Upper middle class
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Image:NYTimes Class.jpg Image:Waikiki-Vacation.JPG The upper middle class is a sub-label sometimes applied by sociologists to the social group of wealthier or more privileged members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term lower middle class used for the group at the other end of the middle class scale and regular middle class. There is considerable debate as to how the upper middle class might be defined (whether by education, wealth, or the prestige or skill level of their profession). According to Weber and Fussel the Upper middle class consist of well educated professionals with graduate degrees and comfortable income.
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[edit] Professions
Certain professions can be judged as "upper middle class" though any such measurement remains somewhat subjective due to people's differing perception of class. Most people in the upper-middle class strata are highly educated professionals such as physicians, lawyers, university professors, architects, scientists, engineers, writers, artists, high-level civil servants and the intelligentsia or "chattering classes" of a society in general. Other common professions include corporate executive and business owner. Generally, people in these professions earn a comfortable living that, in American terms, exceeds $65,000 per year and often reaches well into the six figure range. However, some prominent professionals are considered part of the lower upper class. People in the upper-middle class usually reside in well-to-do neighborhoods in above-average, well-maintained homes.
[edit] Values
Most people from this station in life have an enormously high regard for higher education, and probably more than any other socio-economic class strive for their children and themselves to obtain graduate or at least four year degrees. This emphasis placed on education should not come as a surprise considering that most people in the upper middle class are professionals who often hold graduate degrees.
They place a high value on foreign travel, the arts, and high culture in general. This value also binds into the emphasis placed on education as foreign travel increases a peoples' understanding of other cultures and helps them create a global perspective.
The majority regard themselves as liberal on social issues (such as feminism and gay rights), but some are conservative when it comes to financial matters (such as unionisation and social security), in other words they are libertarian. This is the reverse of how most working class people view the world, which explains why these two groups clash more than the lower middle class and the working class.
The Upper Middle Class are usually also the group that shape society and bring social movements to the forefront. Movements such as the Peace Movement, The Anti-Nuclear Movement, Environmentalism, the Anti-Smoking movement, and even in the past with Blue Laws and the Temperance movement are all products of the upper middle class. Some claim this is because this is the largest class (and the lowest class) with any true political power for positive change, while others claim some of the more restrictive social movements (such as with smoking and drinking) are based upon "saving people from themselves" and the managerial assumption that the lower classes need the force of law to conform to society's expectations. This can be seen as far back as the Puritan Era and the Victorian era.
[edit] Material items
Material items of high prestige within this class are luxury automobiles, fine tailoring, high-end furniture, and designer-label clothing. Most sociologists maintain that one should make the distinction of two separate sets within the upper middle class, the Professional Class and the Managerial Class. The Professional Class is composed of highly educated specialists such as Physicians, Architects, and Academics, while the Managerial Class is made up mostly of mid- to high-level Corporate Executives. The professionals generally are more liberal in their outlook and more urban and chic in their tastes, while the managers tend to be more conservative and suburban in their preferences. There may be overlapping between these two groups and it is possible for either to be conservative or liberal in their tastes.
There are, however, exceptions worth mentioning, as sometimes the liberal or the religious conservative outlook of those in the professional upper-middle class causes them to limit their material consumption, not due to financial restrictions but rather due to personal beliefs.
[edit] United Kingdom upper middle class
This is a very specific class in England and is, in many respects, peculiar to England as its characteristics do not fit easily into the social gradations of the other constituent nations of the United Kingdom.
In England this class of people is less easily defined, and personal wealth is not a necessary criterion. Frequently its members are members of professions (traditionally academia, law and medicine), although merchants too were able to penetrate its ranks. However, being a member of a profession does not automatically elevate a person to this class, and it is quite common for an upper middle class person not to work in a traditional profession.
Instead, accent, language, education (usually at a good public school), family background and understatement, in both behavior and taste, are defining characteristics of the upper middles. Although not of the landowning class, its members may aspire to the characteristics of, or be described as, gentlemen.
