Working Class

Because America promotes the notion that one can achieve anything if one only works hard enough, the subject of class is a sensitive topic. However, the U.S. is a highly stratified society, and the working class is increasingly experiencing less social and economic mobility. Even though many people immigrate (both legally and illegally) to the U.S. in pursuit of greater economic opportunities, the majority end up as part of the working class and remain there. One of the reasons for this is that the country is becoming more divided between rich and poor, and the working class is being shunted into the latter category. The existence of a "middle class" is becoming less of a reality. Despite this, the working class continues to make an enormous and important contribution to American society.

Keywords Assimilation; Blue-Collar Workers; Capitalism; Class; Meritocracy; Social Mobility; Stratification; Tokenism

The Working Class

Overview

Workers are often considered the backbone of a society. To a large degree, the working class is made up of the people we refer to as "blue-collar workers." These workers may be skilled or unskilled and work in a wide range of fields such as manufacturing, mining, construction, home renovations, temporary daily labor, maintenance and repair, and other forms of physical labor. The notion of a working class can actually be a vague term, and it can vary from country to country depending on the ways in which the various social strata are defined. In America, the working class generally consists of laborers who are distinguished from "white collar workers" such as academics, businesspeople, or sales executives. The working class is also generally thought of as having a lower or limited education. However, defining the working class is becoming ever more difficult. According to Smock (1995):

In addition to bluecollar workers, arguing justifiably that the demarcation between working class and lower middle class has become even more blurred in recent years. What the men and women in these families have in common are jobs paying low wages, little or no discretionary income, and vulnerability to bouts of unemployment (p. 187).

Class, Social Mobility & Social Inequality

While the dream of upward mobility and achieving the "American Dream" continues to persist not only in the U.S. and in other countries, the reality is that America has always been a stratified society. There have always been the rich, the middle class, and the poor. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the lines between middle class and the working class began to blur. The majority of these people are in the working class. They have regular jobs, bring in a regular salary, and may even have a pension fund and health insurance. However, the likelihood of ever moving beyond the working class is becoming less and less likely all the time.

One of the key issues facing the working class is social inequality. In fact, one could make the argument that decreasing social mobility and social inequality are very much related to each other. The longer an individual or family remains part of the working class, the more difficult it becomes to move out of that class and the more they are affected by social inequality. Social mobility in the U.S. has a strong correlation with white collar work and the ability to save money beyond one's monthly paycheck. In other words, if a person or family continues to subsist on their monthly income but cannot save beyond that, there is little to no likelihood (unless they win the lottery or inherit money) that they will ever move beyond the working class.

The Working Poor

Within the larger group referred to as the working class, there is the group known as the "working poor." These are people who live either on or just below the poverty line, and the statistics are grim. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "10.6 million individuals were among the ‘working poor’; this measure was little changed from 2011" (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014, p. 1).

Although social mobility is increasingly difficult to achieve, America is still considered to have an open class system. This suggests that while people may be born into a class, they are not expected to remain there. One of the most enduring principles of American society is that hard work and especially achievement can lead to a person's movement up the "social ladder." Hard work has always been highly prized in America and viewed as a means of improving one's life (Loeb, 1961).

Some would suggest that there are inherent inequalities in American society that make social mobility difficult. As stated above, persons in the working class usually work some form of physical labor, or they work in the service industry. After a day of such work, people are often tired to the point of exhaustion. Many come home to families and face a whole new set of responsibilities—decisions regarding children, bills to pay, etc. The majority of these people do not have the money, energy, or freedom to attend night school and educate themselves for a better job and higher salary. There are many who cannot afford a home computer in order to pursue online education. In addition, the country's economic downturn in 2008 led to a high percentage of layoffs, leaving the working class in an even more vulnerable position. If they were fortunate enough not to be laid off, they might still be in the position of having uncertain or part-time employment and the possibility of unstable work.

