Eligibility Criteria for the Upper Middle Class

Abstract

Each country has its own criteria for the upper middle class. On the other hand, it is clear that even the general principles that define the middle class in different countries differ markedly between them. The US and British criteria are often compared. The role of the family as an element of social stratification is important in the British upper middle class model. The article advocates the influence of family stratification on the formation of the upper (and not only) middle class in Lithuania. Not only does the upper middle class have self-employment, its income is above average and it has higher education, it also influences, identifies trends and fundamentally shapes public opinion (an aspect of its ‘social role’). The broad upper middle class is not so much a guarantor of the welfare state but of social stability in the country.