The character of Charles Ryder in Evelyn Waugh's novel, Brideshead Revisited is a fine example of an early twentieth-century upper middle class Englishman. His language, accent and manners are similar to an aristocrat's, but in place of the aristocrat's self-assuredness there is an air of slight uncertainty and diffidence. A more modern day example is Charles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, played by Hugh Grant.
[edit] American upper middle class
See American middle class for a complete overview of the American middle classes.
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In the United States the term middle class and its subdivisions are an extremely vague concept as neither economists nor sociologists have ever accurately defined the term.<ref name="Middle class according to The Drum Major Institute for public policy">Middle class according to The Drum Major Institute for public policy. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.</ref> There are several perceptions of the upper middle class and what the term means. Recent publications and studies have shown that the statistical middle class cannot actually afford the lifestyle indicative of the middle class. According to many sources such as the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy only 20% of the population are actually able to afford the middle class lifestyle, making those able to afford the middle class lifestyle a relative elite.<ref name="Middle class according to The Drum Major Institute for public policy">Middle class according to The Drum Major Institute for public policy. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.</ref><ref name="The Inner Life of the Middle Class">Ehrenreich, Barbara (1989). Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York, NY: Harper Collins. 0-06-0973331.</ref> Considering these recent economic trends and findings one might come to the conclusion that the upper middle class consists of those households able to afford the iconic middle class lifestyle.<ref name="Middle income can't buy Middle class lifestyle">Middle income can't buy Middle class lifestyle. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.</ref> Another commonly used term in reference to the professionals and managers with above middle incomes is professional middle class. Overall the term is used for more affluent members of society who are not wealthy enough to be described as "rich," but are a relative elite, being highly educated, well-paid, and constituting no more than a fifth of the population.<ref name="The Inner Life of the Middle Class">Ehrenreich, Barbara (1989). Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York, NY: Harper Collins. 0-06-0973331.</ref>
Several attributes can commonly be identified as being indicative of the professional or upper middle class. Usually its members enjoy a large amount of autonomy in their self-directed work. They also tend to be very influential setting many of society's trend and largely shaping public opinion.<ref name="The Inner Life of the Middle Class">Ehrenreich, Barbara (1989). Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York, NY: Harper Collins. 0-06-0973331.</ref> Overall members of this class are also secure from economic down-turns and unlike their counterparts in the statistical middle class do not need to fear downsizing, corporate cost-cutting, or outsourcing. Most persons in this class have graduate degrees and comfortable incomes, well above the average and most likely in the top income quintile or top third. Typical professions for this class include: Professors, Architects, Engineers, Economists, Political Scientists, Physicians and Lawyers.<ref name="The Inner Life of the Middle Class">Ehrenreich, Barbara (1989). Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York, NY: Harper Collins. 0-06-0973331.</ref><ref name="Professional Occupations according to the US Department of Labor">Professional Occupations according to the US Department of Labor. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.</ref><ref name="Class, A Guide through the American status system">Fussel, Paul (1983). Class, A Guide through the American status system. New York, NY: Touchstone. 0-671-79225-3.</ref>
Most Americans are according to authorities on the issue such as the Drum Major Institute working class, lower middle class or in the supporting classes. As stated above those at the center of the income strata with mediocre educational attainment are not indicative of the middle class and are thus, despite being the statistical middle often referred to as the lower middle class or working class.<ref name="The Inner Life of the Middle Class">Ehrenreich, Barbara (1989). Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York, NY: Harper Collins. 0-06-0973331.</ref> Another theory, born perhaps out of the understanding that the statistical middle is not the middle class, is that the term "upper middle class" may simply represent the true middle class; or conversely when "lower middle class" refers to people who are a station above the working class, and thus the real middle class and the upper middle class mean something much more affluent. According to these definitions, the commonly referenced upper middle class is labeled as being the "true middle class," and the commonly accepted lower upper class is defined as upper-middle class.
[edit] See also
- Professional class
- Managerial Class
- Lower class
- Lower middle class
- Middle class
- Upper class
- Household income in the United States
- Six figure income
[edit] References
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