Running head: SOCIAL CLASS 1 THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL CLASS 6 The Impacts of Social Class LeDarrius Perry Introduction There is growing inequality of income distribution in the United States since the early 1980s (Savage & Mouncey, 2016). The income of the lower half and lower groups in the social class stagnated and continues to decline while the income of the top half increases. The income inequality forms the basis of social class as postulated by contemporary sociologists, such as Max Weber. Social class is defined as the level of a person’s education, income, and occupation. Social class influences the lives of individuals to a greater extent; the social class theories includes the Marx's theory and Weber's theory, while the categories of class include the upper, middle and the poor, and impacts of social class to an individual influences their physical health, mental health, family life, education, religion, politics, and crime. Background Social class is concerned with the differences in the economic status of people in a country. A close observer and researchers in the United States will be quick to note the big gap of possessions and living standards of living in the society. There is a huge variance in the access to social facilities such as health and educations across different people in the country. The variations of possessions and access to social facilities form the background of social classes and have a significant influence on a person's life. For example, statistics affirm that ten percent of children from the main developed countries live in poverty while in the United States the percentage is higher at twenty percent (Fiske & Markus, 2012). The differences in resources and thoughts lead to the concept of inequality, such as income inequality. Social class is significant in the life of an individual. Sociologist Annette Lareau posits that social has a significant impact on families, particularly children. For example, a child growing up in a family of highly educated parents is likely to have more opportunities growing up than children coming from poor families. Children whose parents occupy higher paying jobs and holding higher degrees are more likely to obtain college degrees themselves; however, such opportunities are limited in poor neighborhoods (Fiske & Markus, 2012). Sociologist Annette Lareau introduced the concept of concerted cultivation which is a style of parenting focusing on enhancing the talents of children. For instance, top half of the social classes are likely to provide their children with opportunities such as extra tutoring and dancing lessons, while such resources are available to the poor. Social Class Theories One of the early social theories is Marx's social theory of class. Karl Marx argues that the sources of social classes and statuses in the society ids the mode of production (Lenski, 2013). According to Marx, each mode of production results to the different types of classes and.

1. Running head: SOCIAL CLASS 1
THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL CLASS 6
The Impacts of Social Class
LeDarrius Perry
Introduction
There is growing inequality of income distribution in the
United States since the early 1980s (Savage & Mouncey, 2016).
The income of the lower half and lower groups in the social
class stagnated and continues to decline while the income of the
top half increases. The income inequality forms the basis of
social class as postulated by contemporary sociologists, such as
Max Weber. Social class is defined as the level of a person’s
education, income, and occupation. Social class influences the
lives of individuals to a greater extent; the social class theories
includes the Marx's theory and Weber's theory, while the
categories of class include the upper, middle and the poor, and
impacts of social class to an individual influences their physical
health, mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and crime.
Background
Social class is concerned with the differences in the economic

2. status of people in a country. A close observer and researchers
in the United States will be quick to note the big gap of
possessions and living standards of living in the society. There
is a huge variance in the access to social facilities such as
health and educations across different people in the country.
The variations of possessions and access to social facilities
form the background of social classes and have a significant
influence on a person's life. For example, statistics affirm that
ten percent of children from the main developed countries live
in poverty while in the United States the percentage is higher at
twenty percent (Fiske & Markus, 2012). The differences in
resources and thoughts lead to the concept of inequality, such as
income inequality.
Social class is significant in the life of an individual.
Sociologist Annette Lareau posits that social has a significant
impact on families, particularly children. For example, a child
growing up in a family of highly educated parents is likely to
have more opportunities growing up than children coming from
poor families. Children whose parents occupy higher paying
jobs and holding higher degrees are more likely to obtain
college degrees themselves; however, such opportunities are
limited in poor neighborhoods (Fiske & Markus, 2012).
Sociologist Annette Lareau introduced the concept of concerted
cultivation which is a style of parenting focusing on enhancing
the talents of children. For instance, top half of the social
classes are likely to provide their children with opportunities
such as extra tutoring and dancing lessons, while such resources
are available to the poor.
Social Class Theories
One of the early social theories is Marx's social theory of
class. Karl Marx argues that the sources of social classes and
statuses in the society ids the mode of production (Lenski,
2013). According to Marx, each mode of production results to
the different types of classes and groups where one group
controls production process, while the remaining groups provide
the sources of labor and services to the principal class. Karl

