DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Update on how race and ethnicity guide marriage choices; a large majority of photos include people of color and women; updates on how race, ethnicity, and gender shape suicide rates; discussion of police violence directed against Black citizens illustrates how awareness of racial injustice leads to activism in pursuit of social change; discussion of how gender in the 2020 Olympics and professional sports; analysis of U.S. professional baseball industry by race, ethnicity, and gender. Two of the four research studies profiled in this methods chapter focus on race: Lois Benjamin’s study of the Black elite, and Joseph Ewoodsie’s research among homeless Black men in Jackson, Mississippi. Major discussion of how gender and transphobia affect sociological research. Major discussion of the challenges and benefits of doing research focusing on people who differ from you..
COVID: How pandemic reduced school enrollment, with the greatest decline among low-income people; why the pandemic reduced immigration. Exercise asking students to identify existing sources of information that sociologists a century from now might use to investigate the effects of the pandemic on our society.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 1-1 allows students to see average number of children born to women in all the nations of the world. The companion map invites students to explore how fertility is linked to nations’ level of economic development. National Map 1-1 allows students to explore suicide rates for all the states. The companion map invites them to analyze how rates vary according to the population density of each state, allowing them to assess the validity of Durkheim’s theory of suicide. National Map 1-2 allows students to explore the level of participation in the 2020 census for their own county and all the counties across the United States. The companion map shows median household income for each county, inviting students to analyze how the two variables are related.
UPDATES: Updates on female fertility and nations’ level of economic development; new data on suicide rates and population density of counties; the new count of low-, middle-, and high-income nations. New data including national return rates by county for 2020 census; new National Map on 2020 census completion by county across the country.
NEW MATERIAL: Discussion of how gender guides what traits people seek in partners; new analysis of U.S. professional baseball by race, ethnicity, and gender. New discussion of how sociology and sociological theory are linked to political analysis, involving various positions on the political spectrum. New and expanded discussion of bias in research involving race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual identity.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Seventeen new references guided the revision of this chapter; 43 percent of chapter references reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Examples and analysis of how language can cause offense. New section on how cultural values vary as a dimension of our nation’s social diversity. New section on change in our national culture from an emphasis on individualism toward the pursuit of equity among categories of the population. In the “theories of culture” section, there is a new discussion entitled “Critical Race Theory: Race and Culture.” One of the exercises at the end of the chapter asks students to assess change in the way our culture understands and responds to racial inequality in the years since the death of George Floyd in 2020.
COVID: The pandemic is mentioned twice in this chapter as a cause of cultural change.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 2-1 allows students to explore the share of population that is foreign-born for nations around the world. The companion map invites them to discover how this share varies for nations at differing levels of economic development. National Map 2-1 shows the share of people who speak a language other than English at home for counties across the United States. The companion map invites students to discover how this pattern compares with the share of the population than is Hispanic/Latinx and to explain how and why the patterns are very similar.
UPDATES: International comparison data on support for legal abortion shows power of culture to shape public discourse; the latest data on the extent of functional illiteracy and the use of various languages by the world’s population; new World Values Survey data and analysis of cultural variation among regions of the world; the latest data inform discussion of immigration as a source of cultural diversity; Global Map 2-1 has new data on the share of foreign-born people in nations around the world; new data on state laws requiring use of the English language; National Map 2-1 has new data on the share of people in counties across the United States who speak a language other than English at home; new data showing change in life goals of first-year college students over several generations.
NEW MATERIAL: New and expanded discussion of the national controversy often described as the “culture wars” and how culture is one dimension of increasing political polarization in the United States.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Thirty-one new references guided the revision of this chapter; a majority of citations reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. The actions of Rosa Parks illustrate Kohlberg’s highest level of moral development. Obasogie’s research on the racial conceptions of blind people shows that we “see” race through our culture. Discussion of greater presence of people of color on television programs and advertising since 2020.
COVID: Pandemic is linked to more extensive watching of television; the pandemic is also used in discussion of the increasing social isolation we experienced in recent years.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. National Map 3-1 invites students to explore the level of the multiracial population in counties across the United States; the companion map invites students to compare this pattern with another demographic—the share of people over the age of 65—and explain how the patterns are related. Global Map 3-1 allows students to explore the extent of child labor in the nations of the world; the companion map invites them to analyze the link between the extent of child labor and nations’ level of economic development.
