missing class

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Recommended: Sociological theories of poverty and how to reduce poverty

Despite the idea that America is a free nation whose premise is that an individual’s class does not matter in their success in life, those who live in the lower classes and those who have studied socio-economics know this not to be true. If you are born into poverty in America it is very hard to escape from that position, and most times what class you were born is the class where you will remain your entire life. It’s not impossible to escape your class level, but just very hard to and even harder to stay out of your original class level once you get out. This is the case of the Missing Class, as explained in the book The Missing Class Portraits of the Near Poor in America by Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chen. The Missing Class is most easily described as those who have successfully escaped from poverty, but lack the stability of the Middle Class. The Missing Class live in constant fear of returning to poverty, as they should, because all it would take is one finical upset, such as a divorce or loss of job, and those in the Missing Class would return to poverty once again. With hardly any assistance from the government the Missing Class fends for itself, often working long and hard to try and secure a future for themselves and their children. Unfortunately, the children are often left alone because of how hard their parents are working and are just as at risk as those children in poverty when concerning failing school, and entering into a life of crime. The Missing Class is a book questioning the idea of wither or not the American Dream still exists for those who are sacrificing for it, how a variety of families survive without any sort of safety net, and how being a part of the Missing Class effects a family’s life....

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...-economics in America, giving those who were born in low economic situations, born into the Missing Class, a chance to reach the success that comes easily to those in the Middle Class and higher.
Americans like to think that with work comes financial success, and that those who have low incomes are simply lazy or not working as hard as they could, but by looking at the Missing Class we know that this is not so. Sometimes the situation you are born into decides what the rest of your life will be like, and if America is meant to be a land of equality where everyone has a chance to succeed then benefits need to be given to those unlucky enough to be born lower on the social and economic ladder. If the problems of the Missing Class are not addressed and resolved then the problems will only grow and continue, leaving a large part of America only barely getting by.

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