Editing Belize (section)

=== Social structure ===
{{further|Belizean society}}
Belize's social structure is marked by enduring differences in the distribution of wealth, power, and prestige. Because of the small size of Belize's population and the intimate scale of social relations, the social distance between the rich and the poor, while significant, is nowhere as vast as in other [[Caribbean]] and [[Central America]]n societies, such as [[Jamaica]] and [[El Salvador]]. Belize lacks the violent class and racial conflict that has figured so prominently in the social life of its Central American neighbours.<ref name=sbs>Rutheiser, Charles C., "Structure of Belizean Society". In Merrill.</ref>

Political and economic power remain vested in the hands of the local elite. The sizeable middle group is composed of peoples of different ethnic backgrounds. This middle group does not constitute a unified [[social class]], but rather a number of middle-class and [[working-class]] groups, loosely oriented around shared dispositions toward education, cultural respectability, and possibilities for upward social mobility. These beliefs, and the social practices they engender, help distinguish the middle group from the grass roots majority of the [[Belizean people]].<ref name=sbs/>