Notes: Underclass | Sociology Mains Optional for UPSC 2024 PDF Download

 Page 1


 
UNDERCLASS 
Underclass refers to the group of  people who due to lack of employment, skills, 
income, wealth or property appear to stand outside ordinary society. 
The term underclass was used by Charles Murray in 1984 to describe a 
permanent or persistent poverty population whose lower-income status passes 
from one generation to the next because of intrinsically dysfunctional 
behaviors. 
Charles Murray- 
Murray said: “the underclass  are defined by their behaviour. Their homes are 
littered and unkempt. The men in the family are unable to hold down a job. 
Drunkenness is common. The children grew up ill-schooled and ill-behaved and 
contribute to a disproportionate share of juvenile delinquents” 
Murray saw underclass as behaviour a lifestyle choice, a disease which infects 
people who share many of the following characteristics (female headed lone 
parents, out-of-wedlock-births, school drop-outs, violent and criminal. 
 
William Julius Wilson –  
The underclass comprises of those who lack training or skills, are out of the 
labor force or long-term unemployed, and who engage in deviant behavior. 
Wilson also incorporates in his definition family instability and welfare 
dependency. 
 Erol Ricketts and Isabel Sawhill – 
produced an empirically operational definition of an underclass area where a 
census tract has rates of high school dropouts, male labor-force nonattachment, 
welfare recipiency, and female-family headship one standard deviation above 
the mean for the country as a whole. A person who lives in such a census tract 
and who engages in socially deviant behavior is considered by Ricketts and 
Sawhill to be in the underclass. 
These definitions of the underclass share many of the features of earlier 
conceptualizations of populations at the lowest rungs of the social and 
economic ladder. Karl Marx described the lumpenproletariat as “the lowest 
sediment of the relative surplus population,” an unproductive and regressive 
portion of the population unable or unwilling to work  
Page 2


 
UNDERCLASS 
Underclass refers to the group of  people who due to lack of employment, skills, 
income, wealth or property appear to stand outside ordinary society. 
The term underclass was used by Charles Murray in 1984 to describe a 
permanent or persistent poverty population whose lower-income status passes 
from one generation to the next because of intrinsically dysfunctional 
behaviors. 
Charles Murray- 
Murray said: “the underclass  are defined by their behaviour. Their homes are 
littered and unkempt. The men in the family are unable to hold down a job. 
Drunkenness is common. The children grew up ill-schooled and ill-behaved and 
contribute to a disproportionate share of juvenile delinquents” 
Murray saw underclass as behaviour a lifestyle choice, a disease which infects 
people who share many of the following characteristics (female headed lone 
parents, out-of-wedlock-births, school drop-outs, violent and criminal. 
 
William Julius Wilson –  
The underclass comprises of those who lack training or skills, are out of the 
labor force or long-term unemployed, and who engage in deviant behavior. 
Wilson also incorporates in his definition family instability and welfare 
dependency. 
 Erol Ricketts and Isabel Sawhill – 
produced an empirically operational definition of an underclass area where a 
census tract has rates of high school dropouts, male labor-force nonattachment, 
welfare recipiency, and female-family headship one standard deviation above 
the mean for the country as a whole. A person who lives in such a census tract 
and who engages in socially deviant behavior is considered by Ricketts and 
Sawhill to be in the underclass. 
These definitions of the underclass share many of the features of earlier 
conceptualizations of populations at the lowest rungs of the social and 
economic ladder. Karl Marx described the lumpenproletariat as “the lowest 
sediment of the relative surplus population,” an unproductive and regressive 
portion of the population unable or unwilling to work  
 
Causes- 
1. Cultural  
For Murray (1984), the responsibility for criminal involvement, children born 
out of wedlock, joblessness, and dependency on welfare rests upon the 
shoulders of members of the underclass themselves. The underclass reproduces 
its behavior from one generation to the next, just as it perpetually reproduces 
itself, through excessive unwanted births to teenage mothers and unemployed 
or unemployable fathers. 
2. Structural 
the underlying causes are more broadly found in the larger context of structural 
transformations in the economy. Wilson points out that Joblessness in the inner 
city arises in part from the flight of low-skilled and semiskilled jobs from their 
historic location in central cities. Social isolation and concentration of poverty 
are but consequences of these structural transformations. 
RACE AND THE UNDERCLASS 
The relation between the two concepts has been deliberated by many 
researchers.  
Using 1980 U.S. census data, Ricketts and Sawhill - calculate that 59 percent of 
persons in underclass areas were black. 
 It was generally understood that underclass areas are disproportionately poor 
and black.Indeed, the term black underclass was often used synonymously with 
the term underclass. This is so because blacks are disproportionately found 
among each of the key definitional components of the underclass: 
concentrations of poverty and labor-force withdrawal; high rates of criminality; 
and high rates of female-family headship. 
Race is highly correlated with place. Low social capital and deviant behavior can 
be thought of as a manifestation of place or a concentration of pathology in 
particular neighborhoods. Location in particular neighborhoods, though, could 
be traced to redlining, mortgage discrimination, and other housing barriers that 
Page 3


