Middle Class families are not financially secure as they once were. They are getting pay cuts and lay off from their jobs because employers have eliminated their operating costs due to the economy. The financial health of the Middle Class can be analyzed by using the social functional approach to get a direct view to what obstacles the Middle Class have to overcome to support their families. The Middle Class Security Index, developed by the Brandeis University Non partisan policy center measures the financial security by rating household stability across five core economic factors such as assets, educational achievement , housing costs and healthcare.(Thoma, 2007). The Middle Class Security index defined the financial security of the Middle Class as borderline or at risk. The Middle Class will be excluded from public investment because of their economic issues. The social conflict approach can show how age, race and demographic factors play a role of the inequality of the Middle Class. The social conflict approach would show how the Middle Class inequality in society will cause them to be the thing of the past (Thoma, 2007). The investments in federal home loans and education required the assets of the Middle Class.

When I read this article I felt that the statistical information was not valid because it was not readable. It was no mention of how the research was conducted through a survey or interview approach. What I found most reliable is using the social functional approach because it gives a direct approach to how the Middle Class have to struggle in this failing economy. It would give more of an insight of what kind of money they make on their jobs, how they save their money and pay bills.
The article that I have chosen is entitled, The Origins of Religious Stratification in Colonial America. This article studies the creation of religious stratification in Colonial America. This was accomplished through different social processes of the time. Three contributing influences, or causes, were religious prejudice, competition, and differential power. This article explains each of their roles. It also states the rise of religious institutions that came to be in some colonies. Regulations concerning access to resources, economics and political power were also religious in nature.
In order to better