Social Stratification

5.1 Explain the social stratification of classes in American society.

The social stratification of classes in America is comprised of several things. Those things include income, education, sex and race. While sex race and education all directly effect income, the income is the most looked at determining factor in social class.

The highest class is the upper class. These people are independently wealthy, contribute to community and politics and tend to feel a personal responsibility to helping maintain society. They belong to many organizations and contribute a large amount of money to charity. They also tend to be very liberal in politics, agreeing with liberals in either republican or democratic parties.

The next class is the middle class. This is the class with the most variance. Some in middle class are very near the upper class line, while others are very near the working class line. This is the class that contains the most people and has the greatest effect during elections. Most of the middle class has formal education and want their children to go on to formal education and plan to help them accomplish that. The middle class also belongs to organizations and donates money to charity, although less than the upper class.

The working class follows in the decent of social classes. The working class are often living with meager savings. The focus on present day, and have little resources to plan for the future. They are hard working people who don’t believe in handouts, and spend most of their time with family and a few close friends. Politically they tend to be democratic, but are not as likely to vote as the higher classes. Recreation is experienced on a smaller scale than the upper classes, but it is still a part of regular life.

The lowest of the classes is the lower class. These people live hand to mouth, without any certainty for the future. They are often switching jobs, and have a low amount of education. Many women are the heads