Among the -, marriage served the function of - powerful families, whereas among the -, it was about securing - for survival.

• A. wealthy; connecting; poor; labor
• B. wealthy; labor; poor; connecting
• C. poor; connecting; wealthy; labor
• D. wealthy; connecting; rich; labor

Answer: (A)

Marriage operates as a strategic social practice that varies by social class. Among wealthy families, marriages function to create and strengthen alliances between powerful kin—connecting networks, consolidating influence, and maintaining status. In contrast, among poorer families, marriage tends to center on securing essential resources, particularly labor, to survive in a precarious economic situation. The option that best captures this is the pairing of wealthy with connecting and poor with labor because it aligns with how marriage serves as alliance-building for the affluent and as a means of obtaining labor and support for survival for the less well-off. The other choices mix up these functions or misidentify the social groups, which doesn’t fit the observed patterns of family strategy across classes.