Privilege Lost Who Leaves the Upper Middle Class and How They Fall

There are two narratives of the American class structure: one of a country with boundless opportunities for upward mobility and one of a rigid class system in which the rich stay rich while the poor stay poor. Each of these narratives holds some truth, but each overlooks another. In Privilege Lost, Jessi Streib traces the lives of over 100 youth born into the upper-middle-class. Following them for over ten years as they transition from teens to young adults, Streib examines who falls from the upper-middle-class, how, and why don't they see it coming. In doing so, she reveals the patterned ways that individuals' resources and identities push them onto mobility paths--and the complicated choices youth make between staying true to themselves and staying in their class position. Engaging and eye-opening, Privilege Lost brings to life the stories of the downwardly mobile and highlights what they reveal about class, privilege, and American family life.

Jessi Streib is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Duke University. She is the author of The Power of the Past: Understanding Cross-Class Marriages.

Chapter 1: The Downwardly Mobile
Chapter 2: Professionals
Chapter 3: Stay-at-Home Mothers
Chapter 4: Family Men
Chapter 5: Rebels
Chapter 6: Artists & Athletes
Chapter 7: Explorers
Chapter 8: Exceptions
Chapter 9: What's Next
Methodological Appendix
Tables Appendix
Theoretical Appendix
Acknowledgements
Notes
References