New National Poll Shows Class in American Society Does Exist
Higher Education Plays a Key Role in Class
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- An overwhelming majority of Americans, 85.9 percent, believe that social classes exist in the United States, according to a recent nationwide survey by the Robert Morris University Polling Institute.
Approximately 81.2 percent of those polled indicated that class is mostly based on income. However, the same group also suggested that class is also based on other factors such as education levels (41.7 percent). Among those that attended or graduated from college, 69.7 percent felt their respective college prepared them for the workforce and 78.4 percent would attend a college/technical school again if they were offered the opportunity for a "re-do".
"While American's don't typically think in terms of class due largely to the fact that they stress individualism instead of class identity, in terms of education, it is becoming increasingly important that a four-year degree is required to enter the lower middle class," said William Beaver, professor of sociology at RMU. "One reason for this is that 32 percent of the U.S. population has a four-year degree, second only to Norway."
A little over three-quarters agreed that a college education remains an important foundation for financial security. Two-thirds felt they are better off financially than their parents and would be disappointed if their own children didn't go to college; however, the value of a master's degree is less than it was five years ago according to respondents. Just 38 percent agreed that colleges and universities are meeting the needs of today's workforce.
More than 39 percent of respondents self-reported as middle class, while others suggested they were upper class (2.6 percent), upper middle class (14.4 percent), working class (29.9 percent) or lower class (9.9 percent).
ABOUT THE POLL: The poll was conducted by the Robert Morris University Polling Institute Powered by Trib Total Media. Go to rmu.edu/poll for more information.
METHODOLOGY: The poll sampled opinions of 1004 approximately proportional to state population contribution nationwide. The survey was conducted Nov. 24 to Dec. 5, 2014. All surveys were conducted using an online survey instrument. The poll has a +/- 3.0 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level on a composite basis.
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SOURCE Robert Morris University
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