The rise of white-collar socialists: ‘A lot of tech workers are working class’

How Americans define who is working class may have more to do with economic anxiety than income or education levels.

A recently surfaced survey of Democratic Socialists of America members showed that 13% were white-collar workers, down from 21% in 2017 but up from just 3% in 2013. In addition, 9% worked in the tech sector in 2021, though comparable figures weren’t available for prior years.

That’s more than blue-collar workers, who made up just 4% of members in 2021 versus 3% in 2017 and 2% in 2013. Other categories similarly saw narrow gains or were virtually flat. Retail, food and other service sector workers accounted for 6% of members in 2021, up from 2% in 2013.

Among respondents 25 years old or older, more than 80% had bachelor’s degrees. And while 45% of respondents had household incomes below $60,000, 28% earned $100,000 or more.

Of course, the numbers may be less of a reflection of working-class Americans overall and more descriptive of the DSA specifically

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