Race & the Working Class

The subject of race and class in America continues to be one of the most contentious and emotional to deal with. The history of race in America has been a difficult one even though the country has often been thought of (and has actually been) a haven for people from a wide range of countries and cultures. Yet, the truth is that people of color are the majority of the working class in America. "Hispanics and Blacks were twice as likely as Whites and Asians to be among the working poor. In 2012, the working-poor rates of Hispanics and Blacks were 13.8 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively, compared with 6.2 percent for Whites and 4.9 percent for Asians. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014, p. 2).

The fact that African Americans and Latinos continue to be the majority of the poor or working class translates into fewer opportunities for social mobility. This color divide represents a disturbing reality for American society. It translates into a grim future for people of color and far less chance to change that reality than was previously thought to be true.

Education & Social Class

Education has long been considered the "bridge to social mobility" in America. It has generally been accepted that the higher one's education, the greater the opportunities for social mobility. Education and social mobility were once thought to be highly connected. While that may be true to some degree, there is also a case to be made that education simply reinforces class status rather than serving as a bridge for social mobility.

Some researchers suggest that instead of creating a path to social mobility, the educational system often reinforces the status quo. While there have been and continue to be initiatives implemented to try to ensure that the educational system is equal for all, some still say that this is more of a fantasy than a reality. The truth for working-class students is that they come from a background where resources are limited, and there may be a need for them to take a part-time job at a younger age than they are ready to in order to access postsecondary education. According to Rouse and Barrow (2006):

For low-income students, greater psychological costs, the cost of forgone income (continuing in school instead of getting a job), and borrowing costs all help to explain why these students attain less education than more privileged children. And these income-related differences in costs may themselves be driven by differences in access to quality schools. As a result, U.S. public schools tend to reinforce the transmission of low socioeconomic status from parents to children (p. 99).

At least one study suggests that children from working class families are always behind the proverbial "eight ball" due to the reduced access to resources and information. "Students in poor and minority neighborhoods are less well prepared academically; ill-prepared to select colleges, apply for admission, and secure acceptance; and poorly informed about the cost of attending college and the availability of needs-based financial aid" (Haveman & Smeeding, 2006, p. 126).

According to Hurst (2007), barriers for working-class students exist in higher education too. In particular, they have difficulty in building a bridge between their two worlds—the world they come from (its culture and values) and the world they have entered into (with its culture and values). The discrepancies between the two worlds often leave these individuals feeling lost, frustrated, and confused. Hurst suggests that an important skill for working-class students in postsecondary education is to recreate their own identity—an identity that can relate to and exist in both worlds. Working-class students are faced with a terrible choice—to assimilate into the new culture or resist and maintain their identity at all costs. "Being a rebel and still managing to be academically successful is not an easy task, and may explain why there appear to be many more assimilators than resistors (again, this goes to the heart of social reproduction theory)" (Hurst, 2007, p. 84).

One of the primary barriers to postsecondary education is economic. Universities and colleges are expensive. Many students cannot afford to extend their education beyond high school. In addition, competition for scholarships is fierce. "Even among students with similar test scores and class ranks and from identical schools, students from higher-income families are significantly more likely than those from lower-income families to attend college…" (Haveman & Smeeding, 2006, p. 126).

America has often thought of itself as an education-based meritocracy, in which higher education serves as a means for social mobility. However, the process to gain spots in top universities and colleges has become more of a struggle (and a competition), and excellent grades are not always enough. For example, to attend schools like Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and other top universities historically has not only been financially prohibitive to all but the extremely wealthy, a potential student also often needed the "right social connections." As Haveman and Smeeding (2006) explain:

Contrary to its stated goals and repeated claims, the U.S. higher education system fails to equalize opportunities among students from high- and low-income families. Rather, the current process of admission to, enrollment in, and graduation from colleges and universities contributes to economic inequality as measured by income and wealth (p. 128).

Secure Retirement

One of the most serious issues for people in the working class is the concern of Social Security and the notion of a secure retirement. Without a secure retirement, people in the working class either have to rely on their children to support them or risk falling into dire poverty. "The retirement income landscape is becoming more treacherous. The length of retirement is increasing,” with the average retirement age at age sixty-two as of 2014 and life expectancy continuing to rise (Munnell, 2008, p. 41; Riffkin, 2014). Some employers no longer provide pension plans; even if one works for an employer who does, the opportunities to save money beyond the required employee contribution are limited.

