What Does “socioeconomic” Mean?
“Socioeconomic” refers to the influence of finances and educational advantages on social status. The term is most often used in explanations of class. Sociologists believe there is a direct correlation between the number of opportunities provided to individual and the abilities of those people to climb the social ladder.
Sociologists and psychologists believe that those who enjoy an affluent lifestyle have a considerable amount of advantages over their more financially depressed counterparts. Obtaining a good job as an adult often begins with education. A quality education costs money, and statistics show that affluent parents are willing to spend money in order to give their children every advantage over their classmates, whereas parents who face economic challenges place a lower priority on spending additional money on supplements to education.
Psychologists also weigh in that those children who come from families of a high socioeconomic status tend to be more confident in their abilities. Statistics show that this facilitates a static socioeconomic status. In other words, those children who are born poor tend to remain poor the rest of their lives. Those who are born into affluent families achieve affluence themselves in adulthood. There has been considerable emphasis over the past few years of the influence of socioeconomic status on power, particularly in corporations and government. Questions have been raised about the ability of CEOs and government officials to make sound decisions in the best interests of a majority that is of considerably lower socioeconomic status.