 
UNDERCLASS 
Underclass refers to the group of  people who due to lack of employment, skills, 
income, wealth or property appear to stand outside ordinary society. 
The term underclass was used by Charles Murray in 1984 to describe a 
permanent or persistent poverty population whose lower-income status passes 
from one generation to the next because of intrinsically dysfunctional 
behaviors. 
Charles Murray- 
Murray said: “the underclass  are defined by their behaviour. Their homes are 
littered and unkempt. The men in the family are unable to hold down a job. 
Drunkenness is common. The children grew up ill-schooled and ill-behaved and 
contribute to a disproportionate share of juvenile delinquents” 
Murray saw underclass as behaviour a lifestyle choice, a disease which infects 
people who share many of the following characteristics (female headed lone 
parents, out-of-wedlock-births, school drop-outs, violent and criminal. 
 
William Julius Wilson –  
The underclass comprises of those who lack training or skills, are out of the 
labor force or long-term unemployed, and who engage in deviant behavior. 
Wilson also incorporates in his definition family instability and welfare 
dependency. 
 Erol Ricketts and Isabel Sawhill – 
produced an empirically operational definition of an underclass area where a 
census tract has rates of high school dropouts, male labor-force nonattachment, 
welfare recipiency, and female-family headship one standard deviation above 
the mean for the country as a whole. A person who lives in such a census tract 
and who engages in socially deviant behavior is considered by Ricketts and 
Sawhill to be in the underclass. 
These definitions of the underclass share many of the features of earlier 
conceptualizations of populations at the lowest rungs of the social and 
economic ladder. Karl Marx described the lumpenproletariat as “the lowest 
sediment of the relative surplus population,” an unproductive and regressive 
portion of the population unable or unwilling to work  
 
Causes- 
1. Cultural  
For Murray (1984), the responsibility for criminal involvement, children born 
out of wedlock, joblessness, and dependency on welfare rests upon the 
shoulders of members of the underclass themselves. The underclass reproduces 
its behavior from one generation to the next, just as it perpetually reproduces 
itself, through excessive unwanted births to teenage mothers and unemployed 
or unemployable fathers. 
2. Structural 
the underlying causes are more broadly found in the larger context of structural 
transformations in the economy. Wilson points out that Joblessness in the inner 
city arises in part from the flight of low-skilled and semiskilled jobs from their 
historic location in central cities. Social isolation and concentration of poverty 
are but consequences of these structural transformations. 
RACE AND THE UNDERCLASS 
The relation between the two concepts has been deliberated by many 
researchers.  
Using 1980 U.S. census data, Ricketts and Sawhill - calculate that 59 percent of 
persons in underclass areas were black. 
 It was generally understood that underclass areas are disproportionately poor 
and black.Indeed, the term black underclass was often used synonymously with 
the term underclass. This is so because blacks are disproportionately found 
among each of the key definitional components of the underclass: 
concentrations of poverty and labor-force withdrawal; high rates of criminality; 
and high rates of female-family headship. 
Race is highly correlated with place. Low social capital and deviant behavior can 
be thought of as a manifestation of place or a concentration of pathology in 
particular neighborhoods. Location in particular neighborhoods, though, could 
be traced to redlining, mortgage discrimination, and other housing barriers that 
 
can be seen as manifestations of race (Wilson 1987; Stoll 2005; Massey and 
Denton 1993; Jargowsky 1997). 
 
