Social class in the United States is defined using three main dimensions: income and wealth, occupational prestige, and educational level. These dimensions determine one's socioeconomic status and influence life chances. The document outlines the major social classes in the U.S. including the upper, upper-middle, middle, working, and lower classes. It also discusses poverty, the working poor, underclass, and attempts to address and explain poverty.

1. Social Class in the
United States
Principles of Sociology 11

2. Dimensions of Social Inequality
• In terms of economics, social classes share three
characteristics:
Income and wealth.
Occupational prestige.
Educational level.
• For most people, these three characteristics coincide
and work together to create economic commonality.
• These three traits – considered together – are
represented in statistical form as socioeconomic
status (SES).

3. Dimensions of Social Inequality
• Income & Wealth:
income = salaries and wages.
wealth = all of a person’s assets.
In the U.S., income is distributed unevenly and
wealth is even more unevenly distributed.
• Inequality in the U.S. affects the life chances of
many people, and creates consequences like
poor health, homelessness, and unequal
education.

4. The distinction between income & wealth can be very important
in sociological analysis …
• CONSIDER: In 2007, our nation entered the Great Recession, an
economic downturn that affected the employment of many
people of all races.
• Yet, unemployed middle-class white families seemed to hold on
longer than unemployed middle-class black and Hispanic families
– despite the fact that the middle-class income of all of these
families were virtually equal.
• To understand why there was this difference, we must look at
wealth. Wealth is a function of opportunities over time. While
many white families have various forms of wealth passed down
from one generation to the next, we must remember that civil
rights for minorities is barely 50 years old. This means that the
accumulated wealth of many minority families was nowhere
near that of many white families.

5. Dimensions of Social Inequality
• Power:
– Ability to control, even in the face of resistance.
– Wealth is an important source of power.
• occupational prestige = job-related status.
• Educational Level:
– Statistically, higher education is directly related to
better career opportunities.
– Education affects both occupation and income.

6. Examples of Occupational Prestige Scores

7. Life Chances
• life chances (Weber) = one’s chances of living a
moderately decent life and having access to
necessary resources such as food, clothing, shelter,
education, and health care.
• Generally, the rich fare better in life circumstances
than the poor:
– In a Court of Law
– In terms of health, nutrition, and medical care
– During “natural” disasters
• Life chances are bound up with social class.

8. Dimensions of Social Inequality
• Race and Ethnicity:
– Race is closely linked to social position in the U.S.
– Social ranking also involves ethnicity.
– Disparity still exists on social and financial variables.
• Gender:
– More poor families are headed by women.
– On average, women have less income, wealth, and
occupational prestige than men.
• Other Dimensions: ancestry, residence, leisure activities,
tastes & preferences (habitus).

9. Class in the U.S.
• The reality is that Americans are sharply divided by class,
which creates inequality and varying lifestyles.
• All typologies are constructed by people and therefore can
always be structured differently.
• Thus, social class boundaries are always approximations.
• It is easier to distinguish the richest and poorest extremes,
while the classes in-between are more difficult to recognize.
• One model sees the U.S. class system as comprising six classes:
Upper-Upper, Lower-Upper, Upper-Middle, Average-Middle,
Working, Working Poor, and Underclass.

10. The Upper Class
• The top 5% who earn at least $217,000 annually.
– This class includes highly successful professionals, CEOs,
wealthy families with inherited wealth, rich celebrities, and
owners of large businesses.
• Typically those in the upper class enjoy high levels of
both prestige and authority.
• There is a difference between the upper-upper class
(families and individuals with vast wealth), and the
lower-upper class (some “new rich” and many
celebrities).

11. The Upper-Upper Class
• The core of the upper class is the upper-upper class, those
being referred to when people speak of the “one percent.”
• Most of those in the upper-upper class are people you and I
have never heard of – most tend to keep a low profile
(though they can be highly influential politically).
• The upper class exists in the U.S. as a closed culture: even
rich celebrities cannot gain access to their world.
– Entrance to the upper-upper class is by birth (inherited wealth) or
by invitation only. It is not a matter of “how much” money someone
has.

