Social structure UK

social class

one of the groups into which people in a society are divided according to their manners, family, background, education, job or income

• the term ‘social first appeared in

the 19 th century as a way of classifying the social differences in Britain following the Industrial Revolution

working class’, ‘middle and ‘upper class’

originally described the relationship between industrial workers, managers and owners, and have largely remained the same since the Victorian era

the ABC1 social economic classifications

as a discriminatory tool for media consumption and purchasing power, developed more than 50 years ago by the National Readership Survey

The GREAT BRITISH CLASS SURVEY by the BBC

UK now has seven social classes, • m ore than 161,000 people took part in th is survey the largest study of class in the UK

Elite

(6%) the wealthiest and most privileged group in the UK; they go to private school and elite universities and enjoy high cultural activities such as listening to classical music and going to the opera

Established middle class

(25%) the most gregarious and the second wealthiest of all the class groups t hey work in traditional professions and socialise with a wide variety of people, and take part in a wide variety of cultural activities

Technical middle class

(6%) a small, distinctive and prosperous new class group t hey prefer emerging culture, such as social media, and mix mainly among themselves t hey work in science and tech and come from middle class backgrounds

New affluent workers

(15%) s (15%) economically secure, without being well off (in the middle of all gorups in terms of wealth sociable, ha ve lots of cultural interests t hey’re likely to come from working class backgrounds

Traditional working class

(t his group has the oldest average age, and they’re likely to own their own home t hey mix among themselves and don’t enjoy emerging culture j obs in this group include lorry drivers, cleaners and electricians

Emergent service workers

(19%) t hese young people have high social and cultural capital so they know people from all different walks of life, and enjoy a wide range of cultural activities but are not financially secure

Precariat

(15%) t he poorest and most deprived social group t hey tend to mix socially with people like them and don’t have a broad range of cultural interests m ore than 80% rent their home

SOCIAL MOBILITY IN THE UK

• i n the UK it could take at least 5 generations, or 150 years, for the child of a poor family to reach the average national income, currently about £27,000 for those in full time employment, compared with 2 generations in Denmark and 3 in Sweden

• the essence of the American dream is that anyone can rise – American society is meritocratic and class is achievement based – one s membership in a particular social class is based on educational and career accomplishments