When the population is divided socioeconomically into groups, we speak of social classes. In social classes, people are linked depending on their productive function or power purchasing or economic. This denomination is typical of modern countries that appeared after the industrial revolution.
Social classes originated during the stage of development of the forces of production, being conditioned by the growth of the social division of labor and the appearance of private property over the means of production.
The class society establishes a hierarchical division based basically on differences in income, wealth and access to material means. However, people have the possibility of passing from one class to another, since one of the characteristics of social classes is that they are not closed groups. Whether or not an individual belongs to a certain social class will depend on their economic position, which is the opposite in the cases of inheritances and lineages, where the criteria of belonging will not be subject to the economic principles of each subject..
Throughout the history of the social sciences, various definitions have emerged of what social class represents and all that comes with belonging to one or the other. The two best known notions are those expressed by two great sociologists such as Karl Marx and Max Weber. For Marx, social class is determined by the way of being linked to the means of production. Therefore, starting from his theory, there exists within capitalism a rivalry between the bourgeois social class and the proletariat. The bourgeois or bourgeois class is the owner of the means of production, while the proletariat was the oppressed class, which was forced to sell its labor power in order to subsist. According to Marxist theory, this rivalry would end with the victory of the proletariat, originating a society free of social classes.
On the other hand, Weber's theory departs from these arguments, by defining social class according to the possibilities of access to goods and services, Weber recognizes the rivalry that may exist between one class and another, but in no way considers that this disparity is decisive for the creation of a class.
Finally, it can be said that the social class is currently divided into:
Upper class: it is the social fraction with the highest standard of living, it is characterized by being households composed mainly of people with a bachelor's or higher educational level. They are traditional families, whose heritage has passed from generation to generation, multiplying over time. They live in luxurious buildings with all the comforts.
Upper middle class: it is made up of people whose income is higher than those of the middle class, they usually have a university education, joining the labor market in hierarchical positions. They live in luxury houses or apartments.
Middle class: this social fraction encompasses the majority of the population, is made up of individuals with a basic level of education, they are households with their own home and with essential amenities.
Lower middle class: in this group are those households with incomes slightly lower than those of the middle class, that is, they are those that enjoy a better lifestyle within the lower class, these households are made up of individuals with an educational level between secondary and complete primary. They live in their own houses, although some live in rented properties.
Lower class: within this group are people with a primary education level in the middle, the family group mostly live in rented homes (neighborhoods), few have their own homes.
Lower class: it is the last step of the social class, these households are made up of individuals with an incomplete level of primary education, they do not have their own home, and if they do find one it is through the invasion of land, manufacturing plank and zinc houses. More than one family usually live in a single household and are totally poor.
