American middle class in the context of "Social class in the United States"

Progressivism in the United States is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement. Into the 21st century, it advocates policies that are generally considered social democratic and part of the American Left. It has also expressed itself within center-right politics, such as New Nationalism and progressive conservatism. It reached its height early in the 20th century. Middle/working class and reformist in nature, it arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large corporations, pollution, and corruption in American politics. Historian Alonzo Hamby describes American progressivism as a "political movement that addresses ideas, impulses, and issues stemming from modernization of American society. Emerging at the end of the nineteenth century, it established much of the tone of American politics throughout the first half of the century."

Progressive economic policies incorporate the socioeconomic principles and views of social democracy and political progressivism. These views are often rooted in the concept of social justice and have the goal of improving the human condition through government regulation, social protections, and the maintenance of public goods. It is based on the idea that capitalist markets left to operate with limited government regulation are inherently unfair, favoring big business, large corporations, and the wealthy. Specific economic policies that are considered progressive include progressive taxes, income redistribution aimed at reducing inequalities of wealth, a comprehensive package of public services, universal health care, resisting involuntary unemployment, public education, social security, minimum wage laws, antitrust laws, legislation protecting labor rights, and the rights of labor unions. While the modern progressive movement may be characterized as largely secular in nature, the historical progressive movement was by comparison to a significant extent rooted in and energized by religion.

In the United States, the concept of a working class remains vaguely defined, and classifying people or jobs into this class can be contentious. According to Frank Newport, "for some, working class is a more literal label; namely, an indication that one is working."

Economists and pollsters in the United States generally measure the "working class" using college degrees as an idicator, rather than focusing on occupation, income, or asset ownership. Other definitions refer to those in blue-collar occupations, despite the considerable range in required skills, income, and ownership among such occupations. Many members of the working class, as defined by academic models and traditional definitions, are often described in the vernacular as middle-class, despite the term's ambiguous meaning.

In sociology, the upper middle class of the United States is the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class in American society. This is in contrast to the term lower middle class, which refers to the group at the opposite end of the middle class scale. There is considerable debate as to how the upper middle class might be defined. According to Max Weber, the upper middle class consists of well-educated professionals with graduate degrees and comfortable incomes.

The American upper middle class is defined using income, education, occupation and the associated values as main indicators. In the United States, the upper middle class is defined as consisting of white-collar professionals who have above-average personal incomes, advanced educational degrees and a high degree of autonomy in their work, leading to higher job satisfaction. The main occupational tasks of upper middle class individuals tend to center on conceptualizing, consulting, and instruction.

Chatham is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois, on the city's South Side. It includes the neighborhoods of Chatham-Avalon, Chatham Club, Chesterfield, East Chatham, West Chatham and the northern portion of West Chesterfield. Its residents are predominantly African American, and it is home to former Senator Roland Burris. Housing many city employees and other officials, Chatham has been a central area for Chicago's middle-class African Americans since the late 1950s.

Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain with 646 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalyst Brands portfolio alongside other apparel retailers such as Brooks Brothers and Eddie Bauer.

Its departments include men's, women's and children's apparel, cosmetics, jewelry, and home furnishings along with leased departments managed by Shearshare, US Vision and Lifetouch. The chain focuses on lifestyle products for middle class households.