Keeping Up With The Joneses - Social Effects

Social Effects

The philosophy of "keeping up with the Joneses" has widespread effects on some societies. According to this philosophy, conspicuous consumption occurs when people care about their standard of living in relation to their peers. The term was re-coined or re-introduced into US narrative in 1976 when a small article was written about current parenting style. It has been a commercial and cultural watchword ever since.

According to Roger Mason, "the demand for status goods, fueled by conspicuous consumption, has diverted many resources away from investment in the manufacture of more material goods and services in order to satisfy consumer preoccupations with their relative social standing and prestige."

Social status once depended on one's family name; however, the rise of consumerism in the United States gave rise to social mobility. With the increasing availability of goods, people became more inclined to define themselves by what they possessed and the subtle quest for higher status accelerated. Conspicuous consumption and materialism have been an insatiable juggernaut ever since. The desire to increase one's position in the social hierarchy is responsible for much of the social mobility in America. The upward mobility over the past few decades in America is due in part to the large number of women joining the labor force. US women have slowly and steadily increased their participation in the labor force from 46% of all women (age 16+) in 1974 to almost 60% in 2004.

Even in countries where the desire for upward social mobility via consumerism and conspicuous consumption is strong, the poor may not be able to better themselves. Doug Henwood observed that "both the US and British poor were more likely to stay poor for a long period of time: almost half of all people who were poor for one year stayed poor for five or more years, compared with 30% in Canada and 36% in Germany. And, despite claims of great upward mobility in the US, 45% of the poor rose out of poverty in a given year, compared with 45% in the UK, 53% in Germany, and 56% in Canada. And of those who did exit poverty, 15% of Americans were likely to make a round trip back under the poverty line, compared with 16% in Germany, 10% in the UK, and 7% in Canada."

Inability to "Keep up with the Joneses" might result in dissatisfaction, even for people whose status is high.

One area in which "living above one's means" has caused negative social effects is that of credit card use. In the first quarter of 2002, total credit debt was $660 billion. By 2005, the total credit card debt had increased to $735 billion. America's average credit card debt in 2007 was $8,400 per household. By the end of 2007, consumer debt in America had risen to $2.5 trillion.