 
As a result of migration: 
In many cases, it is observed that members of a particular ethnic group have 
similar economic status in a  society. In India, certain ethnic minorities perform 
extremely well while some others are  deprived of the basic socio-economic 
benefits. 
One of the primary causes of migration is the pull factor of better economic 
opportunities. In case of cross country or cross state migration, the migrated 
group is seen as a distinct ethnic group. It is usually the poorest of the group 
whose survival is under question that migrate to farther off lands.  
Since their immediate need is economic independence, they may even take up 
menial jobs and adjust with poor working and living conditions. Further influx of 
people occurs through contacts and they tend to settle down at particular 
locations and work in particular sectors. 
 At this initial stage, they do not demand political rights since they do not wish to 
confront the majority group.That translates to their being underpaid, no job 
security as they are increasingly used as disposable labour. This sets in the 
process of development of negative stereotypes for that particular ethnicity 
which  is largely seen as the underclass of society doing the low paid work and 
living in poor conditions.  
Hence,  setting a relation between ethnicity and underclass. 
Such a scenario can be dealt in two ways by the society: 
1) Assimilation- where active effort is made to include the migrated 
population in the economy and society, example- giving benefits through 
schemes like PDS, voting rights, etc. 
Example:120
th
 century migrations to US & Canada -> Indians took Truck driver 
& Taxidriver jobs.  
Page 4


 
UNDERCLASS 
Underclass refers to the group of  people who due to lack of employment, skills, 
income, wealth or property appear to stand outside ordinary society. 
The term underclass was used by Charles Murray in 1984 to describe a 
permanent or persistent poverty population whose lower-income status passes 
from one generation to the next because of intrinsically dysfunctional 
behaviors. 
Charles Murray- 
Murray said: “the underclass  are defined by their behaviour. Their homes are 
littered and unkempt. The men in the family are unable to hold down a job. 
Drunkenness is common. The children grew up ill-schooled and ill-behaved and 
contribute to a disproportionate share of juvenile delinquents” 
Murray saw underclass as behaviour a lifestyle choice, a disease which infects 
people who share many of the following characteristics (female headed lone 
parents, out-of-wedlock-births, school drop-outs, violent and criminal. 
 
William Julius Wilson –  
The underclass comprises of those who lack training or skills, are out of the 
labor force or long-term unemployed, and who engage in deviant behavior. 
Wilson also incorporates in his definition family instability and welfare 
dependency. 
 Erol Ricketts and Isabel Sawhill – 
produced an empirically operational definition of an underclass area where a 
census tract has rates of high school dropouts, male labor-force nonattachment, 
welfare recipiency, and female-family headship one standard deviation above 
the mean for the country as a whole. A person who lives in such a census tract 
and who engages in socially deviant behavior is considered by Ricketts and 
Sawhill to be in the underclass. 
These definitions of the underclass share many of the features of earlier 
conceptualizations of populations at the lowest rungs of the social and 
economic ladder. Karl Marx described the lumpenproletariat as “the lowest 
sediment of the relative surplus population,” an unproductive and regressive 
portion of the population unable or unwilling to work  
 
Causes- 
1. Cultural  
For Murray (1984), the responsibility for criminal involvement, children born 
out of wedlock, joblessness, and dependency on welfare rests upon the 
shoulders of members of the underclass themselves. The underclass reproduces 
its behavior from one generation to the next, just as it perpetually reproduces 
itself, through excessive unwanted births to teenage mothers and unemployed 
or unemployable fathers. 
2. Structural 
the underlying causes are more broadly found in the larger context of structural 
transformations in the economy. Wilson points out that Joblessness in the inner 
city arises in part from the flight of low-skilled and semiskilled jobs from their 
historic location in central cities. Social isolation and concentration of poverty 
are but consequences of these structural transformations. 
RACE AND THE UNDERCLASS 
The relation between the two concepts has been deliberated by many 
researchers.  
Using 1980 U.S. census data, Ricketts and Sawhill - calculate that 59 percent of 
persons in underclass areas were black. 
 It was generally understood that underclass areas are disproportionately poor 
and black.Indeed, the term black underclass was often used synonymously with 
the term underclass. This is so because blacks are disproportionately found 
among each of the key definitional components of the underclass: 
concentrations of poverty and labor-force withdrawal; high rates of criminality; 
and high rates of female-family headship. 
Race is highly correlated with place. Low social capital and deviant behavior can 
be thought of as a manifestation of place or a concentration of pathology in 
particular neighborhoods. Location in particular neighborhoods, though, could 
be traced to redlining, mortgage discrimination, and other housing barriers that 
 
can be seen as manifestations of race (Wilson 1987; Stoll 2005; Massey and 
Denton 1993; Jargowsky 1997). 
 
