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This article is about the term. For articles about specific classes, see middle class (disambiguation).
Middle class is a term for a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy. During the period of bourgeois revolutions, the middle class referred to the bourgeoisie, which was above the peasantry and proletariat but below the nobility. After the nobility was eliminated, the bourgeoisie became the ruling class.In an industrial capitalist society, society is divided into only two classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat.[1]
Contemporary use of term
The term "middle class" is often used in the West to refer to people who are not extremely rich or extremely poor, regardless of their relations to the means of production. It is not clearly defined and is more based on income than economic class. More than 80% of millionaires claim to be "middle class" or "upper middle class."[2] Households making under $20,000 per year and households making $100,000 to $250,000 per year are equally likely to identify as middle class.[3]
References
- ↑ Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels (1848). Manifesto of the Communist Party: 'Bourgeois and Proletarians'. [MIA]
- ↑ "Most millionaires say they're middle class" (2015-05-06). Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
- ↑ Robert Bird, Frank Newport (2017-02-27). "What Determines How Americans Perceive Their Social Class?" Gallup. Archived from the original on 2022-076-09. Retrieved 2022-07-27.