UPDATES: Latest data showing how class position affects the amount of television viewing; new data on television viewing in various nations; latest data on our country’s surging multiracial population; updates on the rapidly increasing use of smartphones by young children; latest data on the increasing number and share of people over the age of sixty-five in the population.
NEW MATERIAL: New discussion of factors leading to greater political polarization in the United States.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Twenty-nine new references guided the revision of this chapter.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Physical disability is discussed as the basis of acquiring a master status. “Street smarts” in an urban Latinx community is presented to illustrate the social construction of reality. Major discussion of how gender shapes social performances. New discussion of why humor is rarely used in discussion of social justice. Joking is analyzed as a form of microaggression.
COVID: COVID infection is used as example of a master status; discussion of how the pandemic eroded the separation between work and home life.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 4-1 invites students to explore the share of housework done by women in nations around the world; the companion map invites them to analyze how this pattern is affected by nations’ level of economic development.
UPDATES: Latest data in the use of social networking sites; heavy revision of the discussion of ethnomethodology; latest data on gender disparities in service jobs; new data on disparity in rate of smiling between women and men; medical research continues to confirm the health-giving effects of humor.
NEW MATERIAL: The discussion of humor has been extensively updated and expanded to include a new section: “Humor: Funny, Sick, or Offensive?”
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Thirteen new references guided the revision of this chapter.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Opening story on how the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin went viral sparking the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement; the latest on the digital divide globally and in the United States; the share of Black people and White people with access to the internet is now about equal; focus on the especially harmful effects of heavy use of social media among girls; discussion of social media apps includes those popular within the LGBTQ community; discussion of the greater level of hate speech online compared to older mass media; discussion of unequal pay to female and male media stars; the fact that 30 percent of feature films released in 2021 failed the Bechdel test; in media advertising, the steady movement toward greater representation of women, Black people, and LGBTQ people.
COVID: How and why the pandemic raised the importance of online access, as well as the digital divide in quality of access; COVID accounted for only some of the recent increase in anxiety and depression in the United States; how social media helped the national economy to get through the pandemic.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 5-1 invites students to explore the level of internet access in countries around the world and to analyze access by nations’ level of economic development.
UPDATES: New data on the most popular social networking sites and the differing apps favored by women and men; the number of users of the most popular apps; the decline of print newspaper sales and increasing sales on online editions; the popularity of various mass media and social media apps; new discussion of why the war in Ukraine led to a resurgence of shortwave radio; new data on the extent of television viewing and internet streaming services including differences by age; the increasing number of smartphones in the world have reached double the population of the planet; new data on the use of social media by age, the extent of cyber-bullying; the extent of social media addiction; the use of online dating sites; how social media empowers social movements, including the 2021 storming of the Capitol Building; new data showing that about two-third of U.S. adults think social media has mostly negative effects on our society.
NEW MATERIAL: New section of “Social Media, Anxiety, Loneliness, and Depression”; new section on the politics of social media; new presentation of ways parents can limit the risk of social media addiction among children; new and expanded discussion of the increasing power of tech giants over the flow of information; the latest data on the consolidation of control over the nation’s media by a small number of billionaires; a new section on the politics of Social Media analyzing attitudes towards social media according to position on the political spectrum.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Sixty new references guided the revision of this chapter; more than 60 percent of citations reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Analysis of how race, class, gender, and non-binary identity affect group dynamics; analysis of how gender shapes social networks; racial overrepresentation and underrepresentation in senior management positions; there is new major discussion of how organizations respond to the challenge of diversity and inclusion informed by the latest available statistics.
COVID: A new, major section explains how the pandemic weakened social groups by increasing isolation, yet also encouraged more virtual groups and networks. Another new, major discussion focuses on how the pandemic altered patterns of organizational operation.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. National Map 6-1 invites students to explore access to the internet in their home county and across the United States.
UPDATES: New data on how class position shapes affiliation with professional organizations; the latest on the expansion of McDonald’s; “cancel culture” has been added to the discussion of “groupthink”; new data on the share of college students who participate in some volunteer activity; the latest on how and why the U.S. auto industry facing increasing competition from abroad; numerous examples show the increasing importance of artificial intelligence to organizational operation.