 
As a result of migration: 
In many cases, it is observed that members of a particular ethnic group have 
similar economic status in a  society. In India, certain ethnic minorities perform 
extremely well while some others are  deprived of the basic socio-economic 
benefits. 
One of the primary causes of migration is the pull factor of better economic 
opportunities. In case of cross country or cross state migration, the migrated 
group is seen as a distinct ethnic group. It is usually the poorest of the group 
whose survival is under question that migrate to farther off lands.  
Since their immediate need is economic independence, they may even take up 
menial jobs and adjust with poor working and living conditions. Further influx of 
people occurs through contacts and they tend to settle down at particular 
locations and work in particular sectors. 
 At this initial stage, they do not demand political rights since they do not wish to 
confront the majority group.That translates to their being underpaid, no job 
security as they are increasingly used as disposable labour. This sets in the 
process of development of negative stereotypes for that particular ethnicity 
which  is largely seen as the underclass of society doing the low paid work and 
living in poor conditions.  
Hence,  setting a relation between ethnicity and underclass. 
Such a scenario can be dealt in two ways by the society: 
1) Assimilation- where active effort is made to include the migrated 
population in the economy and society, example- giving benefits through 
schemes like PDS, voting rights, etc. 
Example:120
th
 century migrations to US & Canada -> Indians took Truck driver 
& Taxidriver jobs.  
 
21
st
 century -> engineers going for Post graduation and high profile jobs in 
MNCs  -> so stereotype changing 
This provides a unique case of assimilation where the migrating group 
was able to raise its social status and counter negative stereotypes. 
Earlier, they faced social exclusion. Now, increasingly accepted as equal. 
It provides a useful insight : inequality & stratification are  dynamic 
concepts. It is tough to categorise a particular society as open/ close. 
Instead degree of openeness present in society must be looked into . 
 
2) Dissimilation- where the mainstream society continues to treat the 
migrated population as outsiders and exploits their labour for profits. 
 
Example- Labour from UP and Bihar to Punjab, Maharashtra 
Migration is encouraged and  the migrated labour is even preferred than the 
domestic labour. But no cultural interactions like celebrating each other’s 
festival, etc. They are treated as inferiors and referred to with colloquial words 
– ‘bhaiya’ which gives them an identity markedly different from mainstream 
society and carries a negative connoation. 
 
Summary: 
Jobless from the poor countries migrate -> take menial jobs ->economic 
security is the immediate goal, no demand for political rights ->further 
migration through contacts  -> people accommodated in similar work -> 
concentration of a particular ethnicity in an economic sector ->Negative 
stereotypes develop. 
 
 
 
Why Underclass? 
- Usually poorest migrate (rich & able of that ethnicity wont, so people able 
to see only 1 side of coin) 
- Core ethnic group uses them rather than assimilated them.  
Page 5


 
UNDERCLASS 
Underclass refers to the group of  people who due to lack of employment, skills, 
income, wealth or property appear to stand outside ordinary society. 
The term underclass was used by Charles Murray in 1984 to describe a 
permanent or persistent poverty population whose lower-income status passes 
from one generation to the next because of intrinsically dysfunctional 
behaviors. 
Charles Murray- 
Murray said: “the underclass  are defined by their behaviour. Their homes are 
littered and unkempt. The men in the family are unable to hold down a job. 
Drunkenness is common. The children grew up ill-schooled and ill-behaved and 
contribute to a disproportionate share of juvenile delinquents” 
Murray saw underclass as behaviour a lifestyle choice, a disease which infects 
people who share many of the following characteristics (female headed lone 
parents, out-of-wedlock-births, school drop-outs, violent and criminal. 
 
William Julius Wilson –  
The underclass comprises of those who lack training or skills, are out of the 
labor force or long-term unemployed, and who engage in deviant behavior. 
Wilson also incorporates in his definition family instability and welfare 
dependency. 
 Erol Ricketts and Isabel Sawhill – 
produced an empirically operational definition of an underclass area where a 
census tract has rates of high school dropouts, male labor-force nonattachment, 
welfare recipiency, and female-family headship one standard deviation above 
the mean for the country as a whole. A person who lives in such a census tract 
and who engages in socially deviant behavior is considered by Ricketts and 
Sawhill to be in the underclass. 
These definitions of the underclass share many of the features of earlier 
conceptualizations of populations at the lowest rungs of the social and 
economic ladder. Karl Marx described the lumpenproletariat as “the lowest 
sediment of the relative surplus population,” an unproductive and regressive 
portion of the population unable or unwilling to work  
 