3. Marx identifies the dominant class the one that controls the
production process and produces ideas on how to undertake the
production process; therefore, it institutes a type of culture and
prevailing political doctrine which governs the rest of the
society.
Weber's theory of social class is one of the contemporary
social theories which strongly oppose Marx's theory. Max
Weber opposed the Marx’s theory of class by arguing that social
classes have an insignificant influence on political development
in the modern societies and further establish that there exist
other factors that play a significant role such as cultural norms
and nationalism. Max Weber posited that the notion of social
classes can be greatly attributed to impersonal income
dissimilarities across different individuals (Lenski, 2013). The
every increasing income inequality is becoming a primary
political issue in the developed nations including the U.S.,
providing more evidence to the source of social classes as
proposed by Weber. Today, social class is defined by one’s
economic status particularly income and living standards.
Categories of Social Classes
There are different categories of social classes as
discussed by various social scientists. While there are debates
and controversies regarding the theory of class, majority of the
social scientist agree to three primary types of social classes.
Social scientists commonly postulate three classes; upper
(elite), middle and lower (working) classes (Fiske & Markus,
2012). Each social class consists of different indicators and
social beliefs respective to that class. There are different life
chances and influence that the type of social class can be
attributed to the person’s life and the family underpinnings. The
social classes will be categorized into two broad categories; the
upper and middle class and the lower and working class.
The elite and the middle class is one of the categories of
social class. The elite class is mostly associated with
individuals who have acquired wealth and also have vast control
over organizations. The elite class consists of groups of

4. individuals who have high salaries such as CEOs of large
corporations and have achieved high rank through their
professions (Fiske & Markus, 2012). The middle class consists
of individuals who have considerable sources of wealth and
hold some high educational background and occupy the
managerial positions in the most institution. The people from
the elite and middle classes have higher life chances and are
likely to succeed in life and lead a healthy life than people from
the lower classes.
The poor and workings class represent the other category
of social class. The laborers class is mostly identified as people
who do not have college degrees. They are subjected to engage
in doing unskilled service work in society such as being
laborers in factories, sales clerk and nursing home staff (Fiske
& Markus, 2012). Social class has a higher negative
significance to people from the lower classes, hereby the poor
and working class. The poor are the people who are working full
time with wedges below the poverty line. In America, the poor
include the citizens working at social services, delivery
services, and the restaurant workers (Fiske & Markus, 2012).
The poor individuals have reduced access to health facilities
and high enumeration jobs and are thus, exposed to diseases,
injuries, and most significant crimes and criminal activities.
Impacts of Social Classes
Social class is a strong determinant of physical health.
Social class is closely related to environmental hazards that
affect one's health status by increasing the risk of contracting
diseases or ease of sustaining an injury. The environmental
hazards that are influenced by the social class include access to
healthy produce and good diet, exercise facilities, and health
promotion programs (Savage & Mouncey, 2016). People from
the lower socioeconomic classes suffer from poor health
because of high exposure to environmental hazards and
including lower levels of health insurances. The higher rate of
illnesses among people in the lower socioeconomic classes
results from the higher exposure to the environmental hazards;

5. for example, poorer neighborhoods have more fast foods chains
than grocery stores which can lead to conditions such as heart
diseases.
Social class affects the mental health status of people.
Mental health refers to one's status of psychological well-being
or the existence of one or more mental illness. People from
different classes have access to a different type of treatment and
encounter different mental health stressors. For instance,
individuals from the lower socioeconomic classes encounter
increased economic pressure as it relates to their daily
sustenance and well-being, whereas individuals for the upper
socioeconomic classes, on the other hand, experience stress
from their intense social pressures from their elite circles
(Savage & Mouncey, 2016). Access to mental health
intervention varies widely across different social classes, with
upper-class people having easy and increased access than people
from lower socioeconomic classes.
Another impact of social class is childbearing and
household composition. Social class influence the family life of
people including their marriages, childbearing, and household
composition. In the United States, there is a higher probability
of divorce from people in the lower socioeconomic statuses than
for those in the middle or upper classes. The higher rate of
divorce can be greatly attributed to high financial stress the
couple from lower classes face (Larea & Conley, 2008). The
birth rates from people in the lower and developing countries
are very higher as compared to the wealthier nations, showing
how income and wealth influence the shaping of family
structures. The family composition is also affected by social
class with single-parent families often associated with lower
social class because of increasing costs and at times, lower
earnings.
Educational attainment is also affected by social class.
Members of the upper socioeconomic classes acquire advanced
degrees from more prestigious schools than members of the
lower class. Many social scientists argue that individuals from