NEW MATERIAL: There is new discussion linking the density of social networks to rural and urban living; examples and illustrations have been updated throughout highlighting business organizations such as Amazon. Data include results of the 2020 elections. There is new major discussion of outsourcing and its effects on pay and benefits for workers.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Fifty new references guided the revision of this chapter; more than 60 percent of citations reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. New opening story that challenges heterosexual normative assumptions; the chapter includes discussion of all sexual identities, including transsexuality and pansexuality; latest account of state laws affecting LGBTQ people; this chapter cites 2020 Supreme Court decision including sexual identity in civil rights protections; the photo and art program is a diverse presentation; throughout the chapter data are presented in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender; there is extensive discussion of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. National Map 7-1 is a new map identifying states that have, and have not, enacted laws limiting access to sports for transgender athletes. The companion map invites students to discover how these two categories of states voted in the 2020 presidential election. Global Map 7-1 invites students to explore women’s access to legal contraception in nations around the world. The companion map invites students to see how a nation’s level of economic development shapes contraception access.
UPDATES: Latest survey data on public acceptance of same-sex relationships; share of high-school students who are sexually active by gender, race, and ethnicity; national data on attitudes towards premarital sex and extramarital sex; average number of sexual partners; changes in sexual activity over the life course; share of population with various sexual identities and sexual orientations; the latest research by geneticists on the complex origins of sexual orientation; any material that reflects patterns that no longer apply (such as student support of same-sex marriage) has been delated; maps showing teen pregnancy rates across the country and global maps showing access to contraception and access to abortion are updated with the latest data; data reporting extent of sexual violence are the latest available; discussion of abortion is expanded and heavily updated; the latest on the increasing legal challenges to abortion access.
NEW MATERIAL: New opening that asks heterosexual students how they came to their sexual orientation, which prompts them to ask why they ask such questions of people with other sexual orientations; discussion of sexual orientation expanded to include pansexuality; the latest research by geneticists on the complex origins of sexual orientation; entirely new discussion of transgender athletics; new state-level national map showing state laws on transgender athletics with a comparison showing the states’ result in the 2020 presidential election; there is expanded discussion of abortion; the chapter concludes with an entirely new discussion of the politics of sexuality.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Sixty-three new references guided the revision of this chapter; more than 70 percent of citations reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Race-informed analysis of drug use vs. drug offense conviction and incarceration; chapter-opening story illustrates how incarceration disrupts families and communities; George Floyd’s murder used to illustrate Durkheim’s claim that crime bring people together; LGBTQ population added to discussion of hate crime; race, class, gender analysis of arrest data; more discussion of the overcriminalization of people of color; theoretical analysis of deviance centers on importance of class, race, and gender; major coverage of hate crimes; there is expanded and updated discussion of police focusing on the use of deadly force and efforts to reform police work using de-escalation tactics.
COVID: Pandemic is included in discussions of decreasing size of prison population, and also the increasing level of violent crime in last two years.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 8-1 identifies countries that do and do not apply the death penalty. The comparison map shows the level of economic development for all nations, inviting students to discover the relationship between these two variables, and to see how the United States is an exception to this global pattern.
UPDATES: The Russian invasion of Ukraine is used to illustrate how deviance brings the larger community together; all crime statistics are updated with latest available data; expanded and updated discussion of laws that exist in only a single jurisdiction; latest on marijuana laws by state; latest data on number of violent crimes and guns in large U.S. cities; firearms deaths now surpass auto-related deaths; updates of capital punishment in by state and in global perspective; heavy revision of controversies involving police; latest on declining prison population; latest survey data regarding public confidence in police and capital punishment; heavy updating of the discussion of white-collar and corporate crime, feminist theory, and hate crimes; the increase in violent crime in the United States is discussed using the latest data for 2020 and 2021; new arrest data is provided in terms of age, race, and sex; the latest international data inform discussion of guns and violent crime; international use of the death penalty is discussed using 2021 data.
NEW MATERIAL: New discussion of the increase in violent crime beginning in 2020; OxyContin scandal as example of corporate crime; new profile of gun-owning households by race, ethnicity, rural-urban residence, and region of country; new discussion of policy of de-escalation by police; Figure 8-3 is new and profiles gun-owning households with the highest rates among White people living in rural areas; new coverage of de-escalation tactics in expanded coverage of police; there is a new, major section on the politics of crime analyzing how people political viewpoints guides their understanding of crime and the criminal justice system.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Seventy new references guided the revision of this chapter; sixty percent of citations reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Language has been updated to reflect best practices; analysis routinely considers the variables of race, class, gender and, where possible, sexual identity. There is discussion of racial caste in South Africa, and the extent to which race operates as an element of caste in the United States.
