with my sociology class.

[@jp15151]

Although that was an very interesting analysis, I think it would have been important to compare US social mobility to say Germany social mobility (but it seems to be the general problem with this series; by which I mean it is too centered on the US alone). Without that, how can you answer the question "Is the US the land of opportunities?" ?

[@aprildawnsunshine4326]

I'd love to hear what the impacts are for children of adults who are highly mobile, specifically upwards. Basically, if I go from middle class to top 20% what will the impacts be on my children?

[@elisareyes6391]

My father used to say to us; that we should do better than himself, better than our grandparents, I do believe that, also I tell my kids that now!

[@naathcousins4658]

The married /single dichotomy may have been mostly true 100 years ago but it is the 21st century now and large numbers of people are living together and benefiting from being a two income (and two parent) household without bothering to get legally married. And yet when the demographics of households are discussed it is always married v single.

[@crashcourse]

There's definitely some truth to that. A lot of this is just wrapped up in the way institutional data is collected, and this information is generally derived from government-collected data. Also relevant here is that the shift to this kind of widespread cohabitation-without-marriage is still new enough that the long-term trends still heavily favor married couples. Not to mention the fact that there are some basic tax benefits to marriage. There's a lot to be said on this, and I'm hardly doing it justice, so the tl;dr is: you're right, but it's complicated. It's also generally true that much gets left out when trying to discuss these things in ~10 minutes.

[@cloudsofsunset7323]

It is really interesting i am from Europe and i knewed about this topic and all its difficulties. I can appreciate that this social phenomena is not such drastic here.

[@perfectscotty]

Great video, Thank you.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

I don't think it was helpful for the graph at 4:04 to use colours which could be colours of skin to represent income quartiles. It makes the graph unnecessarily confusing.

[@microbuilder]

The graph has labels for the Black and White columns, looks pretty straight forward.

[@planksunit]

Drake didn't start from the bottom, he was a childhood to star lol

[@SunriseFireberry]

In the baseball of life, George H. W. Bush was born on third base and went through life thinking he had hit a triple.

[@erickpalacios8904]

So... Trump was born in the umpire's arms?

[@erinrevels4770]

Thanks so much for making these videos! They are an excellent resource, and definitely helped me pass my CLEP exam today!

[@satisharockiaraj8706]

very much informative! guys keep doing this kind of stuffs up to your best!!

[@mattoo2797]

Satish Arockiaraj information yes. Logical view point and idea? No. Not this episode.

[@eksbocks9438]

It's easy to understand Social Mobility. How easy is it to get a job that isn't Minimum Wage? And is there resistance when you actually try to live and improve? Doesn't matter who you are. Or where you live in the country.

[@BlueyMcPhluey]

fantastic episode, thankyou

[@haianhdo3529]

i have watched 27 episodes for 1 day)) yayyy

[@mikaelmacmurray6618]

in my town only jobs we have are Walmart and fast food.most ppl are on welfare and ssi.there's no climbing the ladder where I live and people can't leave BC they are too poor to move.

[@couragecoachsam]

If someone wants to be in the upper quintile SES, they have to commit to learning from and imitating behavior of those in the upper quintile. It's easier now more than ever because of platforms like KZbin to seek out these types.

[@nameisamine]

Going to college and have debt expecting to move up the ladder but the jobs on the other side are FAR from mobile, house/mortgage prices being so high the property ownership seems like a pipe dream, putting off having children because it's a too much of a financial burden to seem attractive - *Every other millennial in 2017*

[@pummisher1186]

Don't let your dreams be dreams!!!!

[@unknownnumber6083]

Rags to riches story land of opportunity American dream 1 intra 2 inter 3 absolute 4 relatives 5 economic mobility 6 occupation mobility 7 up 8 down 9 horizontal 10 vertical Difference by ( race caste ethnicity)

[@TheVeggiekat]

I’ve seen a lot of articles and videos that mention the 2007 recession’s effect on manufacturing but I wonder why no one ever mentions the recession that wiped out most of the steel mills in the 70’s. It’s like that period in US history just disappeared.