The lack of ability to save and a pension that will likely decrease in value as interest rates rise means that many in the working class will face a decline in their standard of living once they reach retirement:

The rise in life expectancy and the contraction of conventional retirement income sources means many people are going to have to work longer to gain a reasonably secure and comfortable retirement. Continued work means that the employee must recognize the need to stay in the labor force and the employer must be willing to hire the older worker (Munnell, 2008, p. 43).

Although people generally are living longer lives in developed countries, this is not always true for people in the working class. Given that many people work at hard, manual labor, the thought of early, not later, retirement is something they hold on to as a promise for the future. However, if the retirement money they have available cannot support that, then no matter how difficult it is, many in the working class will have to accept a much longer working life. The decision to work later than the age of 65 may not always be possible even if people are willing and able. Not all employers are willing to keep older workers, especially in a physically demanding job. One of the ideas to help ease this situation is stated by Munnell: "with a diminished Social Security program, uncertain outcomes from 401(k) plans, and one third of households with no pensions at all, it might be worth considering the introduction of an additional tier of retirement income" (2008, p. 49). Worse yet, as of 2014, the Federal Reserve Board estimated that 31 percent of American adults, including 19 percent of those aged fifty-five to sixty-four, had no retirement savings whatsoever (cited in Hicken, 2014).

Applications

Health Care & Social Mobility

An enduring reality of American life is the crisis of the country's health care system. Yet, there is also a distressing link between health and social mobility. People who work at manual labor are far more likely to injure themselves (more than once) and have historically worked for employers who take advantage of a willing labor force to pay lower wages and not provide health insurance. The combination of a greater likelihood of injury and no health insurance is a dangerous one. It has left many in the working class vulnerable to complete financial breakdown.

There is a linear progression that can easily be explained as "good health equals good opportunities." The equation should read: the ability to pay for good health services equals better health, and this translates into the ability to work harder. The lack of proper health care often translates into poor health, which can lead to loss of income and a downturn in social mobility. Palloni (2006) argues that in fact childhood health is a strong correlate to social mobility. He emphasizes that "early childhood health is an important, albeit not the most powerful, determinant of social stratification. It is a non-ignorable mechanism through which social inequalities could be reproduced across generations" (2006, p. 588). He explains that both chronic physical or mental health issues in childhood can translate into poor health in adulthood and thus less chance for social mobility.

The health of the working class is also quite often affected by the environments in which they work. They are often working in stressful and unsafe environments that can lead to mental health issues and physical injuries or other conditions. Research conducted by Griffin-Blake, Alarcon-Yohe, Grady, and Liburd (2008) reveals that women in the working class experience an extremely high rate of stress and other conditions such as fibromyalgia, insomnia, high blood pressure, and diabetes. This report identifies a key dilemma for working women—the lack of power to change their situation. Many in the working class experience a distinct lack of ability to make positive change in their social status.

The lack of access to affordable health care has remained the key to all these issues. Health care has become increasingly expensive, copayments have risen, and the number of procedures and treatments that insurance companies will not pay for have increased. In testimony before Congress, Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation remarked,

And, even for those with health coverage, rising premium costs, the increasing out-of-pocket costs from more limited coverage, and decreasing availability of employer-based coverage make obtaining and paying for health care an increasing financial burden. For many, health insurance coverage through the workplace now has higher deductibles and more cost-sharing as well as higher premiums (2007, p. 1).

For those in the working class, this lack of affordable health care translates into health problems both short-term and chronic, which affects their ability to work and any hope of real social mobility. The Affordable Care Act of 2009 seeks to redress these issues by requiring employers with more than fifty workers to provide sponsored health insurance coverage to those working full time, offering tax credits to those who cannot get employer-sponsored plans, and expanding Medicaid benefits in several states (Jarrett, 2013; "Health care", 2014). Flaws remain in the system, however. For instance, as Philip Mattera (2013) notes, companies employing low-wage workers are not penalized for failing to provide employer-sponsored insurance and for encouraging them to enroll in Medicaid, a program for which they may be ineligible due to poverty-line standards. Thus, affordable health care coverage remains elusive for many.