COVID: The pandemic is considered in numerous chapter discussions. New coverage explains how rates of infection, hospitalization, and death have been linked to social class position; new discussion of the pandemic’s effect on people at various class positions; new discussion of why counties that have greater economic inequality have had higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death from COVID. There is also an entirely new section titles “Social Inequality and the Pandemic,” which summarizes the many links between COVID and class.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 9-1 shows the level of income inequality for nations around the world. The companion map provides nations’ level of economic development inviting students to discover for themselves how the two variables are linked. National Map 9-1 identifies counties across the United States in which the poverty rate is at least twice the national average. Using this map and the companion map, showing median household income, students can explore regional differences as well as investigate their local area.
UPDATES: The discussion of the Russian Federation now includes the war in Ukraine. All chapter data have been updated to the latest available statistics. There are updates on child poverty rates by family type, race, and ethnicity. New income data included throughout the chapter providing mean and median income for families and households; distribution of income and wealth by quintile; median income and wealth for U.S. families over time, median family income for all quintiles over time; level of schooling for the population; data showing that the most selective schools continue to enroll students from high-income families; recent pay7 levels for corporate CEOs; the richest person in the world for 2022 is identified; new research informs discussion of social mobility over time including millennials; updated and expanded discussion of the American Dream; poverty data include the extent of U.S. poverty; changes in the poverty rate over time; analysis of poverty by age, family patterns, urban and rural location, race, ethnicity, and gender; the size of the homeless population.
NEW MATERIAL: There is expanded discussion of the caste system in India and South Africa and the systems of estates in Great Britain; there are new data on the increasing ratio of CEO pay to typical worker in recent decades; short discussion of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. There is updated and expanded discussion of how class positions drives political attitudes on economic and social issues, a new section, “The Politics of Social Inequality,” provides political analysis of social stratification from far-left, liberal/progressive, conservative, and libertarian perspectives.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Sixty new references guided the revision of this chapter; more than half of the citations reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices: For example, discussion of slavery replaces “slaves” with “enslaved people” to make clear that subordination in not the natural state for anyone but is imposed on some people, against their will, by others. This chapter is inherently inclusive as it extends analysis of social inequality from our own society to the global community of nations. A “Thinking About Diversity” box explores poor Latinx communities along the nation’s southern border that are characterized as “America’s ‘Third World’.” Figure 10-4 provides a map of the African continent illustrating its colonial history.
COVID: TA major, new section analyzes the effects of the pandemic on the level of extreme poverty for nations around the world. The pandemic is included in numerous discussions throughout the chapter.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Window on the World Global Map 10-1 shows the level of economic development for all 195 of the world’s nations, providing information as students “roll” over specific nations; the companion map, showing survival rate to age sixty-five for global nations, invites students to investigate the link between these two variables. Global Map 10-2 encourages students to analyze the link between the degree of poverty and level of economic development for nations around the world.
UPDATES: The revised chapter presents the latest data on the share of children who survive to the age of five for nations around the world; the latest data showing the distribution of income and wealth for nations around the world; an updated listing of high-income, middle-income, and low-income nations as well as new data on their population share and share of total income; there are new data on the extent of economic inequality for the global community of nations, including share of income and wealth, per capita income, and quality of life index; new data inform discussion of poverty experienced by children and also poverty experienced by women; the latest data are provided for the extent of enslavement in nations around the world; new data are provided for the extent of foreign debt among low-income nations; Vladimir Putin has been added to the discussion of autocratic leaders who harm their people’s economic security; the latest data inform discussion of economic development in various world regions.
NEW MATERIAL: Two major, new sections: one describes the effects of COVID on extreme poverty in the world; the other supplements existing theoretical analysis with a political analysis of global inequality.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Twenty-three new references guided the revision of this chapter.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. Discussion of all aspects of gender inequality and the history of feminism. Chapter-opening story of Charlotte Woodward and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Seneca Falls conference of 1848. Attention also given to sexual orientation and sexual identity. The history of inclusion “firsts” includes Ketanji Brown Jackson. Analysis of gender includes intersection theory and all variants of feminism.
