Underclass

The underclass is the segment of the population that occupies the lowest possible position in a class hierarchy, below the core body of the working class. The general idea that a class system includes a population under the working class has a long tradition in the social sciences (e.g., lumpenproletariat). However, the specific term "underclass" was popularized during the last half of the 20th century, first by social scientists of American poverty and then by American journalists. The underclass concept has been a point of controversy among social scientists. Definitions and explanations of the underclass, as well as proposed solutions for managing or fixing the "underclass problem," have been highly debated. The appropriateness of using the underclass term has also been questioned, with some social scientists claiming that the concept has been transformed into a codeword for intellectuals to demonize impoverished Blacks and Latinos in the urban US.

History

Gunnar Myrdal is generally credited as the first proponent of the term "underclass." Writing in the early 1960s on economic inequality in the US, Myrdal's underclass refers to a "class of unemployed, unemployables, and underemployed who are more and more hopelessly set apart from the nation at large and do not share in its life, its ambitions and its achievements." However, this general conception of a class or category of people below the core of the working class has a long tradition in the social sciences, such as through the work of Henry Mayhew, whose London Labour and the London Poor sought to describe the hitherto invisible world of casual workers, prostitutes, and street-people.

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Baxter, Winchester named to Senior Supreme 15; 5 locals on Underclass Supreme 15

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette 07 Mar 2025

Columbia City's Addison Baxter and Warsaw's Brooke Winchester were both named to the IBCA Senior All-State Supreme 15, which was released on Thursday ... .

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Labour is punishing Middle England to fund the dysfunctional underclass

The Daily Telegraph 06 Mar 2025

Raising a family in Middle England is tough. It’s not just that you have to pay for your children, their housing, their childcare while you work, and quite possibly the VAT that Rachel Reeves has slapped onto school fees ... Join the conversation ... X Icon ... .

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Latest News for: underclass

Baxter, Winchester named to Senior Supreme 15; 5 locals on Underclass Supreme 15

Labour is punishing Middle England to fund the dysfunctional underclass

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