Social classes exist in any society, whether we want it or not, whether we are aware of it or not.
Introduction to the meaning of 'social class'
Traditionally social classes were determined mainly by birth (e.g. caste, nobility...) and wealth. Nowadays, as money can be made and lost more quickly than ever before, and people in the developed world have easier access to knowledge (e.g. free compulsory education), what distinguishes classes is the mindset, manners, behaviour, values, tastes and education in the broader sense (general knowledge, beyond diplomas). It has always been like that, but wealth does not necessarily match one's social class anymore (although often it still does).
Usually the parents' own class, education level, job and wealth during childhood are more relevant in determing one's social class than the person's own education level, job and wealth. This is because a person's mindset, character, manners, etc. are usually determined in childhood, before puberty. It is already possible, and relatively easy, to recognise a child's social class from his/her behaviour around the age of 6 or 7.
Discussion
What image (job, education level, status, function...) do you associate with each of the following social class ?
- upper class
- upper-middle class
- middle class
- lower class
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Here are my personal impressions :
- the upper class : probably makes up less than 0.1% of the population in Western countries. They are extremely rich from generation to generation, or from the high nobility. They live in castles or very big properties, with servants for almost everything (cleaners, cook, chauffeur, accountants, financial advisors...) There is usually very little chance of meeting them for people outside that milieu. They socialise and marry almost exclusively within that social class, and arranged marriages are still common. When they are not owners or CEO of big companies or high-ranking politicians, they do not really work but live off the profits generated by their real estate properties, stocks or other investments. In many capitalist countries, and especially in the USA and UK, it is the most influencial class that makes all the big decisions for the country economy and politics.
- the upper-middle class : composed chiefly of well-to-do and well-educated professionals, such as managers, cadres, lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, insurance brokers, university professors... They are predominantly an intellectual class, who read a lot and may like debates more than others. They usually have more cultural interests, like art exhibitions, theatre, classical music, etc. They dress more conventionally (e.g. suits) and/or soberly than average. This is the kind of people that prefer sports such as tennis, golf, sailing or horse riding.
- the middle class : the biggest chunk of society. They are all the people with "normal" jobs, like shop assistants, clerks, office workers (secretaries, helpdesk, sales people...), floor-level civil servants, school teachers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, bus/taxi/truck drivers, farmers, cleaners, social assitants, etc.
Sometimes the "middle class" is further divided in a "lower middle class" for less skilled or less educated jobs, so as not to put teachers and cleaners in the same category. However, as it is difficult to determine where the limit should be, and because education levels may vary a lot even for the same job description (e.g. civil servant), I prefered having only one "middle class" for all.
- the lower class : mostly poorly educated people with little job opportunities beyond (often undeclared) unskilled construction or factory workers. More often they are not employed at all and have no choice but to live off the social security system (at least in Europe), with almost no prospect of finding permanent employment. A big part of them are immigrants from developing (or not even developing) countries. Homeless, people, "bad boys" (vandals, pretty criminals, petty gangsters), or such people also belong to this category. One characteristic of this class is that their poor presentation and language abilities (or strong accent, even if native speaker) may not even be good enough to get an unskilled customer-oriented job. Naturally this is also the class with the highest crime rate. Most of the serial criminals in prisons belong to this category.
Introduction to the meaning of 'social class'
Traditionally social classes were determined mainly by birth (e.g. caste, nobility...) and wealth. Nowadays, as money can be made and lost more quickly than ever before, and people in the developed world have easier access to knowledge (e.g. free compulsory education), what distinguishes classes is the mindset, manners, behaviour, values, tastes and education in the broader sense (general knowledge, beyond diplomas). It has always been like that, but wealth does not necessarily match one's social class anymore (although often it still does).
Usually the parents' own class, education level, job and wealth during childhood are more relevant in determing one's social class than the person's own education level, job and wealth. This is because a person's mindset, character, manners, etc. are usually determined in childhood, before puberty. It is already possible, and relatively easy, to recognise a child's social class from his/her behaviour around the age of 6 or 7.
Discussion
What image (job, education level, status, function...) do you associate with each of the following social class ?
- upper class
- upper-middle class
- middle class
- lower class
------------------------------------
Here are my personal impressions :
- the upper class : probably makes up less than 0.1% of the population in Western countries. They are extremely rich from generation to generation, or from the high nobility. They live in castles or very big properties, with servants for almost everything (cleaners, cook, chauffeur, accountants, financial advisors...) There is usually very little chance of meeting them for people outside that milieu. They socialise and marry almost exclusively within that social class, and arranged marriages are still common. When they are not owners or CEO of big companies or high-ranking politicians, they do not really work but live off the profits generated by their real estate properties, stocks or other investments. In many capitalist countries, and especially in the USA and UK, it is the most influencial class that makes all the big decisions for the country economy and politics.
- the upper-middle class : composed chiefly of well-to-do and well-educated professionals, such as managers, cadres, lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, insurance brokers, university professors... They are predominantly an intellectual class, who read a lot and may like debates more than others. They usually have more cultural interests, like art exhibitions, theatre, classical music, etc. They dress more conventionally (e.g. suits) and/or soberly than average. This is the kind of people that prefer sports such as tennis, golf, sailing or horse riding.
- the middle class : the biggest chunk of society. They are all the people with "normal" jobs, like shop assistants, clerks, office workers (secretaries, helpdesk, sales people...), floor-level civil servants, school teachers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, bus/taxi/truck drivers, farmers, cleaners, social assitants, etc.
Sometimes the "middle class" is further divided in a "lower middle class" for less skilled or less educated jobs, so as not to put teachers and cleaners in the same category. However, as it is difficult to determine where the limit should be, and because education levels may vary a lot even for the same job description (e.g. civil servant), I prefered having only one "middle class" for all.
- the lower class : mostly poorly educated people with little job opportunities beyond (often undeclared) unskilled construction or factory workers. More often they are not employed at all and have no choice but to live off the social security system (at least in Europe), with almost no prospect of finding permanent employment. A big part of them are immigrants from developing (or not even developing) countries. Homeless, people, "bad boys" (vandals, pretty criminals, petty gangsters), or such people also belong to this category. One characteristic of this class is that their poor presentation and language abilities (or strong accent, even if native speaker) may not even be good enough to get an unskilled customer-oriented job. Naturally this is also the class with the highest crime rate. Most of the serial criminals in prisons belong to this category.