COVID: The discussion of unemployment and gender-related violence now considers the effects of the pandemic.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 11-1 provides the level of gender equality for the world’s nations, encouraging students to explore global regions; the companion map, showing nations’ level of economic development, invites students to assess the link between these two variables. Global Map 11-2 identifies incidence of female genital mutilation for nations around the world and the companion map invites students to assess the link between this practice and a nation’s level of economic development. National Map 11-1 presents the share of women in the legislatures of all states, and the companion map encourages students to discover the link between this variable and how the state voted in the 2020 presidential election.
UPDATES: The revision contains the latest data on the level of gender equality for the world’s nations. The data for unemployment are the latest available—for 2022. Updates on gender and level of schooling, pay for women and men in film, income and wealth data for women and men, the interplay of gender and occupations, the increasing number of women-owned businesses in the United States, how gender shapes the responsibility for housework, the latest on gender and education, gender and the military, and violence against women and men.
NEW MATERIAL: New data analyze the results of the 2020 presidential election. There is a major, new discussion of the interplay of gender stratification and politics.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Thirty-four new references guided the revision of this chapter. Half of all research citations in the chapter reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: The entire chapter focuses on the centrality of race and ethnicity to social stratification in the United States. Effective use of photo images engages students in questions regarding race and ethnicity. Discussion of the significance of the results of the Human Genome Project for our understanding of race. The chapter provides greater attention to the topic of police violence against Black citizens.
COVID: The pandemic is included in discussions of economic insecurity for disadvantaged populations and also the recent increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Seeing Ourselves National Map 12-1 shows counties in which the “minority majority” already exists, inviting students to explore their local area; the companion map shows household income for all counties, encouraging students to discover how these two variables are related. Maps illustrate the geographical distribution of all major categories of the U.S. population.
UPDATES: How race and ethnicity shaped voting in the 2020 presidential election; the latest data on the size of various racial and ethnic categories of the population; the latest data on the increasing diversity of U.S. society; the latest data on the income, poverty rate, and educational attainment of major racial and ethnic categories of the U.S. population; the latest on the flow of migrants across the southern border of the United States; there are updates on the extent of global genocide; discussion now includes the passage of the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act in 2022.
NEW MATERIAL: A new, major discussion applies political analysis to the issue of racial and ethnic inequality, contrasting the narratives advanced by Republicans and Democrats and providing data on the support the two parties receive from all categories of voters. There is new analysis of increasing social diversity focusing on how families and individuals are becoming blended in terms of race and ethnicity. There is new discussion of critical race theory and the controversy over teaching this material in schools.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Thirty-six new references guided the revision of this chapter. More than half of all research citations in the chapter are now 2020 to 2022.
DEI: The Power of Society figure confirms the link between race/ethnicity and the types of work people perform. Race, ethnicity, and gender are used throughout the chapter’s analysis of patterns involving work. Types of work are discussed as evidence of institutional racism. Increasing entrepreneurship among women has led to women owning 42 percent of U.S. businesses. A major focus is the steadily increasing diversity in the U.S. workplace.
Throughout the chapter, voting behavior and political attitudes are analyzed with regard to age, class, race, ethnicity, rural/urban residence, and also sexual identity/orientation.
COVID: The pandemic is included in ten discussions throughout the chapter: as an example of government responsibility, the relocation of work from office to home, higher job loss by Black women, increasing power of labor unions, increasing national unemployment, retirement from work, and other issues.
Discussion of the pandemic increasing the use of mail-in ballots.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 13-1 presents the share of the labor force in the primary sector of the economy for all world nations; the companion map shows nations’ level of economic development, inviting students to discover the relationship between the two variables. Global Map 13-2 does the same for the share of the labor force in the tertiary (service) sector. National Map 13-1 identifies states that have and have not passed “right to work” laws that discourage union affiliation; the companion map shows how the states voted in the 2020 presidential election, inviting students to see the link between these two variables.
Global Map 13-3 presents the extent of political freedom for all nations; the companion map invites students to discover how freedom is related to level of economic development. National Map 13-2 shows the outcome of the 2020 presidential vote for all 3,155 counties across the United States, inviting students to identify regional patterns and also to zoom in and see the voting outcome in their own community.
