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Social class in the United States is a controversial issue, having many competing definitions, models, and even disagreements over its very existence.
[1] Many Americans believe in a simple three-class model that includes the "
rich", the "
middle class", and the "
poor". More complex models that have been proposed describe as many as a dozen class levels;
[2][3] while still others deny the very existence, in the European sense, of "social class" in American society.
[4] Most definitions of class structure group people according to
wealth,
income,
education, type of
occupation, and membership in a specific subculture or social network.
Sociologists
Dennis Gilbert, William Thompson, Joseph Hickey, and James Henslin have proposed class systems with six distinct social classes. These class models feature an
upper or capitalist class consisting of the
rich and powerful, an
upper middle class consisting of highly educated and
affluent professionals, a
middle class consisting of college-educated individuals employed in
white-collar industries, a lower middle class, a working class constituted by
clerical and blue collar workers whose work is highly routinized, and a lower class divided between the working
poor and the unemployed underclass.
[2][5][6]