his values, the cooperative peasant would be little more than an
agricultural worker.

In the restructured Bulgarian society the peasantry, encompassing
roughly 30 percent of the population, forms the bottom of the social
pyramid. Although it derives some benefits from the educational, health,
and welfare services instituted by the government, the peasantry is the
forgotten and most disadvantaged segment of the population. Peasants
continue to work hard and long for very meager rewards, and they no
longer have the pride and satisfaction of owning their own land and of
being independent.

The next social stratum, the industrial working class, has been the
object of much glorification by the regime and has benefited most by the
social measures passed since 1944. In terms of their standard of living
and their social status, workers occupy the lowest level of urban
society; however, the educational benefits available to them and the
growing job market offer prospects for betterment and advancement. The
group has grown more rapidly than any other social class as a result of
the crash industrialization program and constitute between 40 and 50
percent of the population, as compared to about 29 percent in the
mid-1950s. Most members of the working class are peasants who have left
the village to find a better life in the growing cities and towns. Some
workers are members of the former middle or upper classes who have been
demoted by the new social order. Many members of the small prewar
working class were propelled upward out of the working class into
managerial and administrative positions of industry.

Within the working class differentiation is made according to education
and skill, which is reflected in income and prestige. Skilled workers
are still in relatively short supply; therefore, they command
considerably higher wages and are likely to receive special housing and
other privileges and inducements from employers. The higher standard of
living that these material advantages can provide and the higher level
of education required to be skilled workers enhance their prestige in
relation to the semiskilled and unskilled workers. Workers in certain
industries, such as mining and heavy industry, are favored regardless of
their level of skill. They benefit from the special status assigned to
these industries in the overall economic plan.

The middle level of contemporary society encompasses all persons in
nonmanual occup