Sociology 101 Social Class, Stratification, and Middle Class Culture

Social Class

The social structural position groups hold relative to the

economic, social, political, and cultural resources of their society.

Can Include: • Possessing goods & wealth

• Having income • Having access to particular

jobs • Quality of everyday life

Life ChancesThe opportunities that people have in common by virtue of

belonging to a particular class

Social Class

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Social Class

Social Class

Socioeconomic Status (SES) Ranking based on three factors

Income: The amount of money a person receives in a given period

Wealth: The total value of what one owns, minus one’s debt

Occupation:a person's

principal work as a means of

earning a livingEducational Attainment:

Measured as the total years of formal education

Class

Structurein the United

States

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper Class

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper Class

5%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

hFinancial Wealth 72%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

90%

Financial Wealth 72%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

10%of US

Wealt

h

90%

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 28%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

hFinancial Wealth 72%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Financial Wealth 72%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

80%

Fin

ancial

Wealth 7

%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Lower Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Lower Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

a.k.a. “The Working

Poor”

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Lower Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

17- 20%

a.k.a. “The Working

Poor”

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Lower Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

17- 20%

a.k.a. “The Working

Poor”Little formal

education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Lower Class

Under Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

17- 20%

a.k.a. “The Working

Poor”Little formal

education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Lower Class

Under Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

17- 20%

a.k.a. “The Working

Poor”Little formal

education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed

10%

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Class

Structurein the United

StatesUpper ClassUpper-Middle

Class

Middle ClassLower-Middle

Class

Lower Class

Under Class

Owns the major share of corporate & personal

wealth 5%

90%

of US Wealt

h

15%

Have attained high incomes & high

prestige – but not wealth

40-50%

Hard to clearly define

Less about economic attainment & more about

ideology & values

Skilled trades & low-income bureaucratic workers

a.k.a. “The Working

Class”

17- 20%

a.k.a. “The Working

Poor”Little formal

education; Minimum-wage jobs or periodically unemployed

10%Permanently unemployed & without much means of

economic or relational support

Financial Wealth 72%

Financial Wealth 21%

Music & Middle-Class Ideology

Billboard #1 Hits:January 2007: “Low” by Flo RidaJanuary 2009: “

Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” by Beyonce

January 2011: “We R Who We R” by Ke$ha