household income

Examples of household income in the following topics:

• Income

  • Individual and household income remains one of the most prominent indicators of class status within the United States.
  • Census Bureau data on household incomes is used to inform welfare policy, as benefits are distributed based on expectations about what income is needed to access basic resources like food and healthcare.
  • However, in a dual-income household the combined income of both earners, even if they hold relatively low status jobs, can put the household in the upper middle class income bracket.
  • Census Bureau in terms of either household or individual income and remains one of the most prominent indicators of class status.
  • In other words, income does not determine the status of an individual or household but rather reflects that status.

• The Bottom Line: Family Background

  • Student achievement is highly correlated with family characteristics, including household income and parental educational attainment.
  • This is due to the fact that several family background characteristics are very strong predictors of future educational attainment, including parental support, parental expectations for schooling, household income, and parental educational attainment, with the last two being the most important factors.
  • In 2000, affluent students, students who could otherwise afford to pay for college, received "merit" scholarships worth 82% of the need-based aid received by students with the lowest family incomes.

• The Lower Middle Class

  • In developed nations across the world, the lower-middle class is a sub-division of the middle class that refers to households and individuals who are somewhat educated and usually stably employed, but who have not attained the education, occupational prestige, or income of the 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.
  • Lower-middle class occupations usually provide comfortable salaries, but put individuals beneath the top third of incomes.
  • In terms of personal income distribution in 2005, that would mean gross annual personal incomes from about $32,500 to $60,000.
  • Since 42% of all households had two income earners, with the majority of those in the top 40% of gross income, household income figures would be significantly higher, ranging from roughly $50,000 to $100,000 annually.

• Religion

  • On the other hand, income, and therefore social class, is related to an individual's denomination.
  • When one looks at average income by religion, there are clear differences.
  • The highest-earning religion on average is Judaism, with an average income of $72,000 in 2000.
  • Household income, an indicator of social class, can also indicate what religious denomination a person is likely to embrace.
  • America's top income bracket is more likely than other groups to be Jewish, while the lowest bracket is more likely to be Jehovah's Witnesses.

• Family Life

  • Family life, including marriage, childbearing and household composition are strongly influenced by social class.
  • Family life - marriage and childbearing patterns, household composition, and home stability - are strongly influenced by social class.
  • Demographers have identified a direct relationship between average number of children per household and the economic development of a nation.
  • For example, single-parent households are likely to have a lower social class because they violate social norms.
  • This graph shows that among all races and ethnicities, low income households are more likely to experience divorce than middle and high income households are.

• The Upper Class

  • The top .01% of the population, with an annual income of $9.5 million or more, received 5% of the income of the United States in 2007.
  • While the vast majority of people and households derive their income from salaries, those in the upper class derive their income primarily from investments and capital gains.
  • The rich constitute roughly 5% of U.S. households and their wealth is largely in the form of home equity.
  • This demographic constitutes roughly 0.9% of American households.
  • The top .01% of the population, with an annual income of $9.5 million or more, received 5% of the income of the United States in 2007.

• The Feminization of Poverty

  • Though low income is the primary cause of female poverty, there are many interrelated sources of this problem.
  • Lack of income deprives women of basic needs, such as food and shelter, and limits their opportunities for advancement.
  • Lone mother households, or households without a second parent or guardian, are the households with the highest risk of poverty.
  • Female headed households (where no male is present) are most susceptible to poverty because they have fewer income earners to provide financial support within the household.
  • Poor health reduced women's ability to earn income, and, thus, is a key factor increasing and perpetuating household poverty.

• The Working Class

  • The working class consists of individuals and households with low educational attainment, low status occupations, and below average incomes.
  • Their occupations may require vocational training but generally do not require a college degree, and they likely earn an income above minimum wage but below the national average.
  • Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs (as measured by skill, education, and income), often extending to those who are unemployed or otherwise earning below-average incomes.

• The Lower Class

  • The lower class consists of those at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy who have low education, low income, and low status jobs.
  • Their occupations are largely unskilled and consist of repetitive tasks, and they achieve only a meager income.
  • The poverty line is defined as the income level at which an individual becomes eligible for public assistance.
  • While only about 12% of households fall below the poverty threshold at one point in time, the total percentage of households that will, at some point during the course of a single year, fall below the poverty line, is much higher.
  • Many such households waver above and below the line throughout a single year.

• Change in Household Size

  • Household models include the single family and blended family home, shared housing, and group homes for people with special needs.
  • Household models in Anglophone culture include the single family and varieties of blended families, shared housing, and group homes for people with support needs.
  • A shared house is a household in which a group of often-unrelated people reside together.
  • In both developed and developing countries, shared housing is an increasingly popular household model.
  • This has played a role in the displacement of lower-income people who once lived in these properties; it has also been cited as a reason for the visible rise in homelessness across America since the early 1980s.