UPDATES: The latest on the expansion of Walmart; the size of various economic sectors in the United States and for nations at different levels of economic development; labor force participation, types of employment, and unemployment among all categories of the U.S. population; the recent gains made by labor unions; careers imagined by first-year college students; the extent of self-employment; there is expanded discussion of artificial intelligence and its effects on the workplace.
All the statistics about voting have been updated using the latest available data. The extent of freedom in the world, the size of government, how the population is distributed on the political spectrum, party affiliation for U.S. adults, the political leanings of first-year college students over past decades, spending on recent political campaigns, laws on voting by convicted felons, the number and location of acts of terror in the world, and the share of women among officers of all branches of the military—all have been updated.
NEW MATERIAL: More attention is given to emerging mega-businesses including Amazon and Tesla just as job analysis also includes Uber and Lyft. There is new analysis of the high rate of quitting in the labor force. There is a major new section providing political analysis of economic systems and patterns of public support.
Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is used to illustrate authoritarian leadership, how social media transmit the experience of war, and also how war creates millions of refugees. There is new discussion of the causes and consequences of political polarization in the United States. The discussion of terrorism has been heavily expanded and updated. There is a new Controversy & Debate discussion of the perceived loss of free speech in the United States.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Eighty-five new references guided the revision of this chapter. Seventy-five percent of all research citations in the chapter are now dated 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. All family issues are discussed in relation to racial, ethnic, class, and gender diversity in U.S. society. The economic standing and poverty rate of Black families, White families, and Latinx families is discussed. There is updated and expanded discussion of multiethnic and multiracial marriage. There is updated and expanded coverage of global laws regarding same-sex marriage.
Discussion of religious identity is informed by analysis involving sex, race, and ethnicity. Discussion highlights the increasing religious diversity of the United States, which no longer has a majority identifying with any Protestant denomination; two National Maps show the extent of religious diversity across the country.
COVID: The pandemic is discussed in relation to latchkey children, marriage rates, divorce rates, and the increasing number of people working at home.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: Global Map 14-1 displays same-sex marriage laws for all nations in the world. The companion map, showing level of nations’ economic development, invites students to discover the relationship between these two variables. National Map 14-1 presents divorce rates for all fifty states. The companion map, which shows the share of each state’s population that identify with a religious organization, invites students to discover how these two variables are related.
National Map 14-2 presents extent of religious membership for counties across the United States, and a companion map shows the share of seniors in county populations inviting students to assess the link between the two variables. National Map 14-3 displays the dominant religious affiliation for all counties in the country.
UPDATES: The latest data are provided for the number of U.S. households, and the declining share that meets the Census Bureau definition of “family,” the share of children born to married couples, and the share of the U.S. population marrying, divorcing, living alone, cohabitating, and reporting sexual infidelity to partners. New data are provided for the cost of raising children at different class levels, the average number of children per family, the increasing share of young adults living in a parent’s home, the increasing number of middle-aged people providing elder care, and the extent of family violence.
The latest data informs discussion of the size of various religious communities in the United States and in the world as a whole; changing patterns of religious affiliation are presented using the latest data; changing patterns of religiosity reflect the most recent research.
NEW MATERIAL: A new Power of Society figure displays the declining share of people living in a family reflecting for four consecutive generations of Americans. A new discussion explains how conservative, progressive, and far-left politics shapes the narrative of the significance of families.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Thirty-seven new references guided the revision of this chapter; seventy-five percent of research citations are material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: College attendance and other measures of schooling are presented and analyzed with regard to race, class, and gender. The interplay of schooling and race, class, and gender also appear in the chapter-opening story and throughout this chapter. The chapter includes consideration of education policy for people with disabilities.
Analysis of obesity, smoking, and all indicators of health are presented according to race, ethnicity, class, and gender. The chapter explains how economic inequality results in lower health indicators—including a four year difference in life expectancy—for Black people compared to White people. New data reveal increasing social diversity among physicians in the United States.
COVID: A new section, titled “The Lessons of COVID,” describes the effects of the pandemic on schools and the consequences for students. Discussion includes the dramatic increase in home schooling that occurred after the onset of the pandemic.
The pandemic is discussed with regard to smoking, intensifying the nursing shortage, and making us more aware of social patterns involving human health.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. Global Map 15-1 presents rates of illiteracy for all nations of the world; a companion map, showing nation’s level of economic development, invites students to discover the link between these two variables. National Map 15-1 presents average teacher salaries for all states; the companion map shows how states voted in the 2020 presidential election, inviting students to discover the link between these two variables.