12. The Lower-Upper Class
• About 3-4% of the U.S. population, most of those
considered rich are in the lower-upper class.
• This includes entertainers, actors, musicians, and
professional athletes – i.e., most “celebrities.”
• While the core (upper-upper) are very stable and
typically do not lose their wealth, that is not true for
the lower-upper, some of whom do experience
economic ruin at some point.

13. The Upper-Middle Class
• $121,000 to $217,000 yearly income.
• If the Upper Class “owns” society, it is the Upper-
Middle Class that “runs” it.
• These are executives, professionals, some business
owners, and some managers.
• Key Factor: educational level.
• Occupations of this class rank high in prestige and
members enjoy much social esteem.
• Very politically involved.

14. The “Average”-Middle Class
• Less occupational prestige.
• White collar or high-skilled blue collar jobs.
• $51,000 to $121,000 yearly income (which is the
national average).
• Income provides modest security, with some wealth
over time (e.g., a house).
• Typically high school graduates with a 50/50 chance of
graduating college.
• Generally conservative politics, emphasizing self-
reliance and the “American Dream.”

15. The Working Class
• About a third of the U.S. population, earning $29,000 to $51,000 annually.
• This is the “industrial proletariat” of Marxism.
• PAST: “blue collar” jobs = manual labor.
– PRESENT: skilled labor to retail sales clerks.
– This change has occurred largely with the economic shift from labor jobs to service
jobs, which are largely held by women (“pink-collar” jobs).
– Much of the “working class” is now made up of those working low-paying service
jobs.
• Education varies but clusters around high school diplomas.
• The working class makes a living, but their wages are not much more than
that.
– Not much hope expressed for upward mobility (only about one-fifth of the children
end up in college).

16. The Intermediate Classes
• intermediate classes = the upper-middle, average-middle, and
working classes considered together.
• These classes are less distinct and more diverse than the upper
and lower classes, with the divisions between them blurring at
times.
• Most of the social mobility that occurs in the U.S. class system
happens among the intermediate classes.
– Most of this mobility is confined to the intermediate realm.
• This section of the class structure is very fluid and most
structural changes in occupation are seen here.

17. The Lower Class
• 46.3 million Americans were classified as poor in
2011 (about 12.5% of the population).
• 70% complete high school; about 15% attend
college.
• About 43% own their homes in less desirable urban
neighborhoods or in the rural south.
• Others are “working poor” with minimum-wage
jobs.
• It is helpful to distinguish the working poor from the
underclass.

18. The Working Poor
• Families that are below or only slightly above the poverty
line.
• These are poor, but do maintain jobs.
• They may stay poor due to low wages, or may move in
and out of poverty due to periodic unemployment.
• The working poor have the lowest ranked jobs: least
desirable, least skilled, requiring little education, lowest
wages, no benefits, and often limited available hours.
• Many fail to complete high school.

19. The Underclass
• This is the poorest of the poor, and often jobless.
• cycle of poverty = the poorest typically remain poor from one
generation to the next.
• Often in absolute poverty = living at the subsistence level.
• Most often dependent on government welfare programs.
• The underclass exists in their own social world, outside of mainstream
society.
• Few work skills and much use of the informal economy.
• Disproportionately African-American.
• Confined primarily to inner-city areas.

20. The Informal Economy
• Unreported transfer of money, goods, or services
(includes crime, like drugs and prostitution).
• Difficult to track.
• A significant part of the economy in developing
nations.
• Can be dysfunctional for workers: unsafe
conditions; no benefits; experience at such jobs
does not count with many legitimate employers.

21. The Difference Class Makes
• Social stratification is linked to health, values and
attitudes, politics, and family life.
• Many Factors Vary with Class Position:
– Health
• Compared to high-income people, low-income people are
only half as likely to report good health.
– Amount and adequacy of needed medical care.
– Cultural values and attitudes.

22. The Difference Class Makes
• Politics:
– Follow complex patterns along class lines.
– Higher class: Conservative on economic issues; more liberal on social
issues; more political involvement.
– Lower class: Liberal on economic issues; more conservative on social
issues; lower voting records and political involvement.
• Family and Gender:
– Lower-class families are larger; child conformity to conventional norms
expected.
– Higher social standing families have different social capital and different
parenting styles and expectations for children.
– Gender-role responsibilities more rigid for lower-class families.

