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1、4.1LayersofSocialClassTakentogether,income,occupation,andeducationaregoodmeasuresofpeople’ssocialstanding.Usingalayeredmodelofstratification,mostsociologistsdescribetheclasssystemintheUnitedStatesasdividedintoseveralclasses:upper,uppermiddle,middle,lowermiddle,andlowercl
2、ass.Eachclassisdefinedbycharacteristicssuchasincome,occupationalprestige,andeducationalattainment.Thedifferentgroupsarearrayedalongacontinuumwiththosewiththemostmoney,education,andprestigeatthetopandthosewiththeleastatthebottom.IntheUnitedStates,theupperclassownsthemajor
3、shareofcorporateandpersonalwealth;itincludesthosewhohaveheldwealthforgenerationsaswellasthosewhohaverecentlybecomerich.Onlyaverysmallproportionofpeopleactuallyconstitutetheupperclass,buttheycontrolvastamountsofwealthandpowerintheUnitedStates.Theyexerciseenormouscontrolth
4、roughoutsociety.Mostoftheirwealthisinherited.Desoitesocialmythstothecontrary,thebestpredictoroffuturewealthisthefamilyintowhichyouareborn.Eachyear,thebusinessmagazineForbespublishesalistofthe“Forbes400”—thefourhundredwealthiestfamiliesandindividualsinthecountry.Ofallthew
5、ealthrepresentedontheForbes400list,morethanhalfisinherited.Thoseonthelistwhocouldbecalled“self-made”werenottypicallyofmodestorigins;mostinheritedsignificantassets(Forbes,1997;SklarandCollins,1997).Thoseintheupperclasswithnewlyacquiredwealthareknownasthenouveauriche.Altho
6、ughtheymayhavevastamountsofmoney,theyareoftennotacceptedinto“oldrich”circles.Theuppermiddleclassincludesthosewithhighincomesandhighsocialprestige.Theytendtobewell-educatedprofessionalsorbusinessexecutives.Theirearningscanbequitehighindeed—successfulbusinessexecutivescane
7、arnmillionsofdollarsayear.Itisdifficulttoestimateexactlyhowmanypeoplefallintothisgroupbecauseofthedifficultyofdrawinglinesbetweentheupper,uppermiddle,andmiddleclass.Indeed,theuppermiddleclassisoftenthoughtofas“middleclass”becausetheirlifestylesetsthestandardtowhichmanyas
8、pire,butthislifestyleissimplybeyondthemeansofamajorityofpeopleintheUnitedStates.Themiddleclassishardtod
