It is unfortunate that when it comes to defining the middle class, there has not been a definition fully acceptable to economists and social scientists. Meanwhile, according to Pressman (2015), most attempts identify the middle in terms of income range. In the United States, they also include other factors such as college education, healthcare and assets for retirement for middle-class status, but the main focus is exclusively on income ranges (Pressman, 2015). This could however be affirmative since almost everyone believes that having a specific amount of income and standard of living, is a significant factor of being a middle class. Normally, they are those people intermediate between lower class and upper class in social ranking.
Moreover, they can also be described according to education levels and wealth (Pressman, 2015). However, in a report, A. Tarkhnishvili and L. Tarkhnishvilli (2014) came to a more detailed definition that “the middle class is a social group of the people with income that is more or less stable and sufficient to satisfy a wide range of material and social requirements and the hallmark is educational level”. Nevertheless, defining the middle class according to real world experiences and observations gives a more grounded answer to what the middle class are, in the society.
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The Role of Middle Class in the Society
In most cases, the middle class make up the largest percentile of the social class group in America and thus has a great role in society development. In a research, Chun, et al., (2011) found that middle class influences economic growth primarily through high levels of human capital investments. They argued that, entrepreneurs who foster innovations and growth emerge from the middle class, most “values” of the middle class encourage accumulation of human capital and savings and lastly, the consumption power of the middle class leads to diversification and expansion of markets.
Further, according to A. Tarkhnishvili and l. Tarkhnishvilli (2014), the middle class introduce new products and innovations, reproduction of expert labor and supports the long term peace and stability in a society. Additionally, they hold the key to social advancement since they hold together the most qualified and motivated experts with the highest potential for civil activities and social awareness, while still performing the roles of technological and economic progress (Tarkhnishvilli & Tarkhnishvili, 2014).
Effects of the middle class presence on society
It is clear that the middle class importance to the economy is noncontroversial especially in America, since their daily activities contribute vastly to the overall economy. However, the human capital and higher incomes encouraged by the middle class, is passed from parents to children through social channels. This means that people are rewarded for privileges that their parents’ social-economic status convey, rather than their productivity characteristics which consequently pulls the U.S economic growth down (Boushey & Hersh, 2012).
Additionally, economists argue that in terms of market expansion on the supply side, a squeezed middle class leads to families consuming less hence lowering the demand which may have long term implication on stability and growth. The low demand levels are brought about by the national economic gains going to those at the top of income distribution (middle class) who may have a lower tendency to consume (Boushey & Hersh, 2012). This affects the society in general which is made up of people with different social classes from lower class to upper class.
Effects of Society on the Middle Class
The position of an individual in the social class hierarchy in United States affects their family, health, education and other factors. Consequently, the controversy on social classes in the American society impacts greatly on the middle class. Health inequality is correlated to the role of social-economic status in determining access to healthcare, whereby the affluent and the middle class communities in the United States are able to access fresh produce , routine medical visits and preventive healthcare programs unlike the impoverished in the same area (Pressman, 2015).
In addition, social status also play a role in education and training where certain levels of education like college and universities are available for the affluent and middle class and the poor cannot afford. Besides, family life factors are also affected by social economic status where in the United States, the probability of a first marriage ending is higher for lower class than those in middle class. This associated with problems of financial access by lower class which stresses couples (Pressman, 2015). Affirmatively, the society impacts positively on the middle class in the assumption that they make up the largest group and has more influence on the society politically, economically and socially.
References
Boushey, H. & Hersh, A. (2012). The American middle class, income, inequality and the strength of our economy. Centre for American Progress . Retrieved from: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2012/05/17/11628/the-american-middle-class-income-inequality-and-the-strength-of-our-economy/
Chun, N., Hasan, R. & Uabasolgu, M. (2011). The role of the middle class in economic development: What do cross-country data show? Asian Development Bank Publications . Retrieved from: https://www.adb.org/publications/role-middle-class-economic-development-what-do-cross-country-data-show/
Pressman, S. (2015). Defining and Measuring the Middle Class. American Institute for Economic Research . Working paper 007. Retrieved from: https://www.aier.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Standaed/wp007-middle-class.pdf
Tarkhnishvili, A. & Tarkhnishvili, L. (2014). Middle class: Definition, role and development. Global Journal of Human Social Sciences Sociology and Culture, 13 (7). Retrieved from: https://globaljournals.org/GJHSS-volume13/3-middle-class-Definiton-Role-and-Development.pdf
