You’ve heard of “First World Problems,”
right? Someone cracks the screen on their iPhone or gets the
wrong order at Starbucks, and then they go on Twitter
and complain about their hashtag First World Problems. So, you’re heard the phrase, but have you
thought about the implications of talking
about countries as First or Third? Where do these names even come from? These terms are outdated, inaccurate, and
frankly insulting ways of talking about global
stratification. So how should we talk about global stratification? [Theme Music] First, let’s deconstruct the idea of the
first, second, third world hierarchy; see where it came from;
and learn what its implications are. The terms date back to the Cold War, when Western
policymakers began talking about the world as three
distinct political and economic blocs. Western Capitalist countries were labeled
the “First World”. The Soviet Union and its allies were termed
the “Second World”. And then everyone else – got grouped into
“Third World.” After the Cold War ended, the category of
Second World Countries became null and void, but somehow the terms First World and Third
World stuck around in the public consciousness. Third World Countries, which started as just
a vague catch-all for non-aligned countries, came to be associated with impoverished
states, while First World was associated with
rich, industrialized countries. But in addition to being seriously outdated,
these terms are also inaccurate. There are more than 100 countries that fit
the label of “Third World,” but they have vastly
different levels of economic stability. Some are relatively poor, but many aren’t. So, lumping Botswana and Rwanda into the same
category, for example, doesn’t make much sense,
because the average income per capita in Botswana
is nine times larger than in Rwanda. Nowadays, sociologists sort countries
into groups based on their specific levels of
economic productivity. To do this, they use the Gross Domestic Product
or GDP, which measures the total output of a country, and the Gross National Income or GNI, which
measures GDP per capita. High income countries are those with GNI above
$12,500 per year. There are 79 countries in this group, including
the US, the UK, Germany, Chile, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, and more. As the name suggests, standards of living
are higher here than the rest of the world. High income countries are also highly
urbanized, with 81% of people in high income
countries living in or near cities. Much of the world’s industry is centered
in these countries, too – and with industry,
comes money and technology. Take cell phones, for example. 60% of those in low income countries have
a cell phone. But in high income countries, not only does almost
everyone have a cell phone, but for every 100 people in
high income countries, there are 124 cell phone plans. The next category is the upper middle income
countries, defined as those with GNI between
$4,000 and $12,500 per year. There are 56 countries in this group, and they tend to have advancing economies with both manufacturing and high tech markets, such as China, Mexico, Russia, and Argentina. They’re also heavily urban, have access to public
infrastructure like education and health, and have
comfortable standards of living for most citizens – not too different from what you’d
expect in a high income country. Now, you might notice that I keep talking
about how “urban” these types of countries are. Why does it matter how many people live in
cities? Well, if you’re used to media depictions
of poverty in the US, you might think of it
as an inner city problem. But poverty worldwide is mostly rural. Agricultural societies produce less than
industrialized ones. Which brings us to our next grouping: lower
middle income countries. These have GNI between $1000 and $4000 per
year, and they include such countries as Ukraine,
India, Guatemala, and Zambia. Unlike the previous groups, only 40% of
people living in lower middle income countries
live in urban areas, and the economy is based around manufacturing
and natural resource production. Here, access to services, like quality health
care and education, is limited to those who
are well-off. For example, the maternal mortality rate is
5 times higher in lower middle income countries
than in upper middle income countries, and one-third of children under the age of
five are malnourished. Our final grouping includes the 31 countries
designated as low-income, which have yearly
GNI less than $1000 per year. These countries are primarily rural. Most of the world’s farmers live in these
countries, and their economies are mainly
based on agriculture. Not only do these countries face income poverty,
they also have greater rates of disease, worse
healthcare and education systems, and many of their citizens lack access to
basic needs like food and clean water. Here, 8% of children die before the age of
five. And among older children, more than one-third
never finish primary school. This type of poverty is very different than
the type of poverty that we see in high income
countries like the United States. That’s why, when talk about social stratification
on a global level, it’s important to remember the
distinctions between relative and absolute poverty. Relative poverty exists in all societies,
regardless of the overall income level of
the society. But absolute poverty is when a lack of resources
is literally life-threatening. Let’s go to the Thought Bubble to talk about
two groups that are particularly vulnerable in
low-income countries: children and women. The results of child poverty range from
malnutrition to homelessness to children working
in dangerous and illegal jobs. UNICEF estimates that there are 18.5 million
children worldwide who are orphans, and an
estimated 150 million are engaged in child labor. Child malnutrition is worst in South Asia
and Africa, where one-third of children are
