A country's underclass consists of those members of its population who are poor, and who have little chance of improving their situation.
The basic problems of the inner-city underclass are inadequate housing and lack ofjobs.
Welfare has become identified with the long-term poor, the underclass.
underclass in British English
(ˈʌndəˌklɑːs)
noun
a class beneath the usual social scale consisting of the most disadvantaged people, such as unemployed people in inner cities
underclass in American English
(ˈʌndərˌklæs)
US
noun
the socioeconomic class with incomes below subsistence level, including esp. the underprivileged
Examples of 'underclass' in a sentence
underclass
Together they exposed the plight of the elderly, the grinding poverty experienced by the urban underclass and the Dickensian horrors of the conditions in some mental hospitals.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Pop music is a vehicle for the marginalised urban underclass.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
An urban underclass was growing rapidly.
Christianity Today (2000)
And it is because New Zealand has such a large underclass that its social statistics are so bad.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
A rioting, looting, feral underclass?
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
underclass
British English: underclass NOUN
A country's underclass consists of those members of its population who are poor, and who have little chance of improving their situation.
The basic problems of the inner-city underclass are inadequate housing and lack of jobs.