American Class System | Social Classes Types & Structure - Lesson | Study.com (2024)

Until the Industrial Revolution, most class systems looked very similar across countries. The ruling class was a small minority of people who held incredible wealth. The artisan class held a moderate amount of wealth, but comprised an equally small portion of the population. The peasant class comprised the vast majority of citizens. These peasants farmed crops and raised livestock that fed these two other classes, all while often making barely enough to survive.

Technological advancements in the 18th and 19th centuries made farming more efficient and enabled the beginning of industrialization. The growth of factories meant millions of people began to flood into the cities looking for these new factory jobs. Unfortunately, these jobs did not pay any more than farming yielded and working conditions were far worse. However, factory jobs became the primary source of employment for people and meant that a large majority of citizens were trapped in poverty.

These men are glass blowing, which was amongst one of the thousands of manufacturing jobs someone could have at the time.

In the United States during the 20th century, this changed and the modern American class system came into existence. After World War II, the United States had a massive network of factories and a transportation system to move goods around the world. With several industrial countries damaged from the war, the United States was able to begin supplying the world with cars, household appliances, and machinery. Because factory production had become so efficient and laws were created to protect workers' rights, employees were given a good paying 8-hour-a-day job. This post-war boom resulted in the rapid expansion of the American middle class, which pulled mainly white Americans out of poverty and into a stable life. Unlike the artisans of the original middle class, this new class was comprised of millions of Americans performing unskilled labor.

In the many decades since this explosion of the middle class, the American social structure has changed further. This system has three social classes: the lower class, middle class, and upper class. By the late 20th century, it became clear that the middle class was shrinking, while the lower and upper classes were expanding. This trend continues to this day. While 61% of Americans were middle class in 1971, only 50% were middle class in 2015. The wealth distribution in the United States has become more unequal than it has been in over a century. These changes are the result of several factors that took place since the beginning of the post-war boom.

Upper Class (Ruling Class)

The upper class has always had a prominent voice in the United States. For example, the Founding Fathers were some of the richest people in the Thirteen Colonies at the time. However, over the 200+ years of the country's existence, there have been many opportunities for business owners to accrue so much wealth that it funds their family for generations. Some examples of these families are the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Du Ponts, and Hearsts. People who are born into these wealthy families typically are given a trust fund that contains effectively all the money they will ever need in their whole life.

People who benefit from these types of families are said to come from old money because it was originally earned a long time ago. This means that these people do not have any earnings because they themselves did not make any of the money. Instead, they have wealth, which describes people who have money regardless of if they themselves earned it.

During the 1980s, the restructuring of the economy meant that both the old money rich and the new money rich gained even more wealth. Between dramatic tax rate reductions for the wealthy and deregulation of the economy, the income of the top 20% of American families increased by 19%. These laws also meant that in the same time, the poorest 20%'s wealth decreased 9%.

Middle Class

During the 1950s and 60s, a rapid process of suburbanization occurred. With cars becoming so cheap and an exploding middle class, people could drive to work instead of living close to it. This possibility opened large areas of land up for development. Suburbs were erected, and most members of the middle class fled the urban centers for their own home in a housing tract. Most of these people did not need to go to college because, at the time, the jobs in the economy did not require special expertise. However, by the 21st century, a vast majority of middle-class jobs require a college degree. This is because all the manufacturing jobs have left the country and moved to countries where workers are willing to be paid less than an American.

The United States economy has changed to one based on services and technology. This means that members of the middle class who did not go to college are typically in the lower-middle class. Moreover, the suburban boom in the mid-20th century allowed millions of white families to purchase a home for a cheap price and pass the wealth into the next generation. In modern times, middle-class jobs are typically office jobs, teaching, police officers, and trade-related jobs such as plumbing.

Working Class and the Working Poor

The working class, or lower class, consists of people who have not received the same benefits as the other two categories. As the process of suburbanization occurred, all the people who could not afford a car or buy a home in the suburbs were left in the urban centers. The centers of cities were ignored for decades, while schools and other public facilities in suburbia received plenty of funding. Even if someone from the working class saved up enough to move to a suburban neighborhood, they may not be eligible if they were deemed undesirable by the homeowner's loan corporation. In America's past, African Americans and Jewish people were denied loans if they tried to purchase a home in a wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood. This kept people in homes with a poor value and made it difficult to move up the socio-economic ladder. Barriers such as this have made it difficult for ~20% of Americans to rise above poverty.

The Homeowners

Most people in the tier are categorized as the working poor. This means that they work 40+ hours a week and put in the time and energy required to succeed; however, they are stuck in a minimum wage job. These people are also considered to be in the upper-lower class; because while they do not earn much for their work, they are able to sustain themselves in an apartment and provide for themselves and their family, if only barely.

Typically, members of this class did not go to college and work in the service industry, providing services such as cleaning, cooking, and other low-skill jobs. While many may be capable of working in higher-skill jobs, they did not have the opportunity to go to college in their life. This is likely because they either had to work to support their family or because college seemed unattainable in their community.

Unlike the common misconception that poorer people are lazy, economic status almost always depends upon the barriers and opportunities afforded to the specific group of people from which someone comes from. The heretical Indian class system is based upon the Hindu religion and was closely followed for thousands of years. While this may seem completely different from the American social structure, the factors that people are born into heavily impacts the opportunities people have to move within the American class system. One of the fastest-growing of these class categories is the upper-lower class, in which people work full-time jobs but are still living paycheck-to-paycheck. This is also referred to as the working poor, because despite working for minimum wage, their earnings are not enough to provide a livable wage. The other group that has expanded in the past few decades has been the upper-upper class. These people come from old money or are CEOs of companies who make 119 times the average wage of the company's employees. The old money rich have a large amount of wealth; however, they have very low earnings because those living off a trust fund do not earn any of their own money. As the economy has changed and benefitted the upper class, the only class shrinking is the middle class. In the 21st century, possessing a college degree is vital to having access to good jobs, and those in the middle class without one are typically in the lower-middle class. As the economy has shifted to one based on services and technology, wealth has become more concentrated in the upper class; and those in the lower class still must overcome decades of barriers established in the 20th century.