Social class refers to differences in groups of people by income level, occupation, education, and cultural values. These differences are created through social stratification, the layers or rankings of social groups within a society. Social stratification results from structural inequalities that evolve along with social institutions over time. Class structure in many modern nations, such as the United States, is largely based on socioeconomic status (SES), a combined measure of income, education, and occupation. Those with higher SES, more income, and more wealth have more power and are able to better protect their own interests. Social inequalities based on class have wide-ranging effects, including the ability to move up the class ladder, educational attainment, and physical and mental health outcomes. People in the lowest economic classes can experience poverty. In the United States, the federal government uses two measures to determine poverty: federal poverty guidelines and federal poverty thresholds. Poverty affects less privileged social groups disproportionately. Sociologists stress that poverty should be studied in relationship to structural inequalities related to race, gender, age, and other factors.
At A Glance
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Social class is related to income, wealth, social status, cultural capital, and social capital.
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Social stratification results from structural inequalities among social groups.
- The class system in the United States is largely based on socioeconomic status, a combined measure of income, occupation, and education.
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Income inequality in the United States has risen steadily since the mid-20th century, with the proportion of middle-income households shrinking and the proportion of both low-income and high-income households growing.
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Theories of social class and social stratification developed by Karl Marx and Max Weber focus on class divisions, types of labor, and distribution of power in society.
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Functionalist and symbolic interactionist theories of social class focus on the social functions of class and stratification, or on class as a factor in social identity.
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Social inequality is reflected in the ways that individuals have different access to resources and opportunities based on class.
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Values, norms, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors differ to some degree according to social class.
- Wealth, income, and social class influence individuals' political choices and political affiliations to some degree.
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Social mobility is the movement of individuals or groups up or down the class ladder.
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Mobility myths, cultural narratives about the possibility of upward mobility, do not recognize the presence of structural inequalities that serve as obstacles to social mobility in a society.
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Race, gender, marriage, and divorce affect individuals' ability to move up or down the class ladder.
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Structural mobility changes in response to such macro influences as industrialization and globalization.
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Class consciousness, an awareness of one's own social status and others' social status, can impact how much power a social class holds within society.
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Relative poverty refers to the degree that some groups lack resources compared to others; absolute poverty refers to a lack of resources that is life threatening.
- The U.S. federal government uses federal poverty guidelines to determine eligibility for programs and federal poverty thresholds to calculate numbers of people living in poverty.
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Poverty is linked to factors such as race, gender, age, and class, and responses to poverty are connected to social and cultural views about why poverty occurs.
