Social class and You

Step 1

  • Write down your "dream job" - if you could do anything for a living (NOT lottery winner or something of that sort) without any limitations - what would it be?
  • Now, taking into account your physical abilities, academic strengths and weaknesses, etc, write down what you realistically think you'll be doing as a job in 30 years.
  • OK, now write next to each job what you think the average salary for each of those professions is.

Step 2

Mark the range of incomes that you believe qualifies for each category:
  • An income of $0 - _____________ qualifies a family of 4 as living in poverty
  • An income of $_____________ - $_____________ qualifies a family of 4 to be in the 'lower class'
  • An income of $_____________ - $_____________ qualifies a family of 4 to be in the 'middle class'
  • An income of $_____________ and above qualifies a family of 4 to be in the 'upper class'

Step 3

Fill in the following sentences:
  • I think my family's annual income is approximately $_____________

Your homework for Friday is to find the actual numbers that complete the previous statements. It might help to use the statistics here and occupational wages here.