The Middle Class of the United States

The Middle Class of the United States

Social class widely affects our lives. There are three social class in the United States; lower, middle, and upper. These social class ideals come from “the pre-modern societies of Europe the terms ‘burgher’ (Germany) and ‘bourgeoisie’ (French) referred to the minority of largely urban merchants and professionals who were above the peasant majority and below the minority and below the minority of landholding aristocrats” (Linda, 2004, p. 120). According to Linda (2004), “What makes the United States and similar societies middle-class is the economic predominance of the middling sort, no matter what their major source of employment happens to be” (p. 120).   Most of the people in the United States falls into the middle social class. This affects many aspects of our live including “health, family life, education, religion, politics, and even our experiences with crime and the criminal justice system” (Henslin, 2011, p. 261).  The social classes affects us as a child, adult, and older adult although our lifetime.

As a child we learn many things from our parents. We teach children to “fit into their social class” ("Social class -," 2011). Middle class parents often have more “independence at work” (Henslin, 2011, p.263). This can be closely related to how middle class parents raise their children. Henslin (2011) explains how “middle class parents focus more on developing their children’s creative and leadership skills” (p. 263). Most parents will instill a type of religion into their children. According to Henslin (2011), “Episcopalians, for example, are more likely to attract the middle and upper classes” (p. 264). Middle class people tend to like more mellow atmospheres to worship in. When children are of school age middle class parents will look for good public schools. Some parents will even move to better insure their child education. It’s often been a myth that “upper-class children are smarter has been passed down throughout the ages, but there is no conclusive evidence to back it up” ("Social class -," 2011). It is now time for this middle class child to graduate from high school.

Most middle class parents know the importance of going to college. Middle class adults just finishing high school will have more options available to them than the lower class adults. Lower class adults might have to jump right into the workforce in order to help their parents’ financially. Here is when politics also come into play because they are of voting age. According to Henslin (2011), “The higher that people are on the social class ladder, the more likely they are to vote for Republicans” (p. 264). Middle class people are right in the middle of the rich and poor. The main difference of Democrats and Republicans this election is to either cut taxes for the poor or the rich. The amount of money a person makes and who they will vote for is greatly related. No matter how much money one has retirement can always be scary.

Middle class people who are ready to retire have two options. One of the two options is to keep working past the retirement age or retire at the retirement age. There is a lot to think about when it comes to retirement. One thing to think about is how much money they have saved. I know for nursing they don’t have good retirement and have to put up their own money in a 401k. Also, at this age a lot of health problems can occur. According to Henslin (2011), “As you go up the social-class ladder, health increases” (p. 262). Middle class people can afford the better foods but it doesn’t mean that they will not have any health problems. My grandpa was in the lower middle class. He had to make a lot of very important decisions. If he was to stay in the lower middle class he would have to pay out of pocket for his medication. Medications for a lot of older adults can be very expensive. He decided to write down his assets in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid.  He would have grained more by having less. It was very hard for him to give away the things he had work so hard for. This is a problem many in the middle class faces when it comes to retirement.

In conclusion, social classes affects us as a child, adult, and older adult although our lifetime. There are many things about social classes that we learn as children. Middle class adults have the opportunity to further their education. Most middle class parents are in the middle class because they went to college themselves. These parents will be more likely to push their children for further education. As middle class people come into retirement they have a lot of important decisions to make. Most middle class people at retirement age will keep on working until they can’t anymore. Our social classes we are in makes up a lot of who we are as a person.

References

Henslin, J. M. (2011). Sociology, a down-to-earth approach. (11th ed., pp. 261-264). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Lind, M. (2004). Are We Still a Middle-Class Nation?. Atlantic Monthly (10727825), 293(1),

120-128.

Social class - effects. (2011). Retrieved from http://social.jrank.org/pages/594/Social-Class-

Effects.html