Socioeconomic status classification often places people into one of several classes of
society. These classes are defined by many of the factors cited above, such as
income, type of
occupation,
education, familial
wealth, habits, affectations, and, to a declining extent,
ethnic,
racial and
religious pedigree.
In North America, Britain, and Europe, a common way of delineating socioeconomic stratification has been into the classes of:
Dependent Poor
Working Poor
Working Class
Middle Class
Upper Middle Class
Upper Class
Leisure Class
Gentry
However, as cultural differences between the various classes, especially Middle Class and above, have blurred, and because certain occupations have become relatively more lucrative in recent years while others have become less so, and because the blue collar manufacturing base has eroded in much of the western world, we seem to have collapsed the number of distinct classes into only four:
Dependent Poor
'Working People'
Middle Class
Middle Class with an excess of money