Socioeconomic Status
Socioeconomic Status
- Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to “not only income but also educational attainment, occupational prestige, and subjective perceptions of social status and social class” (APA).
- Socioeconomic status “encompasses quality of life attributes and opportunities afforded to people within society and is a consistent predictor of a vast array of psychological outcomes” (APA).
- Class consciousness is “a social condition in which members of a social class—the working class in particular—are actively aware of themselves as in a class” as well as “awareness of the adversarial relationship between capitalists and workers, the broad range of ways that class systems affect people's lives, and alternatives to class oppression” (Johnson).
- Class conflict or class struggle is “the inevitable dissension that occurs because of the economic organization of most societies” (Johnson).
- Classism is “a belief that a person's social or economic station in society determines their value in that society” and can also be understood as “the systemic oppression of the lower class and middle class to the advantage of the upper class” (Merriam Webster).
- Poverty is “a condition in which people lack what they need to live; but the limits of "need to live" are a matter of definition” (Johnson). The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty (Census glossary).
- Stratification is “the social process through which rewards and resources such as wealth, power, and prestige are distributed systematically and unequally within or among social systems” (Blackwell’s).
- Per APA, avoid using broad, pejorative, and generalizing terms to discuss SES; instead, use specific, person-first language.
- Per APA, it is important to note that SES terms such as “low-income” and “poor” have historically served as implicit descriptors for racial and/or ethnic minority people. Thus, it is critical that authors include racial and/or ethnic descriptors within SES categories.
Blue collar
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: blue collar, working class
Related search terms: white collar
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: poor, low-class
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Bourgeoisie
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: bourgeoisie, middle class, wealthy
Related search terms: middle class
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
High class
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: high class, upper class
Related search terms: bourgeoisie
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Impoverished
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: people whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold, people whose self-reported income were in the lowest income bracket
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Low class
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: people whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold, people whose self-reported income were in the lowest income bracket
Related search terms: poor
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: poor
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Low income
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: people whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold, people whose self-reported income were in the lowest income bracket
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: low class
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Lower middle class
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: lower middle class
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Middle class
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: middle class
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Poor
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: people whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold, people whose self-reported income were in the lowest income bracket
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Proletariat
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: proletariat
Related search terms: working class
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Rich
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: rich, wealthy
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Upper class
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: upper class
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Upper middle class
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: upper middle class
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Wealthy
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: rich
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Welfare reliant
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: people
who receive TANF benefits, people who are unable to work because of a disability, families whose main income is from TANF benefits
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: welfare mother
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
White collar
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: white collar
Related search terms: blue collar
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: n/a
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022
Working class
Current, culturally sensitive term(s) when writing about members of the community: working class
Related search terms: n/a
Inaccurate, outdated, or pejorative terms: poor, low class
Date of last revision: November 30, 2022