Marriage and Social Class

Many cultures categorize their society according to wealth, power, education, religion, ethnicity and occupation. These differences usually draw the lines that not all are willing to cross for different reasons. In America, the consequences when crossing classes are usually implemented by an individual’s family and peers. If a person decides to date or marry someone of a lower class, the immediate concern would be if the person of a lower class is interested for monetary gain whereas, the person of a lower class may be concerned if they would be treated as an equal in the relationship. With these problems present the courtship or marriage could be domed from the beginning or made to work harder at leveling the playing field. I believe love in lower class groups build their foundation on love where relationships are concerned simply because high expectations are not placed upon them and they are free to love whomever their hearts desire.
In the marriage market, characteristics such as income, education and occupation are key definitive qualities when looking for a perspective life long companion. In addition, the tendency of individuals to marry others with similar traits has important implications for social inequality, income redistribution and education. However, there is still little understanding about what generates this assertive matching. One possibility is that people like to follow horizontal preferences when choosing a spouse to share similar characteristics of their own. This approach is believed to provide the security of longevity in love. However, sometimes people will experience an attraction to someone outside their social class whether it’s above or below but not always follow through due to fear of failure or rejection from family and peers.
According to Karl Marx, one percent of the population is considered upper class and their wealth is generally inherited. Members of this particular class are perceived as snobs by the lower