[@theahestnes6551]

Hi, I have my exam about social mobility tomorrow and this crash course really helped me! I just got one huge question, how can you connect social mobility to the other aspects and themes in sociology? I would be so happy and grateful if someone could help me out!!

[@abelrrant]

Ay, yo mama wanna engaged in a material status so we can climb the economic social ladder at a accelerated rate?as opposed to single individuals. #Facts.

[@anthonyking8930]

Im just amaze how you explain your topics more understandable.... and you look beautiful. :D

[@orrenburke3146]

I'm writing a research paper about this, thank your for supporting my essay Crash Course

[@breetamulewicz7083]

What about those born in the 90s? or more recent data?

[@mariostaressternly4041]

I started out as working class and moved down to lower class because of my life choices. I love having free will.

[@kekero540]

Considering there is only 3 places to be put. If your calculations are in the 30%-40% range that's really good.

[@jacobsim3971]

This show focuses on America yet a decent amount of viewers live outside of the U.S.

[@Kaalyn_HOW]

I started wayyy at the top, now I'm at the actual literal bottom. Cool.

[@NeonsStyleHD]

It'd be interesting, to see how the User Pays policies of the 90's have impacted the Social Mobility.

[@akshaydevkarama3277]

yay! Wire Reference

[@silanthaler]

Yet you didn't mention how Asian Americans have the highest household income out of all ethnic groups in the US! I think it's info worth to be mentioned especially regarding upwards mobility and race...

[@janedough8997]

It's definitely worth talking about more races than black and white! Indigenous people face a lot of problems, but are rarely talked about.

[@valchior4]

Which country Asian Americans? Chinese Korean and Japanese perhaps. But they tend to have origins in the country that are diffrent than say, Mung, Vietnamese, And other south East Asian groups. If we examine those groups we see Asians on average are poorer and deal with similar problems to other American poor.

[@valchior4]

Which country Asian Americans? Chinese Korean and Japanese perhaps. But they tend to have origins in the country that are diffrent than say, Mung, Vietnamese, And other south East Asian groups. If we examine those groups we see Asians on average are poorer and deal with similar problems to other American poor.

[@salmanmdkhan]

silanthaler, Most Asian Americans (73% adults) are first generation immigrants who already belong to the upper middle class when they acquire US citizenship and usually hold a good college degree with no debts to pay. That is why Indian Americans are becoming CEOs of top companies like Microsoft, Google, CitiBank and Adobe besides many other top positions. Irony is that one-third of the poorest people in the world are Indians.

[@TheRealE.B.]

Note that modern Asian-American immigrants are mostly white-collar families. Doctors, scientists, engineers, etc. I think at times they have even been actively recruited by our government to come here. They value education very highly, and even if they start out with relatively little money, they have the human capital to succeed. Plus, they actually benefit from a slight POSITIVE racism feedback loop. Being Asian-American is like wearing glasses: people just assume you are smart. In short, the Asian-Americans you see were already fairly well-off in the old country. And probably already knew some English. Contrast this to poor, unskilled Irish Catholics running from the potato famine or African prisoners of war whose children were purposefully kept as uneducated as possible to keep them from revolting.

[@EjazAhmad-fd6nl]

Amazing lecture. Try to more best.

[@richsenea6907]

Wow! very insightful

[@josvinjose5607]

Very nice class maam

[@osamamohammed7940]

But CrashCourse , why do people born in a specific class are nore probable to stay at thr same class when getting older?

[@edwardromo7914]

0:10 Gatsby got rich from crime.

[@geoffreywinn4031]

Cool video!

[@ContinualImprovement]

Rags to riches - what if I'm still in rags?

[@tyspeaks6104]

gotta dig your way out of those rags and strive for more. The only reason why you won't be successful is if you stop trying and keep making excuses

[@fromthe4621]

TMR Teckk get new clothes

[@ContinualImprovement]

Ty Speaks You know what man, you're right. Thanks for this. Just got to keep pushing forward. Peace :)

[@mihailung1720]

TMR Teckk then you’re average. It’s hilariously absurd to think *everyone* will have a rags to riches story.

