The Issue Of Social Class

The social class in America is everywhere but it is often quite hard to recognize only because it is against the American principle for the social class system to exist. Whether we know it or not, we tend to participate in the class system.. By doing so, this leads us to separate ourselves based on our social class system, including class discrimination and social mobility

Despite the debates about social class, the United States is usually described as having four major social classes, the elite or upperclass, the middle class, the working class, and the lower class (Goldscmidt). Classes are generally differentiated by income, education, and occupation although other factors do have an effect. The upperclass consists of about 1% of the population making 750,000 dollars or more a year as investors, top executives, or heirs to large fortunes (Hughes and Jenkins). There tends to be no question about who is in the upperclass as they are pretty clearly isolated in their power and wealth. The middle class makes up about 40% of the population making anywhere from 40,000 to 749,999 dollars a year (Hughes and Jenkins). The large disparity in income and wealth have led to a further division of this class into upper-middle class and middle class in some circles. The middle class usually work white collar jobs as professionals and managers, however some highly skilled blue collar workers are included. Those in the middle class have usually obtained higher education degrees and place a high value on individual responsibility for one’s class (Goldschmidt). The working class is composed of about 50% of the population earning 13,000 to 39,000 dollars a year (Hughes and Jenkins). Some also divide this class into a working class and a

Quite similarly, the five levels of social class in the United States from highest to lowest are Top Fifth, Upper Middle, Lower Middle, and Bottom Fifth (“Class Matters”). Four commonly used factors to determine a person’s position in society are education, income, occupation, and wealth (“Class Matters”). Programs are implemented by the government

Social class is defined as a label that categorizes individuals based on their economic status, wealth, and

The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.

This essay will explore the notion of social class and whether it is still relevant within today’s society. The Oxford Dictionary defines social class as ‘a division of a society based on social and economic status’ and is measurable in terms of stratification and inequality. Stratification suggests people are ranked hierarchically according to their attributes such as income, wealth, power, age, gender and status, whereas, inequality explains the difference between people in terms of their abilities and rewards

1.)Social class is a “class society, a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory centered on models of social stratification in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories”( Grant,2001,p.161). The most common being the upper, middle, and lower classes. The upper class consist of people or families that represent institutional leadership, heads of multinational corporations, foundations, and universities. They are people who have finical stability and are well educated due to their finical income. Most commonly in American society today people fall in the middle class category. Middle class is made

Social class is defined by your economical standpoint in our society. There are around 6 social classes in the United States; Upper class, new money, middle class, working class, working poor, and poverty level. The upper class is at the top of the United States, it also makes up about one percent of the U.S. New money falls in line behind the upper class, this refers to people whose wealth has accumulated recently or has only been around for a generation or two. New money makes up about fifteen percent of the society. Middle class includes about thirty-four percent of the population; the members of middle class are mostly in professional jobs. These people could include managers, doctors, lawyers, professors and teachers; It’s likely that

The textbook Ed Psych by Jack Snowman and Rick McCown defines social class as “is an indicator of an individual’s or family’s relative standing in society” (p. 99). I decided this source was credible because it is the textbook we use in Educational Psychology class and what our whole semester is based on.

Marxists sociologists, such as Althusser, Bowles and Gintis and Willis argue that education operates in the interests of the ruling class and maintains capitalism. However, other sociologists oppose this by arguing that this is false and education is meritocratic.

In the U.S. there are six social classes. The six social classes include the upper class, the middle class, the working class, the lower class, and the underclass. The upper class is divided into two groups, the upper-upper class, who’re earning hundreds of millions to billions per year, and the lower-upper class who’re

In the United State there are six different social classes. The Upper-Upper class consists of the top one percent in America. This is the families who have been rich for generations. The Lower- Upper class is people who have new money like celebrities and professional athletes. This makes up the top two percent of America. The Upper-Middle class is people who have high education and good paying careers, like doctors, lawyers, and other people with doctoral and professional degrees. This class makes up ten percent of the American population. The Lower-Middle class makes up twenty-eight percent of the population. This class consists of profession like teachers, social workers, and accountants. The fifth major social class in America is the Working class, which makes up thirty-five percent of the population. This class has both skilled and unskilled laborers. The last class is the Lower Working class which is people who are poor or near poor, unskilled and uneducated Americans. This class makes up for twenty-five percent of the population in

According to “Sociology in Modules” class is “a group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income” (Schaefer 218). Society is stratified into classes and more importantly these classes are not equal. 1 to 2 % of Americans are upper class, 20 to 25% are lower class, which leaves a large percentage of Americans in the middle and working class (Schaefer 215). With a large number of the population in the middle class it can be hard to notice the statuses of others. Interactions between classes are minimal because of stigmas and norms in each class. It can also be a touchy subject because of the way status is viewed. Many believe that class status is an achieved status, but in reality it is more often ascribed because of systemic oppression.Stratification

Have you ever seen yourself “above” or better off than someone else? Of course you have, we all have. It could have been that homeless man on the street you saw while driving home, or even a student that you had to tutor because you just seem to understand the concept a little better than they did. That doesn’t make you a bad person does it? I mean someone has to be in charge and someone has to follow. Many of people believe this concept for different reasons. In America, many people think this about their social class. The more money you make, the higher in rank you are in your social class, which could mean the more opportunities you can be a part of or even more doors than can be open to you. Many believe that we still believe in the “necessary

Socio-economic class is reflective of occupation and education, combined with wealth and income to position one relative to others in society. These factors play a significant role in shaping someone's life chances and choices. Social class has much to do with who we are today. For example, access to jobs and education is often determined through the categories of social location and identity. White, middle-class/wealthy, men and women, statistically speaking, are given more access to college entrance and corporate executive employment than to any other persons of any