Date of Graduation

5-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Marketing

Advisor/Mentor

Allen, Bradley

Abstract

Since its formation in the 1700’s, America has been home to varying degrees of discrepancies between social classes, which include assumptions inherently held within these differences. Considering the fact that America was largely built by the hands of human slaves ruled by those with political influence often landowners, social hierarchy has been intricately woven into the fabric of America’s story from the beginning. Despite the progress that has been made to create and advance equal economic opportunity, there is still a considerable lack of social mobility available for those in lower socioeconomic statuses. More specifically, the impact of poverty is consistently more keenly felt by women at rates that are disproportionate to that of men. Because of this discrepancy, nonprofit organizations seeking to serve female clients experiencing poverty must stay be aware of any differences in the ways women from different socioeconomic statuses approach money and the function of it.

Currently, there are various not-for-profit organizations nationwide which seek to specifically alleviate the issue of women in poverty. Plans of actions incorporated in these organizations include transitional housing programs, career counseling and preparation, and safe houses to provide refuge from domestic abuse, a common exacerbator of women experiencing poverty. It is important to consider the differences in socioeconomic background experienced between that of not-for-profit staff, and the clientele demographic they are seeking to serve. The majority of not-for-profit organizations utilize volunteers as an invaluable piece of their strategy, so differences in socioeconomic status are also applicable to this area of the entity.

With this in mind, the following research question was considered during this project: what is the impact of socioeconomic status on single women and what are the implications? By asking this research question, I am seeking to uncover underlying assumptions which are made based on socioeconomic status and could be beneficial for not-for-profit entities to be made aware.

Keywords

Income distribution; differences in socioeconomic statuses; women experiencing poverty at rates disproportionate to men; effect of income level on attitude toward money

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