[@myvines9173]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqK6f6mjo9CYm7s ... check this out guys.... n comment what do u wanna c related to my videos...:)

[@phyrath5]

I may be missing something but all I couldn't stop thinking about inflation during the video. Wouldn't a small increase in pay over the course of ones working life acompanied by a large amount of inflation mean net lowering ses?

[@SweeneySays]

Income data is presented in inflation-adjusted dollars.

[@Tenderfoot85]

This is her telling us we should be upset with the system.

[@iAmSVD]

We love Sweeney

[@chbrules]

You have the war on drugs and war on poverty to thank for minority societal woes found today. Before the 1960's, education and income were on the rise, and crime and drug use were minimal. Black families were two-parent households for the vast majority of families, and welfare was next to nonexistent.

[@adityaprakash3297]

Watched the whole video in mute mode...Uu are awesome

[@GenesisMoreno-ev9zt]

who knew sociology could be so interesting.. lol

[@marylaugustine7055]

I didn’t get it, what is relative mobility ?

[@samsyed688]

Relative mobility is comparing your status in society with others in the same period you're in. For example if your salary increased from 30k to 45k in a particular year that would be a 50% increase in social mobility. However, this is still absolute mobility. When we look at relative mobility we may get a different picture. If your peers at that same period had their salary increased from 30k to 60k that would be an increase of 100% in salary for them. To calculate relative mobility we would find the difference 100 - 50 =50%. This means you dropped in social mobility (in terms of salary) by 50% relative (compared to) to your friends. Whereas absolute mobility is comparing your status in society in different time periods without comparing your data to others around you. For example if you made 30k last year and this year you made 45k you increased in absolute social mobility. Or if your parents made 30k at the age of 30 and you're making 40k at the same age, that would be an increase in social mobility in the absolute sense. However, absolute mobility does not give much information as it doesn't factor in the changing climate of the day. Relative mobility is what usually matters the most. I hope that answers your question

[@jupitereuropa-e3w]

So social means wealth/ income

[@jeremiahnoar7504]

The American dream is real for those willing to put in the work

[@solaireofastora3]

Only SITH deal with absolutes

[@SuviTuuliAllan]

I'm no centrist but this Sith-Jedi dichotomy is such BS. Evil on all sides, you might say.

[@TheRealE.B.]

"Only" Sith? ;)

[@axelssantoso5667]

Guys, what is the function of social mobility?

[@FreeTheDonbas]

If I hate non-white people & women & the left, does that mean I have to reject everything within sociology & economics & climate science & pretty much everything else within science & academia in general?

[@FreeTheDonbas]

+sadako24 Says the guy who clicked on this video because science, when it challenges the sacrosanct status quo, offends him to the core.

[@djrocko410]

Casually mentioned Baltimore. Oh this city is forever confusing.

[@winnerwinnerchickenkiller1441]

who had to pause the video at least once to keep up?

[@AnekaKnellBean]

There is some missing information I'd like to know more about. Your conclusions did not fit the information you shared.

[@cultureoverall3012]

Drake did NOT start from the bottom, drake started from his wheelchair on degrassi lol

[@EwMatias]

I resent the jab at The Wire. The show never implies drug use and criminality are the causes of poverty. "The game is rig" is practically the series catchphrase.

[@SweeneySays]

I love that show and totally agree, which is to say that it was not at all meant to be a jab, so much as using it as a reference point, as it is arguably the most prominent cultural representation of people of color in Baltimore. That is obviously not clear in my delivery, so sorry about that, but totally not a dig at The Wire. The Wire is great.

[@dhayes5151]

Wage gap is down to 8% in 2015? Where did 77¢ on a dollar go?

[@TheRealE.B.]

