Class inequality in the United States

The U.S. is said to be the land of opportunity, but our society shows this is not always the case. The social classes in the U.S. are unequal and can limit social mobility. In order to understand this issue, social inequality must be considered.

There are many factors that go into social inequality. Income is important because there is an increasing difference between the rich and poor. Wealth is also a major factor, as 20% of the U.S. owns about 90% of its wealth. This shows a huge unbalance in the U.S., and it is even worse around the world. With wealth comes power to shape society. Also, certain occupations have prestige which are not equal to others. Finally, education also factors in to social inequality. While better than a lot of other countries, the U.S. still has huge class inequality.

The U.S. has an idealized “American Dream”, which proposes that hard work and achievement can move a person up the social ladder. However, this ignores inheritance and certain locations where poverty severely limits citizens from receiving the education to prosper. In this case, these people will likely have little or no social mobility. This chart shows that the poorest people only have a 9% chance to reach the top quintile of the U.S income distribution.



Social mobility has not changed very much in the U.S during the last 40 years. Certain factors like gender and race have an additional impact in social position. Since these categories are deeply embedded in everyday societal life, it will be difficult to break these differences and give everyone an equal footing. The gap has been narrowing though, and marriage can also help to increase social mobility.

There are several social classes in the United States. The upper class is divided into the upper-uppers and lower-uppers. The upper-upper class is a small fraction of the population but has tremendous wealth and influence. Its members usually attend private schools and prestigious universities. These people get their status from inheritance and family power, while the lower-uppers are considered the “working rich”.

The middle class makes up a significant portion of the population and is divided into three categories. The upper-middles enjoy college and high-prestige occupations, but still lack the influence that the upper class has. Average-middles tend to have skilled blue-collar positions and usually graduate high school. The Lower-middles (usually called the working class), take the bottom-of-the-barrel jobs and struggle financially as a result. Finally, the lower class citizens have very low incomes and live in undesirable neighborhoods.

With such a broad range of classes, there are many inequalities between them. For example, health is correlated to social class, with the best medical care requiring a high income. Politics have an interesting phenomenon. Generally, higher class citizens are conservative about economics but liberal on social problems, which lower class citizens feel the opposite.

Overall, the class system in the United States is very uneven. People are feeling less confident that the American Dream can be a reality. However, the U.S. does not have a true caste system, and there are still opportunities for social mobility.


http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21595437-america-no-less-socially-mobile-it-was-generation-ago-mobility-measured

https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding-stratification-inequality-and-social-class-in-the-u-s/the-class-structure-in-the-u-s/the-class-structure-in-the-u-s/