Middle Class Research Paper

The American middle class is supposed to be living the American dream life. They would be able to afford a home, 1-2 cars, take 1-2 vacations within a year, be able to send their children to college and live comfortable lives. Middle class Americans would shop stores such as Wal-Mart and Kmart and splurge on department

Contrary to the upper class, the middle class retains an opportunity for growth and therefore believes in the American Dream. However, their dreams shy away from the common view of the American Dream and instead revolve around their values and wants. Primarily, the middle class is defined as having an income between $46,960 and $140,900, although the economic boundaries that make up the middle class constantly varies (Luhby). Besides income, the middle class also can be identified by occupation, net worth, or education, but every middle class citizen, no matter how they are identified, experience similar circumstances (Elkins). The majority of the middle class yearn to have a nice home and secure job, along with extra money to enjoy their interests and hobbies. In addition, they strive to set aside savings for their children’s transition into the working world or future education. Although the middle class has more opportunities than lower class citizens, they still encounter their own struggles. For many middle class families, hard times come and go while they try to maintain a comfortable living situation. Money for them does not come as easily as it does for the upper class, who typically have enough to constantly feel stable. Nonetheless, the middle class obtains enough to live more

The gap between the upper class and the lower class is growing; the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Instead of helping the lower class, the upper class is spending their money on fancy houses and material objects. For example, in the outskirts of cities, the rich business owners are building large mansions to live in. On the other hand, the lower class live in tiny tenements in the heart of the city. Many are unemployed and starving. In addition, between 1865 and 1900 only a small percent of Americans grew wealthy showing that wealth is only being passed through families not gained. However this growing gap between rich and poor has allowed the growth of the middle class. This middle class made up of doctors, lawyers and other will help the will hopefully help lessen the gap between

With the growing importance of higher education, more people than ever are attending college. According to a middle-class parent, “[Higher education] seen as a means of developing a career and getting secure employment.” (30, Higher Education, social class and social mobility) Moreover, “parents believe that their children need a university education to get on in life… over the past decades (parents) fearful that without a degree their children will be in danger of downward social mobility. (32, Higher

Although most people in the United States of America do not live in an upper-class household, this term is often correlated with income, wealth, power, and prestige. In fact, “approximately one percent of the U.S. population is considered to fall in this stratum” (2017 p.260). Nevertheless, the middle class are the rulers of the United States of America. Per Conley, the middle class is “a term commonly used to describe those individuals with nonmanual jobs that pay significantly more than the poverty line – though this is a highly debated and expansive category, particularly in the United States of America, where broad swathes of the population consider themselves middle class” (2017 p.262). In particular, the middle class is often correlated with white-collar workers, such as accountants, teachers, and attorneys. An abundant number of families in the United States of America are considered to be “poor.” In accordance with Conley, “in 2015, the poverty line for a family of four was $24,250” (2017

Middle class families have been finding it difficult these past years to pay their college tuition because of how rapidly the price of tuition has increased. Keith Ellison states in his article “The Argument for Tuition-Free College” that “Cost of attending a 4 year college has increased by 1,222% since 1978”. College tuition has risen at rate faster than we could afford, making it more difficult for middle class families to find the funds needed to give their children a college education. You will think that families making at least $100,000 a year would find it easy to cover tuition costs for their kids but in fact it’s the exact opposite. According to EAB’s article “Think Your College Is Affordable for Middle-Class Students? You'd Be Surprised” it

Society has put so much emphasis on attending college after high school, making it a social norm. During the last two years of high school guidance consolers, teachers, parents and their children begin meeting and have discussions on whats next after high school. Many parents such as the ones in the study conducted by Holmstrom, Lynda Lytle plan to send their children to college after high school. One parent stated “ what kind of economic future do they have if they are not educated.” Participating parents were from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and those who’ve attending college and some that did not were in agreement that the benefits were everlasting. When asked what they received from attending college parents gave responses such as “ I was well served, it was a tremendously exciting place, along with gaining new prospective on the world, boosting self confidences and broadening and opening their minds. Other parents expressed the ability to obtain a job they were about to provide for their families along with gaining personal benefits like health care. The parents in this study were faced with the truths of having to pay for their children’s higher education and overall they were willing to go the extra mile so their children were able to go to college and not be struggling to make ends meet in the years

The middle class is like the engine to The United States economy. In order to rebuild the middle class, the American people will have to focus on the job crisis. Set the agenda to create good jobs. You cannot rebuild the middle class without putting America back to work. Too many Americans cannot find work at all; too many workers are toiling in jobs that don’t pay enough to support families. Meanwhile, the jobs that will grow the most in the next decade are expected to be low-wage and stripped of benefits.

