What is Class?

1. What is Class? By Eric BentleyAmber DickersonGiovannyPerdomoTim MatchettNick DeFilipo Scott Donocoff

2. What is Social Class? • Social class defines people in arrangements of various economic or cultural groups. • The United States is one of the most common countries that has a variety of social classes • Only about 1% of the US are considered as upper class.

3. Breakdown • Here shows the breakdown of class percentages in the United States.

4. Breakdown (cont.)

5. Upper Class • Only about 1% Of US Population are considered Upper Class • Top-level executives, celebrities, heirs; income of $500,000+ common. Ivy league education common. • Are mostly looked up to by Upper-Middle, Lower-Middle, Working, and Lower Class • Considered as “old money”, People in this class and their generations stay in this class. • Considered as “super rich”.

6. Upper Class (cont.)

7. Upper-Middle Class • Highly educated (often with graduate degrees) professionals & managers with household incomes varying from the high 5-figure range to commonly above $100,000. • This class is sometimes considered as “rich”. • White collar professionals such as physicians, professors, lawyers, doctors, etc. • Almost always requires High Educational attainment.

8. Upper-Middle Class (cont.)

9. Lower-Middle Class • Some College Education or Bachelors Degree • General income in the range of $30,000-$75,000 • Made up of School teachers, Salesman, and lower to mid-level supervisors.

10. Lower-Middle Class

11. Working Class • Individuals who occupy both blue and white collar occupations. • Pink collar workers in predominantly female clerical positions are common in this class. • Job security tends to be low for this group and unemployment as well as losing health insurance remain potent economic threats. • Household incomes typically range from $16,000 to $30,000.

12. Working Class (cont.)

13. Lower Class • Have repeated cycles of unemployment, working multiple low-level part-time jobs are common among this group. • Many families fall below the poverty line from time to time when employment opportunities are scarce. • Incomes less than $16,000 a year.

14. Lower Class (cont.)

15. Why Is Class Important? • Class is important because it not only separates us, but brings us together as Americans. Although the idea of class has changed over the years, the idea is still the same. Earlier, Class was usually defined by your culture and religion in the United States. Because mostly everyone was in more of the same wealth range as each other. As the years went on, and the wealth among America expanded, then the class system changed, and became more widely spread out.

16. Why is Class Important?(cont.) • Today, even though many people strive to be in the upper class or even upper-middle class; for some, it is a hard goal to achieve. The American dream was once to just own a house and have a healthy family. Now, it’s to have that, and a BMW. If there wasn’t such a separation between classes then the country would be torn from the inside out, having lower class citizens not working the jobs needed for the stability of the working world or stability of the economy too.

17. Why is Class Important (cont.) • To have a successful economy you need to have lower class and working class citizens, because they do the jobs needed for everyone else in the country (e.g. Public Transportation), if we had no lower or working class nobody would want these jobs and it would hurt not only themselves but everyone who relies on it.