0.77-to-1 (usually reported as 0.75-to-1) is the un-adjusted number for people who like sensation but not statistics. For example, it does not account for actual paid hours worked. Men tend to work more paid hours, while women tend to spend more time on domestic labor (i.e. watching the kids). The 77-cents statistic just looks at the size of their paychecks.

[@mattoo2797]

Doesn't exist the way u think

[@godiseru]

Guys. You're forgetting one simple thing. Not everybody collect wages as their income. There are other sources of income. In the video she talks about income which can be collected rent, stock dividends, so and so forth. Wage gap has almost nothing to do with income gap.

[@orsonwelles4254]

From rich to richer

[@ShortsBridge]

Wsc?

[@maninha95]

i loved the video, but you talk too fast! slow down

[@bsinita_wokeone]

yeah two incomes are better than one but.....i disagree cus there are many ways to success than getting married. which isnt for me. investments whether it be stocks, bonds, gold or real estate etc is a great start but not the only ways of having extra income for one self.

[@astrovisionmedia9677]

I love how your glasses match your outfit

[@qpSubZeroqp]

Was the amount in upward mobility accounted for inflation?

[@joshuapeterson9691]

yes

[@samanthaz8836]

drake started from the middle.....

[@juanjolozadap4945]

I just want to say Nicole looks absolutely stunning in this video :)

[@Ynhockey]

03:33 If 36% stay in the bottom quintile, that means that 64% (most) don't remain in the bottom quintile, so the conclusion a few seconds later is confusing. It would be useful to provide more context, for example how many move up by just one quintile, vs how many move by 2 or more.

[@joshuapeterson9691]

Only 20 percent should stay in the bottom quintile in a proper system. There should be an even distribution across the Quintiles of around 20% which is reflected in the graphic that shows white versus black mobility. Basically you have double the amount of lowest class people you should...which means that there is not proper mobility.

[@vitalstatistix8442]

I N C O M E V E L O C I T Y

[@therealquade]

The american dream is still alive, and americans still have more social mobility, up and down, Than the vast majority of "not america". I think the exception is canada, the UK, and maybe france. but otherwise, social mobility is almost always downward only, and in any nation attempting to become socialist instead of capitalist, the downward mobility is accelerated and applied to a HUGE percentage of the population. America isn't perfect, It's not even "good" but it is vastly superior to the TERRIBLE that is everything else. Life isn't fair.

[@deyesed]

Forest Hill is far from what I'd call "the bottom"...

[@liznguyen2873]

anyone iz here for the wsc

[@ajvalencia1264]

can you slow down girl

[@sophiazaynor2089]

I hate these videos. they speak truth about why the world sucks and I hate it.

[@cumulus1869]

Well, what country has the best socioeconomic mobility then? I'm not afraid to pack my things and leave.

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

Skyward Nyhm Why wouldn't you stay and make things better here?

[@owen3721]

Scandinavian countries tend to have the best economic mobility.

[@qhack]

The simple fact that people can and do start from the bottom and become successful, means that it is possible. It's all a matter of how much you are willing to do to achieve that goal. It does require effort on your part to move up the social ladder. Some will have it easy, others not so much. Keep in mind that focusing on the 1% will, for most, be a failure. Instead try to reach the upper end of the bell curve. There will always be a bell curve, the question is where it sits on the sliding scale. The poor today have it much better than the poor of 50 years ago.

[@ZimbaZumba]

Female hypergamy?

[@tyspeaks6104]

At the end of the day, anything you want in life you can have. Don't let some else research determine how you live you life. Everyone in this world is unique in their own way. Just because your parents were badly surviving trying to raise you and keep a nice little job does not mean you have relive their life. I grew up in the projects , does that mean Im going ti raise my kids in the projects ? Absolutely not. My dad has been incarcerated the majority of his life, does that mean Im destined to the same fate ? Hell no. Anything and everything in this world that you want you can have. It all comes down to how bad you want it. Where are your priorities ? Are you continually making excuses as to why you can't do something ?? Procrastination ? Low self-esteem ? Don't take the easy and boring way out and settle. Become who YOU want to be ! That doesn't have to be a millionaire , but whatever truly makes you happy. whatever gives you a sense of success is ultimately success. Who cares what society determines as success. Anthers persons success will never be the same as yours. I could keep going but this message is for the ones who are willing to be different and become their true self ! I hope this message face you a little bit of a kick ! Peace

