American National Election Studies, Cumulative Data File, 1948-2004

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VCF0148A Most people say they belong either to the middle class or the working class. Do you ever think of yourself as belonging in one of these classes? (IF YES:) Which one? (IF NO:) Well, if you had to make a choice, would you call yourself middle class or working class? Would you say that you are about average middle/working class or that you are in the upper part of the middle/working class?   1) Average working   2) Working--NA average or upper   3) Upper working   4) Average middle   5) Middle class--NA average or upper   6) Upper middle   9) Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")

Pie Chart Bar Chart Cumulative Bar Chart

Category	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative Percentage	Z-Score
Average working	13635	35.9%	35.9%	-1.02
Working--NA average or upper	3088	8.1%	44.1%	-.54
Upper working	2854	7.5%	51.6%	-.06
Average middle	11156	29.4%	81%	.42
Middle class--NA average or upper	2342	6.2%	87.2%	.9
Upper middle	3261	8.6%	95.8%	1.38
Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")	1599	4.2%	100%	2.82

Variable Comparisons

Gender Race Age Education Religion Church attendance

Gender (I-GENDER)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Average working	36.3% 6086	35.7% 7549	35.9% 13635
Working--NA average or upper	8.4% 1417	7.9% 1671	8.1% 3088
Upper working	9.7% 1620	5.8% 1234	7.5% 2854
Average middle	27.0% 4530	31.3% 6626	29.4% 11156
Middle class--NA average or upper	6.0% 1010	6.3% 1332	6.2% 2342
Upper middle	9.1% 1526	8.2% 1735	8.6% 3261
Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")	3.5% 584	4.8% 1015	4.2% 1599
TOTAL	100.0% 16773	100.0% 21162	37935

Race (I-RACE)

	White	Black	Asian	Native American	Hispanic	Other	TOTAL
Average working	33.2% 10386	52.3% 2195	33.9% 99	47.0% 324	43.3% 509	58.2% 57	35.9% 13570
Working--NA average or upper	7.7% 2406	12.5% 526	4.1% 12	6.7% 46	6.6% 78	16.3% 16	8.2% 3084
Upper working	7.5% 2345	7.1% 300	7.2% 21	8.1% 56	9.2% 108	3.1% 3	7.5% 2833
Average middle	31.3% 9798	16.9% 708	36.0% 105	23.9% 165	27.7% 325	12.2% 12	29.4% 11113
Middle class--NA average or upper	6.8% 2126	3.2% 133	3.8% 11	3.3% 23	3.6% 42	4.1% 4	6.2% 2339
Upper middle	9.7% 3035	2.1% 90	10.6% 31	6.8% 47	3.7% 43	2.0% 2	8.6% 3248
Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")	3.9% 1208	5.8% 244	4.5% 13	4.1% 28	6.0% 70	4.1% 4	4.2% 1567
TOTAL	100.0% 31304	100.0% 4196	100.0% 292	100.0% 689	100.0% 1175	100.0% 98	37754

Age (I-AGE)

	17-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65 and older	TOTAL
Average working	40.7% 1588	37.6% 3146	33.9% 2598	35.1% 2135	36.0% 1880	34.5% 2248	36.0% 13595
Working--NA average or upper	6.9% 271	8.6% 717	8.3% 638	8.7% 530	8.3% 434	7.5% 490	8.2% 3080
Upper working	6.7% 263	8.2% 690	8.1% 621	7.9% 481	7.7% 402	6.0% 388	7.5% 2845
Average middle	32.2% 1259	29.6% 2477	29.6% 2269	27.0% 1641	28.4% 1487	30.5% 1985	29.4% 11118
Middle class--NA average or upper	4.5% 175	5.6% 465	7.3% 559	6.6% 401	5.9% 308	6.6% 431	6.2% 2339
Upper middle	5.6% 219	7.1% 596	9.4% 725	10.6% 648	9.0% 470	8.9% 583	8.6% 3241
Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")	3.3% 129	3.4% 287	3.4% 263	4.1% 250	4.7% 247	6.0% 390	4.1% 1566
TOTAL	100.0% 3904	100.0% 8378	100.0% 7673	100.0% 6086	100.0% 5228	100.0% 6515	37784

Education (I-EDUC)

	Grade school or less (0-8 grades)	High school (12 grades or fewer)	Some college (13 grades or more but no degree)	College or advanced degree	TOTAL
Average working	52.5% 3071	43.0% 7750	28.0% 2059	10.5% 666	36.0% 13546
Working--NA average or upper	14.0% 817	9.3% 1682	5.6% 411	2.5% 159	8.2% 3069
Upper working	5.3% 313	7.9% 1423	9.4% 694	6.4% 407	7.5% 2837
Average middle	16.6% 972	26.6% 4799	35.9% 2643	41.8% 2661	29.4% 11075
Middle class--NA average or upper	3.7% 216	5.2% 940	7.0% 516	10.3% 655	6.2% 2327
Upper middle	2.0% 120	4.5% 804	10.1% 743	24.7% 1573	8.6% 3240
Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")	5.9% 346	3.5% 627	3.9% 290	4.0% 252	4.0% 1515
TOTAL	100.0% 5855	100.0% 18025	100.0% 7356	100.0% 6373	37609

Religion (I-RELIGION)

	Protestant	Catholic	Jewish	Other and none (also includes don't know preference)	TOTAL
Average working	37.4% 9194	34.9% 3056	11.8% 107	36.2% 1218	36.1% 13575
Working--NA average or upper	8.7% 2134	7.4% 652	3.7% 34	6.1% 204	8.0% 3024
Upper working	7.3% 1802	8.0% 699	4.4% 40	8.7% 292	7.5% 2833
Average middle	28.3% 6940	32.3% 2831	38.1% 347	29.2% 984	29.5% 11102
Middle class--NA average or upper	6.2% 1522	6.2% 539	9.7% 88	4.9% 166	6.2% 2315
Upper middle	8.1% 1989	8.0% 698	28.0% 255	9.1% 306	8.6% 3248
Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")	4.0% 975	3.3% 288	4.3% 39	5.9% 197	4.0% 1499
TOTAL	100.0% 24556	100.0% 8763	100.0% 910	100.0% 3367	37596

Church attendance (I-ATTEND)

	Every week	Almost every week (no cases in 1970)	Once or twice a month	A few times a year	Never	No religious preference (1970-1988)	TOTAL
Average working	34.9% 2697	34.4% 1075	39.6% 1521	37.6% 2680	40.2% 2228	33.6% 469	37.1% 10670
Working--NA average or upper	4.3% 330	4.7% 146	4.7% 180	5.4% 387	3.5% 196	7.7% 107	4.7% 1346
Upper working	7.3% 565	6.7% 210	7.8% 300	8.8% 626	8.4% 465	10.0% 139	8.0% 2305
Average middle	35.4% 2734	34.5% 1079	31.9% 1225	30.1% 2146	30.7% 1703	27.2% 380	32.2% 9267
Middle class--NA average or upper	4.9% 380	4.9% 152	4.0% 152	4.4% 314	3.0% 168	7.4% 103	4.4% 1269
Upper middle	9.1% 701	10.6% 333	8.8% 338	10.2% 725	9.7% 537	8.2% 114	9.6% 2748
Don't know; NA; other (incl. "refused to accept idea of class")	4.1% 320	4.2% 132	3.4% 129	3.5% 249	4.4% 243	5.9% 83	4.0% 1156
TOTAL	100.0% 7727	100.0% 3127	100.0% 3845	100.0% 7127	100.0% 5540	100.0% 1395	28761