Social class in the United Kingdom assemblers and routine operatives, care workers, elementary storage occupations, customer service occupations, and musicians. The precariat, about 15% of British society, shows poor economic capital, and the lowest scores on every other criterion. Typical occupations include cleaners, van drivers, care workers, carpenters and joiners, caretakers, leisure and travel service occupations, shopkeepers and proprietors, and retail cashiers. The term "underclass" is used to refer to those people who are "chronically unemployed", and in many instances have been for generations. Typical characteristics are: There is a contention that there are homologies between the meaning context and tenor of the abusive popular word
Social class in the United States in the economic theory of capitalism, and is compatible with the notion that class is mutable and determined by a combination of choices and opportunities. In other cases, class or status is inherited. For example, being the son or daughter of a wealthy individual, may carry a higher status and different cultural connotations than being a member of nouveau riche ("new money") or have a planned path of positive freedom. Those taking the functionalist approach to sociology and economics view social classes as components essential for the survival of complex societies such as American society. Income in the United States