[@teoentrelibros]

It's important not to fall on the extremes. Yes, of course we are not predestined/doomed to anything and everyone theoretically has the potential to reach their goals. But at the same time it's undeniable that not everyone has the same opportunities and that we can work together to better society as a whole.

[@tyspeaks6104]

Mateo R. I respect your opinion! I agree to a certain level. Whatever works for you and helps you progress forward in life. I'm just pointing out a realization not a lot of people have. I don't consider what is said extreme at all. But I understand and respect you perspective Peace

[@TheRealE.B.]

We don't want to tell people not to be hopeful and try hard and beat the odds, but the odds *are* there, and it's important to acknowledge that they exist. Not just for the person that needs to know what they're up against, but also for those who are higher up and take their easy access to food, education, healthcare, transportation, communication, and jobs for granted, tacitly assuming everyone else has it just as easy. And also for *certain people* who seem to think America is a magical country and the only place where social mobility even exists. Rags-to-riches stories have been around a lot longer than the U.S. has.

[@kayokake]

I disagree. If someone is a horrible singer, then its completely irrational to believe they have the potential to be a good singer. There's a difference between potential and reasonability.

[@tyspeaks6104]

Gray Hudson well I respect your opinion, but at the same time I'd have to disagree with you as well. Anyone can build themselves up to be whatever they desire. Peace

[@oscarfellows6709]

I don't understand how John Green knows this and is still a Capitalist.

[@DuelJ007]

One like for the profile pic

[@Samzillah]

Because everything else that has been tried has been just as bad or worse. There is no perfect system. Our current systems in watered-down capitalism offers the most freedom, at least to westerners. But in the end people are flawed, and government is always flawed. The idea of peace is laughable at best and we will never all be able to get along. We are animals unequipped for our consciousness.

[@mattoo2797]

Because in practicality capitalism is best.

[@ideatician4280]

What was there in this video that opposed capitalism?

[@oscarfellows6709]

Anston, Ideatician Almost everyone see's social mobility as a good thing, right? So if the highly unregulated Capitalist system in the United States doesn't allow for social mobility it calls the system into question, and perhaps lends credibility to other systems such as democratic socialism.

[@CezarMS1]

Hey CrashCourse!

[@kekero540]

Only 1/3 for having the same job as your parent damn that's low.

[@u8qu1tis]

Single parents are the biggest cause of reduced intergenerational upward social and economic mobility. When you control for family life, the racial differences almost completely disappear.

[@edgar1edgar902]

Is a cruel world.

[@jkk0279]

opportunities and dreams are not all about money

[@couragecoachsam]

I don't think it's right to say that marriage is good just because you get two sources of income. Many couples in the upper quintile have one person earning income. Marriage is about two people who love each other pushing to achieve their potentials.

[@jeronimotamayolopera4834]

THANK SOCIALISM FOR THIS MESS

[@armaan1457]

last

[@kayokake]

Sorry crash course but I'm gonna have to disagree with you a bit on this one. In terms of women's social mobility, they're lower than man because they choose jobs and opportunities that are worse than that of what men choose. There isn't some kind of unfair opportunity gap, and you can't accurately measure wage gaps because there's way too many variables. You're shooting off a bit from reality and are presenting information that could easily be wrong, like how the wage gap is 8% (as of 2015, or whatever year they said). Changes in social mobility is based on people's choices to remain in that state, it doesn't have much to do with opportunities.

[@Brosemon]

If this were the case there would be no poverty or lower middle class at all in this country. Almost everyone would be what we consider now to be upper middle class. At the very least.

