Summarize the U.S. social class ladder as proposed by Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert

Question

What will be an ideal response

Answer 1

Kahl and Gilbert base their model on one's access to power, property, prestige, and education. At the top of the class ladder is the capitalist class. Members of this class comprise one percent of the population, attend prestigious universities, and include investors, heirs, and some top executives earning $1,000,000 or more. The upper middle class are usually college educated and possess advanced degrees. They work as professionals and upper class managers, earning $125,000 or more a year and comprise 15 percent of the population. The lower middle class includes high school graduates and college graduates who work in semi-professional, lower managerial, and craft positions. They comprise 34 percent of the population and earn about $60,000 a year. Those in the working class are high school graduates employed as factory and clerical workers, low paying retail sales, and crafts earning about $35,000 a year comprising about 30 percent of the population. The working poor are high school graduates with attendance certificates and high school dropouts. They are laborers, service workers, and low-paid sales people, making about $17,000 a year comprising 16 percent of the population. Those in the underclass have similar education achievement as the working poor but are unemployed, are part-time employees, or are on welfare. They earn less than $10,000 a year and comprise four percent of the population.