6. the upper social class have access to the financial means to
attend prestigious schools and more likely to acquire higher and
advanced educations (Lenski, 2013). Social class can also be
indirectly associated with education whereby, the people from
upper classes and having advanced education are more likely to
land employment from prestigious jobs with higher salaries. The
stratification in education contributes to stratification in the
social class. The educational inequality is one of the factors
which contributed to the divisions of classes among different
generations.
Social class affects the religious affiliations of people. The
socioeconomic status of people influences their religious
affiliations and practices with, more focus on the practices than
the degree of religiosity. Members for the lower socioeconomic
classes are mostly associated with the fundamentalist religions
and sect-like groups while people from middle and upper
classes are associated with formal churches. For instance,
American Presbyterians and Episcopalians consist of members
from the middle and upper social classes (Liu, 2011). Social
class, however, is not correlated to religiosity, the measure of
how religious a person is. Income, which s closely related to
social class, influence the denomination of a person. Statistics
reveal that there are clear differences in the average income by
religion. For instance, Judaism was the highest earning religion
with an average income of 72,000 United States (U.S.) dollars,
while Unitarianism earned an average of 56,000 U.S. dollars in
the year 2000 (Liu, 2011).
Social class affects the political participation and
influence of a person. Members of the higher socioeconomic
groups have higher political participation and political
influence. Social scientists argue that the people holding the
higher political offices and positions belong to the higher
socioeconomic classes which further the impact of class on
American politics (Liu, 2011). The wealthy and well-educated
individuals from the higher socioeconomic classes are likely to
vote and to sponsor political activities than people from the

7. lower classes. The trends in American politics indicate that
people from middle and higher social classes have higher
political involvement than people from the lower classes.
Researchers regard the people who vote as members of social
classes to be participating in identity politics.
Social class affects crime and criminal justice. Majority of
the established criminological theories affirm that there is a
close correlation between lower class lifestyle and crime. Many
of the criminologist theories have based their arguments on the
assumption that crime is primarily a lower-class phenomenon.
People from the lower socioeconomic classes struggle to make a
living and live in neighborhoods with less or no security which
influence some of the members to engage in criminal activities
to make ends meet. The Criminal Justice System in the United
States has been observed to incarcerates the people from the
lower socioeconomic backgrounds than the upper-class group
(Lenski, 2013). While wealth and power cannot preclude arrest,
statistics affirm that there is a higher probability that people
from the upper classes will not be sentenced to prison.
Conclusion
Social class influences the life of an individual including
physical health, mental health, family life, education, religion,
politics, and crime; while the theories of the class include
Marx's theory and the Weber theory, and the types of social
classes are the upper, middle, and the poor. People from
different classes have different life chances and likelihoods of
success as provided by the economic status of the class.
Individuals from higher socioeconomic classes have a higher
likelihood of success in their endeavors than people from the
lower class of people. The different types of social class
theories argue on the different sources of social class with Marx
proposing the mode of production and Weber proposing income
inequality. Social class tends to limit the chances of people
from lower classes and expose them to life-threatening
situations including diseases and crime, than people from the
upper classes.

8. References
Fiske, S. T., & Markus, H. R. (2012). Facing social class: How
societal rank influences interaction. New York: Russell Sage
Foundation
Larea, A., & Conley, D. (2008). Social class: How does it work?
New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Lenski, G. (2013). Power and privilege: A theory of social
stratification. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Liu, W. M. (2011). Social class and classism in the helping
professions: Research, theory, and practice. Thousand Oaks,
Caliph: SAGE.
Savage, M., & Mouncey, P. (2016). Social Class in the 21st
Century. International Journal of Market Research, 58(2), 335-
338. doi: 10.2501/ijmr-2016-019