National Map 15-2 allows students to see the increase in clinical obesity between 1996 and 2020 and also to get data for their own state. Global Map 15-2 shows the rate of HIV infection for nations around the world. The companion map shows nations’ level of economic development, which invites students to discover how these two variables are related.
UPDATES: New data show shares of young adults in college for various racial and ethnic categories of the population. All data in the chapter, including measures of academic achievement for the United States and other countries, are the latest available. New data underscore the economic value of education. The chapter provides the latest on community colleges, one important focus of this chapter.
There are updates on the level of obesity, leading causes of death in the United States, the extent of smoking and vaping and the health costs involved, the human cost of the opioid epidemic, the extent of common STIs, risk of HIV infection for various categories of the U.S. population, state regulations regarding physician-assisted suicide, the share of health expenditures paid by government in selected nations of the world, how people in the United States pay for health care
NEW MATERIAL: There is a new discussion of the extent of student loans for education in the United States and policy to address this issue. A new, major discussion applies political analysis to issues involving education.
There is new and expanded coverage of the nursing shortage in the United States. An entirely new section provides political analysis of health care from conservative and progressive positions on the political spectrum and presents data on increasing public support for government-based universal healthcare.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Thirty-eight new references guided the revision of this chapter; more than half of the research citations in this chapter reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: All writing revised and reviewed to reflect best practices. All data are presented for major racial and ethnic categories of the population. There is full discussion of environmental racism and sexism. Demographic analysis includes “critical demography,” and the analysis of urbanism makes use of political economy, both following Marxist theory. Analysis focuses on both urban and rural regions of the United States.
COVID: There are half a dozen places where the pandemic has been integrated into discussion, including how COVID altered fertility and mortality and life expectancy.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: Global Map 16-1 provides population growth rates for nations around the world. The companion map identifies nations at various levels of economic development inviting students to discover the relationship between these two variables. National Map 16-1 shows population change over the last decade for counties across the United States. This maps allows students to zoom in to discover patterns in their own communities. The companion map invites students to compare a second map showing the share of elderly people by county, which invites students to discover how these two variables are related.
UPDATES: All data for fertility, mortality, life expectancy, global population, and climate change are the latest available. There is discussion of various ways in which the Biden administration has brought climate change to center stage. The revision has the latest data on people of color as the majority population of 65 of the nation’s 100 largest cities.
NEW MATERIAL: There is new analysis of how politics shapes understanding of the state of the environment and environmental policy. Data are provided to highlight differences in the way conservatives and progressives view environmental issues and policy.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Eighty-five new references guided the revision of this chapter. Seventy-five percent of all research citations in the chapter are now dated 2020, 2021, and 2022.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Seventy-two new references guided the revision of this chapter; more than half of the research citations in this chapter reflect material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
DEI: A considerable share of this chapter highlights two major dimensions of social difference: first, rural and urban differences in the United States and, second, differences in social patterns and life experience between people living in high- and low-income nations. In various discussions, distinctions are made between life experiences of the privileged and disadvantaged categories of the U.S. population. The chapter give attention to the national racial reckoning in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
COVID: A new, major discussion highlights how the pandemic sparked patterns of change in the United States and considers why several of these trends are likely to persist. The pandemic is included in a number of discussions including rumor, panic, and shifting election laws to encourage mail-in ballots.
REVEL INTERACTIVES: All figures are interactive. National Map 25-1 presents the level of residential turnover for counties across the United States; the companion map invites students to compare this variable with the share of seniors in a county’s population to discover how the two variables are related.
UPDATES: There are data updates on attitudes toward science in populations of selected world nations, life expectancy in the United States, the number of auto deaths annually in the country, and the increasing share of the U.S. population over the age of sixty-five. There is an updated profile of how life in the United States changed between 1920 and 2020, the share of wealth owned by the richest 1 percent of the U.S. population, and the increasing level of distrust in the United States.
NEW MATERIAL: A new, major discussion analyzes the pandemic’s effect causing on patterns of change in the United States and also accelerating the rate of social change.
NEW RESEARCH REFERENCES: Twenty-five new references guided the revision of this chapter, all involving material published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.