Conclusion

The dawn of the twenty-first century may have also been the beginning of the end for what has been termed the "American Dream." So many people have immigrated to the U.S. over the past few centuries in order to pursue the dream of working hard and becoming successful. The old notion was that if you worked hard enough, you could achieve anything and become anybody. It is possible that, to some degree, this may be true. If it is, it exists on a very small scale. The reality of life for people in the working class is that their lives are difficult. They work long hours, many in physically demanding and even dangerous jobs. Many will spend their entire lives as workers. The children of the working class will feel caught between home and the promise of a better life—their own culture and the one they hope to be a part of.

The working class no longer has any direct path to success, not hard work and not even education. There are no guarantees that one who is born into the working class will not die as part of the same class. It may be that social mobility is becoming far less attainable in the twenty-first century than it has ever been in American history.

Terms & Concepts

Assimilation: The process by which people from one culture blend into another, effectively letting go of their old cultural values and norms to adopt new ones.

Blue-Collar Workers: Workers within the working class who labor at jobs that are primarily physical or manual in nature, but also in the service sector.

Capitalism: An economic system based on the premise of free enterprise and the accumulation of profit.

Class: Social class is a position in a hierarchy usually endowed with material, social, symbolic, and ideological resources.

Meritocracy: The concept that a society rewards people with greater social status on the basis of their achievements; in other words, they merit a change in their social status.

Social Mobility: The concept that a society provides for people to move between the class structure, preferably from a lower to a higher class in society.

Stratification: The division of society into a class structure; the various levels are based on wealth or power.

Tokenism: A policy or practice of limited inclusion of certain people into a group in order to give the appearance that it is inclusive when it is actually exclusive.

Bibliography

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Haveman, R., & Smeeding, T. (2006). The role of higher education in social mobility. . Future of Children, 16 , 125–150. Retrieved July 22, 2008 from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=22466162&site=ehost-live

"Health Care That Works for Americans." (n.d.). Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved January 14, 2015, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview

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Hurst, A. L. (2007). Telling tales of oppression and dysfunction: Narratives of class identity reformation. Qualitative Sociology Review, 3 , 82–104. Retrieved July 22, 2008 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=26297796&site=ehost-live

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Mattera, P. (2013). The ACA employer penalty gap. Social Policy, 43, 41. Retrieved January 14, 2015 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=91979359&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Munnell, A. (2008). The declining players in the retirement income game: Risks and policy implications. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 62, 40–53. Retrieved July 22, 2008 from EBSCO online database Business Source Premier: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=31138427&site=ehost-live

Palloni, A. (2006). Reproducing inequalities: Luck wallets, and the enduring effects of childhood health. Demography, 43 , 587–615. Retrieved July 22, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=23128291&site=ehost-live

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Suggested Reading

Arnold, K. A. (2008). America's new working class. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

Delavega, E. (2013). An effective anti-poverty program. Social Policy, 43, 8–10. Retrieved January 14, 2015 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=91979352&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Domiínguez, S. (2011). Getting ahead: Social mobility, public housing, and immigrant networks. New York, NY: New York University Press. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=355668&site=ehost-live

Frisch, M. J., & Walkowitz, D. J. (1983). Working-class America. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Lambert, P. (2011). Social stratification: Trends and processes. Farnham, England: Ashgate. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=436686&site=ehost-live

McDermott, M. (2006). Working class white. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Shipler, D. K. (2006). The working poor: Poverty in America. New York, NY: Knopf Publishing Group.

Zweig, M. (2001). The working class majority: America's best kept secret. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Essay by Ilanna Mandel, M.A.

Ilanna Mandel is a writer and editor with over seventeen years of experience, specifically in the health and education sectors. Her work has been utilized by corporations, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. She is a published author with one book and numerous articles to her credit. She received her MA in Education from UC Berkeley where she focused on Sociology and Education.