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Chapter 8 Social Stratification 257
to a lack of education and skills, many members of the underclass have other problems. Physical or mental disabilities are common, and many are single mothers with little or no income.
The most common shared characteristic of the working poor and the un- derclass is a lack of skills to obtain jobs that pay enough to meet basic needs. There are many routes into these classes—birth, old age, loss of a marriage partner, lack of education or training, alcoholism, physical or mental disabil- ity. There are, however, very few paths out. Poverty in the United States, an- other way to discuss the working poor and the underclass, is the topic of the next section.
Section 3 Assessment
1. Statistically, out of 500 people, how many would belong to the upper class?
2. What is a major distinction between members of the upper-middle and the middle-middle classes?
3. Which class is the largest segment of society?
Critical Thinking
4. SummarizingInformation Chapter5discussedtheconceptof
status. How does ascribed status relate to social class? How does achieved status relate to social class?
This Navajo single mother belongs to the underclass, America’s poorest.
