Upper Middle Class in The United States - Values

Values

Education is probably the most important part of middle-class childrearing as they prepare their children to be successful in school. Upper middle-class parents expect their children to attend college. Along with hard work, these parents view educational performance and attainment as necessary components of financial success. Consequently, the majority of upper middle-class children assume they will attend college. For these children, college is not optional - it's essential. This thought can be seen even more so from parents with higher education, whose greater appreciation for autonomy leads them to want the same for their children. Most people encompassing this station in life have a high regard for higher education, particularly towards Ivy League colleges and other top tier schools throughout the United States. They probably, more than any other socio-economic class, strive for themselves and their children to obtain graduate or at least four-year undergraduate degree, further reflecting the importance placed on education by middle-class families.

Members of the upper middle class tend to place a high value on foreign travel, the arts, and high culture in general. This value is in line with the emphasis placed on education, as foreign travel increases one's understanding of other cultures and helps create a global perspective.

Most mass affluent households and college-educated professionals tend to be center-right or conservative on fiscal issues. A slight majority of college-educated professionals, who compose 15% of the population and 20% of the electorate, favor the Democratic Party. Among those with six figure households incomes, a slight majority favor the Republican Party. Academia and those with graduate degrees overall favor the Democratic Party. In 2005, 72% of full-time faculty members at four-year institutions, the majority of whom are upper middle class, identified as liberal.

The upper middle class is often the group that shapes society and brings social movements to the forefront. Movements such as the Peace Movement, The Anti-Nuclear Movement, Environmentalism, the Anti-Smoking movement, and even in the past with Blue laws and the Temperance movement are all products of the upper middle class. Some claim this is because this is the largest class (and the lowest class) with any true political power for positive change, while others claim some of the more restrictive social movements (such as with smoking and drinking) are based upon "saving people from themselves."