middle-class

Examples of middle-class in the following topics:

• The Upper Middle Class

  • The upper-middle class refers to people within the middle class that have high educational attainment, high salaries, and high status jobs.
  • Sociologists use the term "upper-middle class" to refer to the social group consisting of higher-status members of the middle class.
  • This is in contrast to the term "lower-middle class," which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle class. " There is considerable debate as to how to define the upper-middle class.
  • According to his definition, the middle class consists of an upper-middle class, made up of professionals distinguished by exceptionally high educational attainment and high economic security; and a lower-middle class, consisting of semi-professionals.
  • Moreover, members of the upper-middle class are generally more economically secure than their lower-middle class counterparts.

• The Middle Class

  • The middle class consists of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy, which varies between cultures.
  • The middle class is a category of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy, though common measures of what constitutes middle class vary significantly between cultures.
  • Within the United States, the broader middle class is often described as divided into the upper-middle class (also called the "professional class") and the lower-middle class.
  • The lower-middle class consists mainly of people in technical and lower-level management positions who work for those in the upper middle class.
  • Identify the central features of the middle-class in the United States

• The Lower Middle Class

  • The lower-middle class are those with some education and comfortable salaries, but with socioeconomic statuses below the upper-middle class.
  • Primary school teachers are examples of members of the lower-middle class.
  • In American society, the middle class is often divided into the lower-middle class and upper-middle class.
  • The lower-middle class (also sometimes simply referred to as the middle class) consists of roughly one third of households—it is roughly twice as large as the upper-middle and upper classes.
  • The lower-middle class is among the largest social classes, rivaled only by the working class, and it is thought to be growing.

• The Middle Classes

  • The middle classes of colonial America consisted mostly of yeoman farmers and skilled craftsmen.
  • Many middle-class farmers lived in a style of home known as saltbox houses.
  • In cities, shopkeepers, artisans, shipwrights, butchers, coopers, seamstresses, cobblers, bakers, carpenters, masons, and many other specialized professions made up the middle class.
  • Saltbox-style homes of the middle class became popular in New England after 1650.
  • Differentiate between the economic activities of the middle classes of the New England, mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies

• Social Class in the U.S.

  • Many Americans believe in a simple three-class model that includes the rich or upper class, the middle class, and the poor or working class.
  • The middle class (40%) is divided into the upper-middle class (14%, earning $76,000 or more per year) and the lower-middle class (26%, earning $46,000 to $75,000 annually).
  • Since the middle class is the largest yet most vaguely defined class, it is important to think about how people come to identify themselves as "middle class."
  • Some people define middle class by income, whereas others are more concerned with values and job description.
  • Most people define middle class in terms of income and values (such as education and religion).

• The Working Class

  • Secretaries, farmers, and hair stylists may all be considered members of the working class.
  • Since many members of the working class, as defined by academic models, are often identified in the vernacular as being middle class, there is considerable ambiguity over the term's meaning.
  • In the class models devised by sociologists, the working class comprises between 30 percent and 35 percent of the population, roughly the same percentage as the lower middle class.
  • Due to differences between middle and working-class cultures, working-class college students may face "culture shock" upon entering the post-secondary education system, with its "middle class" culture.
  • Explain how differences in class culture may affect working-class students who enter the post-secondary education system

• Class Structure in the U.S.

  • Many Americans recognize a simple three-tier model that includes the upper class, the middle class, and the lower or working class.
  • In this model, the upper class (3% of the population) is divided into upper-upper class (1% of the U.S. population, earning hundreds of millions to billions per year) and the lower-upper class (2%, earning millions per year).
  • The middle class (40%) is divided into upper-middle class (14%, earning $76,000 or more per year) and the lower-middle class (26%, earning $46,000 to $75,000 per year).
  • A commonly used model for thinking about social classes in the U.S. attributes the following general characteristics to each tier: the upper class has vast accumulated wealth and significant control over corporations and political institutions, and their privilege is usually inherited; the corporate elite consists of high-salaried stockholders, such as corporate CEOs, who did not necessarily inherit privilege but have achieved high status through their careers; the upper-middle class consists of highly educated salaried professionals whose occupations are held in high esteem, such as lawyers, engineers, and professors; the middle class (the most vaguely defined and largest social class) is generally thought to include people in mid-level managerial positions or relatively low status professional positions, such as high school teachers and small business owners; the working class generally refers to those without college degrees who do low level service work, such as working as a sales clerk or housekeeper, and includes most people whose incomes fall below the poverty line.
  • Many sociologists dispute the existence of such class mobility and point to the ways in which social class is inherited.

• Social Classes

  • Social class is often hard to define; in fact, many people dispute the existence of social classes in the United States.
  • Perhaps the simplest model to define social class is a three-tiered approach that includes the rich, the middle class, and the poor.
  • Social class can have a profound effect on consumer spending habits.
  • A marketer should understand the dynamic of the social class as well.
  • For example, the upper-middle class are generally ambitious, future-oriented people who have succeeded economically and now seek to enhance their quality of life.

• Class

  • Common models used to think about social class come from Marxist theory: common stratum theory, which divides society into the upper, middle, and working class; and structural-functionalism.
  • Contemporary sociological concepts of social class often assume three general categories: a very wealthy and powerful upper class that owns and controls the means of production; a middle class of professional or salaried workers, small business owners, and low-level managers; and a lower class, who rely on hourly wages for their livelihood.
  • The middle class is the most contested of the three categories, consisting of the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the lower class and upper class.
  • One example of the contestation of this term is that In the United States middle class is applied very broadly and includes people who would elsewhere be considered lower class.
  • Middle class workers are sometimes called white-collar workers.

• Social Class

  • Many Americans believe in a simple three-class model that includes upper class, the middle class, and the lower class or working class.
  • Thought of this way, once individuals identify as being within a class group they begin to adhere to the behaviors they expect of that class.
  • By adhering to class expectations, individuals create sharper distinctions between classes than may otherwise exist.
  • Sociologists studying class distinctions since the 1970s have found that social classes each have unique cultural traits.
  • Because individuals' social networks tend to be within their own class, they acculturate to, or learn the values and behaviors of, their own class.