Social Class in the United States
Social scientists believe that it is indeed very difficult to categorize the social class within the United States in the cliché terms of the rich, the middle class and the poor.
The fact is that American society is much more economically and culturally diverse.
There are a lot of differences in people's wealth, income, education and occupation that one can claim there are dozens of social classes.
Some sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert, William Thompson, Joseph Hickey and James Henslin have suggested distinct social classes.
These social classes include an upper or capitalist class consisting of the rich, an upper middle class which is consisted of highly educated and well-paid professionals, a lower middle class which is consisted of semi-professionals, a working class consisting of clerks and blue collar employees whose work is filled with routines and a lower class consisting of people between the working poor and underclass.
Now, we are going to take a look at the most common definitions of each social class as briefly as possible.
Upper Class: This term refers to a wide range of elites in the USA.
They are also referred to as "the blue-blooded".
There can be a division within this category and that is the upper-upper class and lower-upper class.
The former referring to established upper-class families while the latter includes people of great wealth.
According to statistics, less than five percent of Americans belong to upper class.
Corporate America is mostly managed by those who are in this category.
One significant characteristics of this group is that of inherited privilege.
In other words, people in this category do not have to work in order to keep their status.
Their social status is passed on from a generation to another automatically.
Middle Class: This group is generally talking about individuals who are between the extremes of wealth, regardless of considerable differences in income, culture, educational background and occupation.
This category is consisted of two groups: the upper middle class and the lower middle class.
The former is used to describe a relative elite of professionals and managers who are highly educated, and are well-paid professionals with significant work autonomy.
Lower middle class is consisted of semi-professionals and salesmen who have some college education and are mostly supervised more closely.
Around 47% to 49% of the population of the US belongs to this category.
Working Class: Sociologists estimate that around 32% to 45% of the US population belongs to working class.
A distinctive characteristic of this group is that workers from this category only take orders.
They are not awarded for their ideas and they are not taken into consideration when it comes to decision making process.
So that means the working class is consisted of blue-collar workers, while lower middle class is consisted of non-professional white collar workers.
Lower Class: Well, this term is applicable to those at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
Around 13% of the US population falls in this category.
They are mainly low-rung retail and service workers or people who are unemployed or are unable to work.
The fact is that American society is much more economically and culturally diverse.
There are a lot of differences in people's wealth, income, education and occupation that one can claim there are dozens of social classes.
Some sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert, William Thompson, Joseph Hickey and James Henslin have suggested distinct social classes.
These social classes include an upper or capitalist class consisting of the rich, an upper middle class which is consisted of highly educated and well-paid professionals, a lower middle class which is consisted of semi-professionals, a working class consisting of clerks and blue collar employees whose work is filled with routines and a lower class consisting of people between the working poor and underclass.
Now, we are going to take a look at the most common definitions of each social class as briefly as possible.
Upper Class: This term refers to a wide range of elites in the USA.
They are also referred to as "the blue-blooded".
There can be a division within this category and that is the upper-upper class and lower-upper class.
The former referring to established upper-class families while the latter includes people of great wealth.
According to statistics, less than five percent of Americans belong to upper class.
Corporate America is mostly managed by those who are in this category.
One significant characteristics of this group is that of inherited privilege.
In other words, people in this category do not have to work in order to keep their status.
Their social status is passed on from a generation to another automatically.
Middle Class: This group is generally talking about individuals who are between the extremes of wealth, regardless of considerable differences in income, culture, educational background and occupation.
This category is consisted of two groups: the upper middle class and the lower middle class.
The former is used to describe a relative elite of professionals and managers who are highly educated, and are well-paid professionals with significant work autonomy.
Lower middle class is consisted of semi-professionals and salesmen who have some college education and are mostly supervised more closely.
Around 47% to 49% of the population of the US belongs to this category.
Working Class: Sociologists estimate that around 32% to 45% of the US population belongs to working class.
A distinctive characteristic of this group is that workers from this category only take orders.
They are not awarded for their ideas and they are not taken into consideration when it comes to decision making process.
So that means the working class is consisted of blue-collar workers, while lower middle class is consisted of non-professional white collar workers.
Lower Class: Well, this term is applicable to those at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
Around 13% of the US population falls in this category.
They are mainly low-rung retail and service workers or people who are unemployed or are unable to work.
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