Written by Peter Kaufman (SUNY New Paltz) and Todd Schoepflin (Niagara University) as part of A Sociology Experiment. To read this chapter, add it to your cart, complete the checkout process, return to this page, and select “Read Now” to open the Bookshelf reader.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to: discuss how social class shapes people’s lives; analyze the relationship between social class, inequality and poverty; describe various indicators of inequality; define poverty and its characteristics; and explain how inequality and poverty relate to characteristics such as race and gender.

You can listen to this chapter’s accompanying discussion section podcast on Apple, Spotify, or our Spreaker page.