LOWER CLASS (SOCIOECONOMIC): HISTORICAL ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS - ECONOMY - 2025

The lower class is the poorest segment of the population of human society. It is characterized by having great deficiencies in their way of life and limitations in terms of access to economic resources. They are generally unemployed people, who do not have their own home or other assets or properties essential to live.

People with very low educational levels belong to this socioeconomic class, only with primary education and some with secondary education. Some temporary or independent workers also fall into this class. Lower class families do not have good basic services in their homes.

Lower class neighborhood in Bogotá, Colombia.

They tend to live in crowded conditions and do not consume balanced meals or eat enough. Nor can they buy appropriate clothing and footwear and do not have medical services. They receive state subsidies for their food, education and medical care in industrialized countries.

On the other hand, in poor countries they hardly have access to the most basic resources for their subsistence, since they lack welfare services. People from the lower socioeconomic class live on a daily income of between $ 1 and $ 10, depending on the country.

Historical origin

Historically, society has been stratified into social classes or hierarchies, from primitive man to the Modern Age. In Europe and America, before and after the Spanish and Portuguese colonization, society was divided into social classes.

For example, in the Middle Ages social classes were made up of three large groups: the nobility, the clergy (cardinals, bishops, priests and monks) and the peasants or vassals. The latter were the lowest class in society.

The same happened in the pre-Hispanic societies of America, which were stratified in various social classes. The nobles (caciques, chiefs and their families), priests or shamans, merchants and artisans, warriors and servants or townspeople; serfdom was the lower social class.

Later, with the advent of capitalist society as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the social classes originated: in the first place there was the upper class, made up of the nobility, rich merchants and factory owners, which Karl Marx called The bourgeoisie.

In second place was the middle class, made up of technicians and other professionals, public officials, courtiers, men of science, military and literary men, among others. Third was the lower class, in which the figure of the worker who worked in the factories emerged, often together with his family.

At the dawn of industrial society, this social class was harshly exploited with long working hours of between 14 and 18 hours a day.

From this, Marxism developed a whole theory around surplus value and the appropriation of the worker's labor power by the bourgeoisie.

Proletarian class

The lower class is also called the working or proletarian class, according to the Marxist conceptualization. The proletariat included the people who worked in factories and mines; These people sold their labor power in exchange for a salary and most lived in subhuman conditions.

These factory working conditions were maintained throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but this situation changed with the union struggles that promoted the reduction of the working day to eight hours a day.

The concept of social class, as we know it today, although with some variations, was developed by Marxism. This current of thought attached great importance to the class structure of society.

Through class conflict, he tried to explain the relations of production and the changes in nineteenth-century capitalist society.

Currently the concept of social class not only involves the level of income, but also the way in which the individual lives and thinks. That is why it is called socioeconomic class, since a certain social class is not entirely homogeneous in terms of income, tastes, education and way of life.

There are people who move between one social class and another; Hence, in social stratification, we speak of socioeconomic levels to better characterize belonging to a certain social group.

Lumpen-proletariat

Marxism calls a lumpen-proletariat or sub-proletariat a lower population layer from the social point of view than the level of the proletariat. In addition to being poor, they are seen as lacking in class consciousness.

Lower class characteristics

- Their levels of education are very basic. Barely finished primary education and only some, secondary education.

- They are unemployed people or temporary and independent workers, who do unattractive and dangerous jobs. Some are workers employed in household chores.

- Lower class families live with incomes of less than 10 dollars a day in the most backward countries.

- In general, they do not own their own home or any other type of property or property (vehicles, appliances, etc.). Rather, they live overcrowded in unsanitary homes that do not have optimal public services (potable water, electricity and gas, sewers or drains).

- They do not have insurance or regular medical attention, nor can they buy medicine in case of illness.

- In general, the lower class population has high mortality rates.

- They live in insecure areas with high crime rates.

- They are unstable families, with high degrees of disintegration of the family nucleus where the father or mother is not present.

- Throughout the world, and particularly in poor countries, the lower class is the largest in society.

Low-class countries

Almost all the countries of the world, with few exceptions, have a low socioeconomic class; of course, with lower levels of social inequality between them, according to the income level of each.

The five countries in the world with the largest lower class (for being the poorest) are located on the African continent. They are as follows:

Liberia

It has an annual per capita income of less than US $ 454.30 and a very low level of social development. Their poverty is a consequence of constant wars and bad governments.

Niger

It has an annual per capita income of less than US $ 415.40. It is among the most underdeveloped nations in the world, has high rates of infant mortality and malnutrition.

Central African Republic

The inhabitants of this nation live with a per capita income of less than 333.20 US dollars per year. This country has been the victim of internal conflicts and prolonged political and economic instability; its service infrastructure is very poor.

Burundi

The annual per capita income of its inhabitants is less than 267.10 US dollars. This country has also been the victim of constant and bloody wars. It is the second poorest nation in the world.

Malawi

Due to its per capita income levels below US $ 226.50 and its economic and social backwardness, Malawi is the poorest country; hence, it has the largest lower class in the world.

Latin America

Currently, the countries with the highest lower class in Latin America are:

- Haiti.

- Paraguay.

- The Savior.

- Costa Rica.

- Venezuela.

- Cuba.

- Mexico.

Projections

According to optimistic calculations by the BBVA bank, the world's lower class will decrease by 905 million people in 2025. For its part, the lower-middle class will increase by 637 million people, while the middle class will increase by 332 million.

On the other hand, the upper-middle class will add 290 million people and the world's rich population will grow to 403 million.

According to these projections, the lower-middle class will represent 40% of the world's population (3,100 million people), followed by the middle-middle class, the upper-middle class and the rich, who will add 3,000 million people to 37 % of the population. The lower class will represent 24% of the population, with 1.9 billion people.

References

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5. Do you know which are the 5 poorest countries in the world? Consulted of el-informe.com
6. The 5 Latin American countries where hunger has grown since 2014. Consulted from bbc.co
7. Mexico, a low-class country: Inegi. Consulted of animalpolitico.com
8. The lower-middle class will predominate in a less unequal world. Consulted of eleconomista.es
9. Lower class. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
10. Venezuela is considered one of the 7 poorest countries in Latin America. Consulted of 20minutos.com.mx