We live in a world where every day we wake up trying to make a living and get onto the next day repeating the same thing over and over. Waking up each day and realizing that you are not able to survive in this world without any money can have a huge impact towards any goal you are trying to reach. In some cases we tend to set the bar high but there is only one problem, how are we going to get enough money to pay for our future goals? Growing up in the working class has been a ride to remember. Experiencing poverty can also have a great affect in your life. After reading three amazing articles one by Richard Rodriguez the second by Barbara Ehrenreich and the last one by Bell Hook, I have learned that there is so much more than to be classified into a class (working class, middle class, and poverty).

The killer of the middle class in the USA! GLOBALIZATION!! The direction the billionaires have brought this nation and the middle class in the US are sick of getting taken advantage of, sick of no jobs and getting screwed in trade and at the border. Open borders agenda is a part of it allowing open travels to work and jobs to bring up developing countries economies at the expense of hard working Americans! North Atlantic Free Trade Association Clinton backed (NAFTA) - NAFTA sent the jobs of U.S. autoworkers to Mexico, a developing country, where wages are significantly lower than those in the U.S. A few years later, some of those same jobs were relocated to third-world countries in East Asia, where wages are even lower. In both cases, the auto

For example, the cost for medical service in each field has skyrocketed, health insurance has been raised, taxes have increased, and house mortgages have practically doubled. The desire for more money has created a social force that combats the very existence of a middle class. (What is the importance of a strong middle class as far as social norms and values?) However, considering the middle classes position in society we can see that they contribute, in a very irreplaceable way, to societies stability tremendously. The middle class helps establish the set norms and accepted values by everyone. The upper class has the advantage over other classes regarding their amount of money, but the middle class holds the key components that enforce societies way of interacting with one another. Having a strong middle class ensures the continual existence of a society because without socially accepted behaviors and values a society will fall apart. (What happened to the middle class when Rome began to decline?) If we look at the Roman Empire and its decline, we can see that the desolation within Rome’s society completely destroyed the middle class, leaving the remembrance of this great nation as a fragmented piece of history; once beheld as the world’s most

For this summary and response essay my audience is my Ivy Tech English class, and Professor Jo Johnson. The class and I have all been assigned to look into a core reading covering some form of economic justice. The essay I am writing will cover the topics and provide insights on the economy and politics of the unofficial class system present in the United States, in specific, that of the Middle class. It points out flaws and various ways the middle class is mistaken and manipulated. It also provides a deeper look into if the Americans who consider themselves part of this middle class truly have it as bad as some say.

I have a daughter who is in 4th grade, she goes to school with lots of kids from upper middle-class families. I see examples of these parents asking for extra’s for their children in the classroom all the time. Many families in our community, are always on the go with multiple activities for their children on a daily basis. Often times I see lower class families who feel like they need to try and keep up, so that their children don’t get left behind. This is not always possible, as they may have to work longer hours than their middle-class counterparts. They depend more on extended family and the independence of the kids to get by. To me, to much structure in a child’s life can be damaging, and can leave them unable to cope with life’s

In elementary school, reading, being driven to the public library, and swapping out my books for new ones before the library closed at 5 o’clock on Sundays were about the only things I ever liked doing as a kid. I was just a little different from all the other kids at my school – I didn’t particularly enjoy playing basketball or running around chasing each other on the playground, and my parents kept painfully reminding me about that almost every day when they came to pick me up after school. Although it seemed to my parents and my friends that I was simply lazy and antisocial, I truly enjoyed reading about the ingenious ploys by Harry Potter and Frodo Baggins – saving the world from an untimely doom – and I imagined that I would one day do the same.

I think Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. Maybe because of the special atmosphere that you can feel everywhere, in shops, restaurants , pubs and even streets, where you can hear the magical carols, or maybe it's because of its religious background, but what I can tell you for sure is that I can't think of anything more exciting than the image of the entire family preparing the Christmas Tree or fixing the Christmas dishes.