affected. And half of all child deaths worldwide are
attributed to hunger. Women also make up a disproportionate number
of the globally poor. 70% of those living at or below absolute poverty
levels worldwide are women. Some of this is a result of women being kept
from working, due to religious or cultural beliefs. Some of it is because many women who do work
don’t get to control the fruits of their labor. Quite literally. Even though women in low income countries
produce 70% of the food, men own the land
that the women’s labor is done on. 90% of the land in poor countries is owned
by men. And the poverty of children and the poverty
of women are connected, specifically by
reproductive health care. Poor access to reproductive health care is
part of the reason that birth rates are so much
higher in low income countries. And less money plus more mouths to feed equals
more child poverty. Thanks Thought Bubble. Women and children may be the most vulnerable
to global poverty, but poor societies have many
problems beyond malnutrition and poor healthcare. Including slavery. You might think of slavery as a problem from
long ago – I mean, the US was slow to abolish
slavery compared to other Western countries. But slavery is very much alive around the
world. The International Labor Organization estimates
that there are at least 20 million men, women,
and children currently enslaved. Now, all of these symptoms of global poverty
might make you think: What causes it? One likely cause is simply the lack of access
to technology. And I’m not talking about, like, self-driving
cars. Being able to use simple things like fertilizer
and modern seeds, for example, can make huge
differences for families in low-income countries. Also, cell phones. The growing number of cell phones in Sub-Saharan
Africa has increased access to educational tools,
banking services, and health care resources. Another major cause of global inequalities
is population growth. Even with the higher death rates, the high birth rates
in lower income countries mean that the populations
in poor countries double every 25 years, further straining those countries’
economic resources. And this is directly related to a third reason
for global poverty: gender inequalities. The same cultural and social factors that prevent
women from working also tend to limit their access
to birth control, which in turn, increases family sizes. And that contributes to population growth
and slows economic development, as resources become strained. Social and economic stratification, both
within countries and across countries, are
also part of the story. Unequal distribution of wealth within a
country makes it hard for those stuck in
poverty to get out of poverty. And inequality across nations means that countries
with more economic power have historically been
able to subjugate less powerful nations through
systems like colonialism. Colonialism is the process by which some
nations enrich themselves by taking political
and economic control of other nations. Western Europe colonized much of Latin America,
Africa, and Asia starting more than 500 years ago. And as a result, much of the wealth and resources
flowed out of those regions and into European coffers. And colonialism isn’t some distant past. Most African British colonies gained their
independence in 1968. In other words, the Baby Boomers that you
know were alive when the UK still had colonies. So, it’s no wonder that so many colonized
countries remain low or lower middle income, when they’ve only had a little over a half century
to begin building their own independent countries. And as colonialism fell, new power
relationships emerged that have made it harder
for poor countries to develop further. Neo colonialism doesn’t involve direct political
control of a nation; instead it involves economic
exploitation by corporations, for example. Corporate leaders often exert economic pressure on
lower income countries to allow them to operate under
business conditions that are favorable for the companies, and often unfavorable for the citizens that
work for them. This is all difficult stuff to talk about, but there
is good news: global poverty is getting better. Life expectancy is improving rapidly in low
income countries. Between 1990 and 2012, life expectancy in
low income countries has increased by 9 years. And child mortality rates halved worldwide
in the same time period. How do we keep up this progress? If we want to tackle global poverty, addressing
the social, cultural, and economic forces that keep
countries mired in poverty will be the first step. Today we discussed the terms First and Third
World countries and the reasons why these
terms are no longer used. We also went over four types of countries: high income, upper middle income, lower
middle income, and low income countries, and
the lifestyles of people within those countries. We talked about some of the consequences of
global poverty, including malnutrition, poor education, overpopulation partially due to poor
reproductive healthcare, and slavery. Finally, we discussed some explanations for global
poverty, including technology, gender inequality, social stratification, and global power
relationships like colonialism. Next week, we’ll discuss the main theories
behind global stratification. Crash Course Sociology is filmed in the Dr.
Cheryl C. Kinney Studio in Missoula, MT, and
it's made with the help of all these nice people. Our Animation Team is Thought Cafe and Crash
Course is made with Adobe Creative Cloud. If you'd like to keep Crash Course free for
everyone, forever, you can support the series
at Patreon, a crowdfunding platform that allows
you to support the content you love. Speaking of Patreon, we'd like to thank all
of our patrons in general, and we'd like to
specifically thank our Headmaster of Learning
Ben Holden-Crowther. Thank you so much for your support.