Social Mobility In America

Social mobility is the ability to change your status from one socioeconomic class to another. Everyone who lives in America dreams of moving up the social ladder to a better life, but many people fail to realized how hard it can be. Your individual choices, for example the job you have or whether or not you go to college, can change your social status. But to some extent, changed you socioeconomic status can be out of our control. Your choices can be what moves you up your status, but being vulnerable in the lowest class and being judged by what you wear or what you have can challenge you way to changing your socioeconomic status. Many people who migrate to America come to find a better life. In the New York Times anthology, Class Matters, the author explains how, for immigrants, social mobility isn’t really a choice. It takes immigrants a really long time to move up in class and that’s even if they do move up. On page 123, it states “Because he is here illegally, Peralta can be easily exploited.” Immigrants are usually taken advantage up …show more content…
In chapter 9 of Class Matters, When the Joneses Wear Jeans, it explains how the Joneses are the top richest class and they don’t look like it and less wealthy people can look like a higher class than what they actually are. On page 135, it states “ Social class, once so easily assessed by the car in the driveway or the purse on the arm, has become harder to see in the things Americans buy”. This means that we accuse people of being a certain social class because of what they wear or what they have. Americans feel socially pressured to buying high priced goods and to move up the economic ladder to please everyone else. But at times, the more rich are spending their money on service instead of goods so it’s harder to distinguish the really rich from the not so rich. Once people start judging you, you feel forced to try to move up even if you can’t move