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Phillip Smith
Ms. Hofmann
English 1102
May 5, 2014
Is there a social class?
Note to Reader: This is the final draft of the essay that is for the Inquiry Project. I added more revisions to
the essay itself and tried to make sure the paper flowed and had some thought put into it. As you will see
there are no
In this day and time there is a constant pressure to be in a better class system than one
may already be pertained in. In this there is almost a competition between individuals because of
social classes. These social classes are in some way either predetermined, or based off of
educational status, creativity, or hardworking ethical practices. Some people started from being
in a household which was poor, to growing up and being hardworking individuals in society and
living a lifestyle that is more comfortable. Seeing those around me go from having a decent
lifestyle, to then going in a position where they are struggling from paycheck to paycheck,
because of the lack of jobs available has changed my point of view. With a 7.6% job loss, there
is still a struggle to find jobs. There then becomes a lack of social class definition. The question
then becomes, Where does society see themselves in todays economy? The angst to find a
proper foothold in the two major groups : Upper, and middle class has caused a social class
warfare. Under Karl Marx he created the system which is the bourgeoisie and proletariat. This
has reflected on society, and you constantly see a separation between groups of individuals.
After a three or four year recessional extent the outcome of many peoples previous class
structure has changed. There has been movements from the upper class to the middle class and
then even from the middle class all the way down to the lower class. This course of event caused
many individuals to feel a sense of discouragement because some people lost all that they had ,
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because they tried to stay afloat and stay above the water. To go further there are many
sublevels that are included in the three categories. They are the upper class, upper-middle class,
middle class, the working class and last the lower class. These class structures have constantly
been modified or re-evaluated ever since the recession bubble has begun. Some factors that
increase the level by which people associate themselves with are educational level such as (high
school degree, Bachelors degree, and/or a master degree) as well as the job position that they
hold. It all seems that social classes continuously increase based off the need for education
advancements and this educational advancement increases the odds that people will have a better
chance to move up the social ladder. According to the Boundless source the American dream is
ones membership in a particular social class is based on educational and career
accomplishments. This seems to be the effort made by each individual under the American
vision to better their own position and to try to define their social and economic position.
Being raised in a middle class family, I have seen the effects of the recession. We went
from being a upper middle class family to working middle class. My mom went from working as
the Vice-President of Human Resources at Wachovia to not having a job for about six months.
She went from making high six figures to relying on her severance package. My family had to
rely on not only her severance package, but also my dads trucking drivers income which doesnt
compare to a Vice-Presidents income. This changed had a lot of different outcomes that were
both positive and negative. The most positive thing that I realized was that you have to be more
appreciative of the things that you already have, because you never know when your situation
might change. The downside of having an income change for a family of four would be that
money becomes tighter in the household. It required a change of mindset because the things that
I was so used to getting or being able to do was now limited. It takes time for families to move
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from one class to another and it was definitely evident in my case. To increase the struggle that I
saw was seeing my mom apply to so many jobs and was told that she was over-qualified for the
job, it enhanced the stress that we were already feeling. I know that many other families may
have gone through this same struggle.
In todays society there is a constant movement in class system. This constant
stratification has allowed for people to experience the finer things in life, which in other
measures may not have been available before. In the New York Times, it was described within
the article that 40 percent of Americans believed that the chance of moving up from one class to
another had risen over the last 30 years This statement describes the constant change that
society is seeing within itself because of the ever so widespread changing paradigm that
Americans have. From my point of view it seems that there has been a constant decrease in
peoples social standing. Also from a personal standpoint I have witnessed my family go from
high middle class to lower working class(middle). Then from lower middle class back up to the
high middle class. There are so many opportunities that bring about this idea. "I grew up very
poor and so did my husband," said Wanda Brown, the 58-year-old wife of a retired planner for
the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard...."We're not rich but we are comfortable and we are middle
class and our son is better off than we are."(NY Times) This shows that there are multiple
opportunities to change where you began such as childhood to being an adult. Hardwork and
commitment to a task has been proven for Wanda and her family. In contrast, one major bump in
society that we see is the lottery. When people win you have the chance to leave the class you
were in and start a new life. In this, society may have created this stigmatism that there are class