[@kayokake]

Lynn Perez I'm not so sure you read my comment. They have the potential to be more than what they are but they just choose not to he. Did you actually bother to read more than half?

[@md-lc8gq]

Gray Hudson The problem is that, still, not everyone can become a more or less wealthy part of the middle class. If someone's rich, than someone others gotta be poor. In Germany some of the worst paid jobs are nurses, caregivers and pre-school-teachers. Those are some of the most important jobs in our society and the fact that those people get a shit salary altgough they're definitely not lazy or "not trying hard enough to make it" is just god awful.

[@joshuapeterson9691]

They didn't say the wage gap is 8 percent during this video at any time. They said women made 8 percent of what males did back in the early 1900s.

[@rachwright4637]

really useful but could you slow down pls

[@michanch9029]

"It is said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man. Any existing distinction between the wise and the stupid, between the rich and the poor, comes down to a matter of education." (Fukuzawa Yukichi)

[@EqualsThreeable]

If it takes you ten years to increase your income from 40,000 to 50,000 you need to rethink your life decisions.

[@thatjillgirl]

Well that's not entirely fair. Not all career fields offer much in the way of income increase (public education is bad about this in many states, for instance), but that doesn't mean the job isn't worth doing. Certainly *somebody* has to do them. It's less a question of "making smart career choices" and more a question of workers being paid their worth.

[@EqualsThreeable]

Yes, somebody has to work them. Just like somebody has to work at McDonald's, but it shouldn't be a 30 year old, it's usually a stepping stone for a teenager or someone in their early 20's. The problem is people get too comfortable being complacent. Let's say you work at a job for 30,000 a year. You aren't married yet, but plan to and want kids in the future. 30,000 is working for you right now in your apartment, low debt and you aren't seeking higher aspirations. Being too complacent leads to lost time that could be used to better one's outcome in life. People settle down and then life hits them like a train.

[@thatjillgirl]

First of all, I see no reason why a service industry job like working at McDonald's should or should not be filled by particular age groups. They should be filled by whoever is willing and able to do the work. Do you honestly want to go to a fast food place and see that everyone working there is a teenager? If so, I hope you don't plan on visiting the establishment any time during school hours, because there won't be anyone to work there. The idea that minimum wage jobs are for teenagers and people in their early 20s is a little baffling considering that such jobs require employees beyond just the times when said age group would be available to work. Secondly, your original comment wasn't to do with low paying jobs specifically but rather jobs that don't offer good increases in income, and again, there are some career fields that just don't give good income increases. Teachers in public education systems are a prime example of this. Some states simply do not offer good raises, regardless of the teacher's qualifications, training, or classroom outcomes. That is a problem with the pay system, not a problem with the worker. And if all the qualified workers in that field decide to leave it, we have a real problem, so it's not like the solution is for all of them to simply pursue jobs with reliable income increases.

[@EqualsThreeable]

You're right, I should clarify. The lifestyle of someone in their 20s doesn't necessarily demand the same amount someone in their 30's and 40's might. I don't want to see young adults working at McDonald's. I'm saying that when I see a 40 year old guy trying to feed three kids and a wife, McDonald's will never cut it. People are still in a place to change their systems. Teachers protest, those that don't write to representatives, some take up side businesses. Some people want to complain about their living situation, but do nothing to try and change it. That is the one thing that bugs me with some people. However, there are those who are not in a position to do much. Either they are already trying other methods or their current obligations prevent them from growing.

[@philomath3238]

Andrew Yang is the only one trying to change what we measure and value in America, including Social Mobility. KZbin Andrew Yang!

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

Unless these income figures are in constant dollars they are pretty meaningless. Were they in constant dollars? Also, since this is Crash Course SOCIOLOGY, I have to point out that these ways of judging "success" assume a middle class value system.

[@crashcourse]

Income data across time is always presented in inflation-adjusted dollars. We've added graphics to note that periodically, but not always, so sorry for any confusion.

[@matthewdockter2424]

I just woke up from the seizure I had from all the different shades of purple on the screen.