Causes- 
1. Cultural  
For Murray (1984), the responsibility for criminal involvement, children born 
out of wedlock, joblessness, and dependency on welfare rests upon the 
shoulders of members of the underclass themselves. The underclass reproduces 
its behavior from one generation to the next, just as it perpetually reproduces 
itself, through excessive unwanted births to teenage mothers and unemployed 
or unemployable fathers. 
2. Structural 
the underlying causes are more broadly found in the larger context of structural 
transformations in the economy. Wilson points out that Joblessness in the inner 
city arises in part from the flight of low-skilled and semiskilled jobs from their 
historic location in central cities. Social isolation and concentration of poverty 
are but consequences of these structural transformations. 
RACE AND THE UNDERCLASS 
The relation between the two concepts has been deliberated by many 
researchers.  
Using 1980 U.S. census data, Ricketts and Sawhill - calculate that 59 percent of 
persons in underclass areas were black. 
 It was generally understood that underclass areas are disproportionately poor 
and black.Indeed, the term black underclass was often used synonymously with 
the term underclass. This is so because blacks are disproportionately found 
among each of the key definitional components of the underclass: 
concentrations of poverty and labor-force withdrawal; high rates of criminality; 
and high rates of female-family headship. 
Race is highly correlated with place. Low social capital and deviant behavior can 
be thought of as a manifestation of place or a concentration of pathology in 
particular neighborhoods. Location in particular neighborhoods, though, could 
be traced to redlining, mortgage discrimination, and other housing barriers that 
 
can be seen as manifestations of race (Wilson 1987; Stoll 2005; Massey and 
Denton 1993; Jargowsky 1997). 
 
 
As a result of migration: 
In many cases, it is observed that members of a particular ethnic group have 
similar economic status in a  society. In India, certain ethnic minorities perform 
extremely well while some others are  deprived of the basic socio-economic 
benefits. 
One of the primary causes of migration is the pull factor of better economic 
opportunities. In case of cross country or cross state migration, the migrated 
group is seen as a distinct ethnic group. It is usually the poorest of the group 
whose survival is under question that migrate to farther off lands.  
Since their immediate need is economic independence, they may even take up 
menial jobs and adjust with poor working and living conditions. Further influx of 
people occurs through contacts and they tend to settle down at particular 
locations and work in particular sectors. 
 At this initial stage, they do not demand political rights since they do not wish to 
confront the majority group.That translates to their being underpaid, no job 
security as they are increasingly used as disposable labour. This sets in the 
process of development of negative stereotypes for that particular ethnicity 
which  is largely seen as the underclass of society doing the low paid work and 
living in poor conditions.  
Hence,  setting a relation between ethnicity and underclass. 
Such a scenario can be dealt in two ways by the society: 
1) Assimilation- where active effort is made to include the migrated 
population in the economy and society, example- giving benefits through 
schemes like PDS, voting rights, etc. 
Example:120
th
 century migrations to US & Canada -> Indians took Truck driver 
& Taxidriver jobs.  
 
21
st
 century -> engineers going for Post graduation and high profile jobs in 
MNCs  -> so stereotype changing 
This provides a unique case of assimilation where the migrating group 
was able to raise its social status and counter negative stereotypes. 
Earlier, they faced social exclusion. Now, increasingly accepted as equal. 
It provides a useful insight : inequality & stratification are  dynamic 
concepts. It is tough to categorise a particular society as open/ close. 
Instead degree of openeness present in society must be looked into . 
 
2) Dissimilation- where the mainstream society continues to treat the 
migrated population as outsiders and exploits their labour for profits. 
 
Example- Labour from UP and Bihar to Punjab, Maharashtra 
Migration is encouraged and  the migrated labour is even preferred than the 
domestic labour. But no cultural interactions like celebrating each other’s 
festival, etc. They are treated as inferiors and referred to with colloquial words 
– ‘bhaiya’ which gives them an identity markedly different from mainstream 
society and carries a negative connoation. 
 
Summary: 
Jobless from the poor countries migrate -> take menial jobs ->economic 
security is the immediate goal, no demand for political rights ->further 
migration through contacts  -> people accommodated in similar work -> 
concentration of a particular ethnicity in an economic sector ->Negative 
stereotypes develop. 
 
 
 
Why Underclass? 
- Usually poorest migrate (rich & able of that ethnicity wont, so people able 
to see only 1 side of coin) 
- Core ethnic group uses them rather than assimilated them.  
 
- Ethnic minority develops self doubt.  
- Economic insecurity -> so collective mobilization in minority not 
immediate (Not a class as consciousness lacks)  
Dependent on state for benefits so don’t oppose.  
- Constitute maximum of poor people : so study of ethnicity important to 
understand society.