American lower class

Sociologists such as W. Lloyd Warner, Dennis Gilbert and James Henslin divide the lower classes into two.

The contemporary division used by Gilbert divides the lower class into the working poor and underclass.

Service and low-rung manual laborers are commonly identified as being among the working poor.

Those who do not participate in the labor force and rely on public assistance as their main source of income are commonly identified as members of the underclass.

Overall the term describes those in easily filled employment positions with little prestige or economic compensation who often lack a high school education and are to some extent disenfranchised from mainstream society.