structures and only the elite may be able to progress or create the opportunity. Based off of the
information within the New York Times there has been a period in which the new research
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shows that it has not. This statement concludes that there is not any progression stance between
the social class standards, such as the movement from poor to upper class. There has been a
constant leveled playing field for everyone.
In a poll conducted by Pew Research Resource they had 1,504 people participate. The
results showed that the "middle class has never been lower, dropping to 44% in the latest survey
from 53% in 2008 during the first months of the Great Recession." This evidence in a way
connects to my question because here it is in 2014, and there is evidence that shows peoples
social class identity. My parents and grandparents have talked about their social movements
within the social classes. I have seen my grandparents on my dad's side go from being stable
middle class workers, to no struggling lower class citizens. On the contrary, my parents have
gone through a sort of experience where they fluctuated between classes. With my mom finding
a new job the opportunity to move back up to the upper middle class was obtainable. This makes
it plausible to have those opportunities to move in social ranks or fall in the social ranks. Both
groups have at least one person with a college degree. "71% -- with at least a college degree see
themselves as middle class or upper-middle class, and another 4% say they are upper
class.(Dugan, Gallup)" This evidence goes to that the majority of individuals saw themselves at
the time within the a desired class. My grandparents during the economic recession would have
been part of the "9%" that dropped from the middle class to the lower class. Being that I am 19
and in college, it has not truly affected my social standing. I haven't experienced hardships that
other families have experienced. I found an interesting discussion on the Gallup website about
how people between the ages of 18-29 claim themselves to be middle class. This factors in the
fact that most people in this age bracket are college students and their parents for the most part
has been supporting them. I agree with this whole idea because as a college student I rely heavily
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on my parents for support and therefore I would associate myself with the middle class bracket.
However, when I look at things it makes me believe that there is a false sense of hope that they
will be in the middle class for the rest of their lives. When a person graduates they have all types
of loans and other things that they have to pay back and this can set any individual back and
cause a transition between social classes.
As mentioned earlier the location in which you grew up increases the factors or level in
which you become affected by the social bubble. A person who has a higher degree of education,
and a higher annual income has more of a job security. In saying this, society begins to
supplement the idea by labeling each other. The upper class can be labeled as those with great
wealth and power and also the nation's political and economic institutions as well as in the
media .(Class Structure in the US) It generally means there is too much power given to those
and so the more money you have the more power you have to control the largest sectors within
life. There is too much interest and advancement for those who classify in this class system. I
have seen this especially in media where the 2% of americans which are deemed upper class, are
given the tax breaks or they have more of an opportunity to become owners of sports teams. In a
poll conducted by the New York Times they had about 40 participants. In this they took four of
the participants responses to show the different perceptional changes that we have based off of
factors. These factor(s) are mostly centered on income. This income factor separated these four
individual into different categories of classes. The classes identified were lower, working middle
class, middle class, and last upper class. Also the thing that separates them further is that they
each have a different present circumstances and job position. They range from business
owner/marketing executive to a widow. When it was furthered examined it can be seen that
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peoples own personal lives such as taking care of loved ones, ingenuity, family owned business
spreaded the four individuals further.
People begin to craft their lives based off of education, life situations, and the career field. In my
case, my family was affected by the current economic recession. From what Ive seen no matter
what the education level is you can still have a change in your social standard. So, to make
amends people classify themselves based off of certain individual subfields. This is where Karl
Marxs ideas begin to take form and you have the bourgeoisie and proletariat formed in society
because they are sectored by their occupation.
























Work Cited
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Dobbs, Lou. War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest
Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back. New York: Viking,
2006. Print.

Dugan, Andrew. "Americans Most Likely to Say They Belong to the Middle Class." Americans
Most Likely to Say They Belong to the Middle Class. Gallup,Inc, 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Apr.
2014.

Kochhar, Rakesh, and Rich Morin. "Despite Recovery, Fewer Americans Identify as Middle
Class." Pew Research Center RSS. Pew Research Center RSS, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Scott, Janny, and David Leonhardt. "Class in America: Shadowy Lines That Still Divide." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 14 May 2005. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

"The Class Structure in the U.S." : Stratification, Inequality, and Social Class in the U.S.N.p.,
n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.