23. The U.S. Structure & Global Economy
• The U.S. Class Structure has been influenced by the
Global Economy:
– Global economic expansion underlies shifts in U.S. class
structure.
– Jobs changed from manufacturing to service work.
– Upward mobility has been created for educated people.
– Investments available for those with money.
– Downsizing in companies affects average workers.
– Many U.S. families working harder to stay afloat.

24. Poverty in the U.S.
• Approximately 16% of the U.S. population lives below the
poverty line.
• official poverty line = government-determined level of the
minimum required amount of money required to live at
subsistence-level.
– The poverty line is about three times what the government estimates
people must spend for food.
– The income of the average poor family is 59% of this amount.
• absolute poverty = living hand-to-mouth = survival level.
• relative poverty = being poor compared to those around you –
not being able to maintain a basic standard of living in your
society.

25. Who are the Poor?
• Not a static social class = changes from decade to decade.
• Where?
– Most of the poor are in rural areas.
– The worst poor (underclass) and the greatest concentration of poverty
(20%) are in urban areas.
• Age:
– The elderly (over 65) were once high-risk for poverty, but now are one of
the lowest risk categories due to Social Security (about 7.8% of the poor
are elderly).
– Children under 18 are especially subject to poverty (1 in 5), a problem that
has greatly increased (by 21%) since the Great Recession (2007-2014).
• Age 18-24 is not far behind (48% of the poor in 2011).

26. Who are the Poor?
• Gender:
– 59% of the poor are women.
– Women who head households are at high risk of poverty.
– feminization of poverty = the trend in which women are
disproportionately represented among the poor.
• An increasing number of the poor have been women since WWII.
• Although slowly improving, in 2012 women only earned about 84% of
what men did.
• The feminization of poverty is largely the result of the rapidly
increasing number of households at all class levels headed by single
women.

27. Who are the Poor?
• Race/Ethnicity:
– Most of the poor are white.
– However, racial minority groups have greater percentages of
their groups in poverty than the comparatively low
percentage of the white majority in poverty.
• In 2011, 27.6% of all African Americans and 25.3% of all Hispanics were
poor.
– Minorities tend to comprise greater percentages of the
American poor:
• Whites (2012) = 9.7%; Asian Americans = 11.7%; Hispanics = 25.6%;
African Americans = 27.2%; American Indians = 29.1%

28. Sources of Poverty
• Economic:
– Tough economic times (EX: Great Recession) = high unemployment
– Low minimum wage
• Structural:
– Reduction in unemployment programs and benefits
– deindustrialization = outsourcing and relocation of factories/jobs.
– job deskilling = a reduction in the skills needed to perform a certain job,
resulting in a lowering of wages or replacement with technology.
– Technological advances and changing patterns of consumerism (EX:
decreasing use of ‘snail-mail’ = fewer postal jobs).

29. Attempts to Explain Poverty
• Blame the Poor (“blaming the victim”):
– The poor are mostly responsible for their own poverty.
– A “culture of poverty” produces a self-perpetuating cycle of
poverty.
– Time limits should be set for welfare.
• Blame Society:
– There is little opportunity for work.
– William Julius Wilson: The loss of jobs in the inner cities is the
main cause of poverty.

30. Trying to Fix Poverty
• The U.S. public is evenly divided over whether the government or
people themselves should take responsibility for reducing
poverty.
• Welfare Debate:
– Conservatives:
• AFDC weakened families.
• Marriage is the key to poverty reduction.
• Welfare encourages dependency on government handouts.
– Liberals:
• Most welfare actually goes to richer people.
• Most poor families using public assistance are truly needy.
• Public assistance is a Band-Aid approach to serious social problems.

31. Trying to Fix Poverty
• Welfare Reforms:
– SNAP (food stamps; Lone Star card)
– Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) >>
replaced AFDC payments.
• Although Americans tend to come across on
surveys as compassionate toward the poor, some
who receive welfare benefits still tend to be
stigmatized (negatively labeled and devalued).