Blackwell Reference Online

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Wealth is defined as assets held by an individual or household. These assets may include financial wealth such as savings accounts, stocks, or bonds as well as property such as the family home, farm, or business. Some estimates of household wealth also include consumer durables such as vehicles and refrigerators. Wealth is an important dimension of stratification because property can be passed down from generation to generation. Families use accumulated assets or savings to bridge interruptions in income, preventing downward social mobility. In spite of its importance, sociologists tend to leave wealth out of their measures of socioeconomic status, because of the difficulties in obtaining valid and reliable data on household assets. Using the data that are available, sociologists and economists have determined that in American society, the distribution of wealth is far more unequal than the distribution of income. The US exhibits the highest levels of wealth inequality in the developed world. For economists, wealth represents forgone consumption – income that is saved rather than being spent on daily necessities or consumer desires. It is important to note that not all individuals are equally able to save. The accumulation of assets is extremely difficult for the working poor because nearly all of their income goes to fulfill daily needs and because their needs are not subsidized ... log in or subscribe to read full text