Working Class

Extracted Attributes

• Typical Occupations

  Often involves physical labor, unskilled laborers, artisans, outworkers, factory workers

• Definition (US Common)

  Blue-collar and pink-collar workers, or those whose income is insufficiently high to place them in the middle class

• Primary Characteristic

  Reliance on earnings from wage labor

• Sociological View (US)

  Most populous class in America (Dennis Gilbert, Joseph Kahl), comprising between 30% and 35% of the population

• Definition (Socialist/Marxist)

  All individuals who rely on wage labor for their livelihood; those who sell their labor power for wages and do not own the means of production

• Definition (US Economists/Pollsters)

  Adults lacking a college degree

Timeline

• The term "working class" (as a noun) first appeared. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

  1757

• The term "working-class" (as an adjective) first appeared. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

  1833

• Joseph Kahl's textbook "The American Class Structure" identified the working class as the most populous class in America. (Source: Investopedia)

  1957

Working class

The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most common definitions of "working class" in use in the United States limit its membership to workers who hold blue-collar and pink-collar jobs, or whose income is insufficiently high to place them in the middle class, or both. However, socialists define "working class" to include all workers who fall into the category of requiring income from wage labour to subsist; thus, this definition can include almost all of the working population of industrialized economies.

Web Search Results

• Working class - Wikipedia

  The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most common definitions of "working class" in use in the United States limit its membership to workers who hold blue-collar and pink-collar jobs, or whose income is insufficiently high to place them in the middle class, or both. However, socialists define [...] In other contexts the term working class refers to a section of society dependent on physical labour, especially when compensated with an hourly wage (for certain types of science, as well as journalistic or political analysis). Working-class occupations can be categorized into four groups: unskilled labourers, artisans, outworkers, and factory workers.[page needed] [...] Karl Marx defined the working class or proletariat as those individuals who sell their labour power for wages and who do not own the means of production. He argued that they were responsible for creating the wealth of a society, asserting that the working class physically build bridges, craft furniture, grow food, and nurse children, but do not own land or factories.

• Working Class: Definition, Compensation, and Job Examples

  The term working class means different things to different people, but it generally refers to workers who work for wages outside of an office. This work often requires manual labor, and can be done without a college degree. Many people who are working class live paycheck to paycheck, and have little savings. Other working class people hold jobs that pay relatively or quite well, such as nuclear power plant operators and boilermakers. These roles pay just as well as many middle class jobs. [...] Morsa Images / Getty Images ## What Is the Working Class? Working class is a contested socioeconomic term used to describe low-income people. Typically people in the working class have jobs that provide relatively low pay and/or require physical labor. A college degree is often not necessary for this work. ### Key Takeaways ## Defining the Working Class [...] Economists in the United States generally define "working class" as adults without a college degree. Many members of the working class are also defined as middle class. Sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl, a sociology professor at Cornell University and the author of the 1957 textbook "The American Class Structure", identified the working class as the most populous class in America.

• Working class in the United States - Wikipedia

  Economists and pollsters in the United States generally define "working class" adults as those lacking a college degree, rather than by occupation or income. Other definitions refer to those in blue-collar occupations, despite the considerable range in required skills and income among such occupations. Many members of the working class, as defined by academic models, are often identified in the vernacular as being middle-class, despite there being considerable ambiguity over the term's meaning. [...] - What links here - Related changes - Upload file - Permanent link - Page information - Cite this page - Get shortened URL - Download QR code Print/export - Download as PDF - Printable version In other projects - Wikimedia Commons - Wikiquote - Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Economic and social class in the United States The working class is often defined as those lacking college degrees, which is a majority of American adults. [...] Sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl see the working class as the most populous in the United States, while other sociologists such as William Thompson, Joseph Hickey and James Henslin deem the lower middle class slightly more populous. In the class models devised by these sociologists, the working class comprises between 30% and 35% of the population, roughly the same percentages as the lower middle class. According to the class model by Dennis Gilbert, the working class

• WORKING-CLASS Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

  link icon link icon link icon adjective noun # working-class ## adjective How to pronounce working-class (audio) next working class ## noun ## Examples of working-class in a Sentence ## Word History Adjective 1833, in the meaning defined above Noun 1757, in the meaning defined above ## Rhymes for working-class ## Browse Nearby Words ## Cite this Entry “Working-class.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Accessed 22 Jul. 2025. ## Share ## Kids Definition [...] working class ## More from Merriam-Webster on working-class Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for working-class Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! ## More from Merriam-Webster Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word. ### Can you solve 4 words at once? ### Can you solve 4 words at once? #### Word of the Day #### jettison [...] Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word. Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points. Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing? a plate of arepas Learn a new word every day. Delivered to your inbox!

• Working Class History – History isn't made by kings and politicians, it ...

  Two-part podcast episode about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021. ## E101: Radical Reads – ‘Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics’ As part of our Radical Reads series, we speak to Alex Charnley and Michael Richmond about their book, Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics. [...] Double episode about Jack Hilton, a working-class author, World War I veteran, unemployed movement organiser, and trade union activist from Rochdale, north-west England. ## E105: Fireside Chat – Organising in the public sector Our latest Fireside Chat is with one of our hosts, John, talking about his experiences organising at work in the public sector, first as an agency worker, then a permanent employee, and as a member and representative of Unison, the UK’s largest public sector union. [...] ## Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address Subscribe ## ## ###

• Instance Of

  Q11424