To What Extent Does Social Class Impact People's Life Chances?

1558 Words7 Pages
What is social class? Social class is a term that refers to a group of people who share a similar economic situation, such as a similar occupational level, income and ownership of wealth. Often occupation, income and ownership of wealth are closely related to each other and influence the lives of individuals, for example: how much power and influence they have in society their social status their level of education their houses and cars the consumer goods bought and the lifestyle adopted their leisure activities. Social class is an important influence on people's lives. It affects everything we do and who we are. Social class influences how people orientate themselves in society, as they are socialized into class identities from quite an early age, through living with and encountering in their communities people in the same social class as themsleves, who are like them, who share similar lifestyles,attitudes and value, and with whom they feel comfortable in their everyday lives. It is proven that 90 % of 'failing schools' are located in deprived areas. Some people who are not brought up in low-income families may act like social class doesn't affect your life chances that much and if someone wants to achieve something really badly they can work for it and everything else they take as an excuse. Perhaps anyone can achieve anything they set their minds to ,but social class and how they are brought up affects them so much from such an early age. Their lives are much harder. So it is very difficult for them to fight with the social class system. People from lower social classes tend to struggle academically. Some of the reasons would be: - Lack of exposure - in early childhood, many low-income students can't afford to buy as much books as the amount of books in middle-class students' homes; - In homes where education is not a priority, the standards for
Open Document