Which class do you think you belong to? The traditional 20th century view was you were either upper class, middle class or working class. The NRS social grade system defined five classes, largely based on based on income and occupation, which went like this:
A Upper middle class: Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B Middle class: Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1 Lower middle class: Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2 Skilled working class: Skilled manual workers
D Working class: Semi and unskilled manual workers
E Non working: Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners, and others who depend on the welfare state for their income, this also includes students.
More recently, Mike Savage from the London School of Economics and Fiona Devine from the University of Manchester carried out The Great British Class Survey. Their results identified a new model of class with seven classes ranging from the ‘Elite’ at the top to a 'Precariat' at the bottom, reported the BBC here.
They devised a new way of measuring class, which doesn't define class just by the job that you do, but by the different kinds of economic, cultural and social resources or 'capitals' that you have.
They asked people about their income, the value of their home and savings, which together they call 'economic capital', their cultural interests and activities, known as 'cultural capital' and the number and status of people they know, which is called 'social capital'.
160,000 people completed the survey.
The full class survey was based on a theory developed by Pierre Bourdieu in 1984. This looked at a person's cultural and social life as well as their economic standing.
So what are these new seven classes?
Elite: This is the most privileged class who have high levels of all three capitals. Their high amount of economic capital sets them apart from everyone else.
Established Middle Class: Members of this class have high levels of all three capitals although not as high as the Elite. They are a gregarious and culturally engaged class.
Technical Middle Class: This is a new, small class with high economic capital but seem less culturally engaged. They have relatively few social contacts and so are less socially engaged.
New Affluent Workers: This class has medium levels of economic capital and higher levels of cultural and social capital. They are a young and active group.
Emergent Service Workers: This new class has low economic capital but has high levels of 'emerging' cultural capital and high social capital. This group are young and often found in urban areas.
Traditional Working Class: This class scores low on all forms of the three capitals although they are not the poorest group. The average age of this class is older than the others.
Precariat: This is the most deprived class of all with low levels of economic, cultural and social capital. The everyday lives of members of this class are precarious.
I think from a scientific and social research perspective, these findings make sense. But the findings concern me for several reasons.
First, the elite is quantified as 6%. And the ‘precariat’ is apparently 15%. So for every person who is enjoying a life of luxury and comfort, there are 2.5 people who aren’t really ‘living’ at all. Can we really consider that our society is a success with numbers like that?
Wealth inequality in Britain is continuing to grow at a frightening rate. A study entitled "Divided we Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising” by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported its conclusions on the causes, consequences and policy implications for the ongoing intensification of the extremes of wealth and poverty across its 22 member nations.
Income inequality in OECD countries is at its highest level for the past half century. The average income of the richest 10% of the population is about nine times that of the poorest 10% across the OECD, up from seven times 25 years ago.
Since 2008 and the start of the recession, in the United States, inequality has increased further from already high levels. Other traditionally more egalitarian countries, such as Germany, Denmark and Sweden, have also seen the gap between rich and poor expand from 5 to 1 in the 1980s, to 6 to 1 today.
It’s my contention that the argument that having a wealthy elite inspires others to work harder and greater aspiration falls apart when we have a prolonged period of recession and job opportunities become scarcer. This leads to discontent and social exclusion, especially amongst the young.
1. The media magnet. Whether you are a TV personality, a music or sports star, a politician, even a high profile professional, you are in the public eye. Fame whether deserved or not is the principal asset of this class. Perhaps when we hear kids say, ‘When I grow up, I want to be famous’, maybe isn’t such a dumb thing after all? Fame is an asset that delivers long term value often even in situations where a person’s real work dries up for whatever reason. There’s always, ‘I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here’ to turn a few weeks minor discomfort into a major stipend and restore your flagging profile…
2. The new working class. These are the people that do all the real work, what’s left of it that is. Whether they are a surgeon or a shelf stacker, a consultant or a call centre worker, their lives are so crammed with work that they continually feel stressed, exhausted and trapped. Their assets are dwindling thanks to stagnant or falling pay, spiralling costs of living and depleted pension funds. Their only hope is to cling to the job ladder until they retire at 85, or whatever age the austerity measures dictate.
3. The educated under-employed. These are the people who have fallen out of the new working class and been unable to find enough work to maintain the life they used to take for granted. Many are professionals who simply cannot find a way back onto the ladder they fell off usually through no fault of their own. They include a sub-class I call the ‘self-unemployed’ – people that are trying to earn money through their own enterprises, but are really struggling to get anywhere and make any significant amounts of money. Many are pinning their hopes on an economic miracle that creates well-paid professional jobs in the economy, instead of yet more low-skill jobs working for global corporations for pin money.
4. The under-educated and unemployed. These are the biggest victims of all. Vilified by the media thanks to the desperate and/or selfish behaviour of a minority that exploit the welfare benefits system, they have the worst possible outlook. Even if a jobs miracle happens, they will be the very last to benefit as the economy soaks up those with higher skills and qualifications first. For more and more of them, increasing amounts of criminality to scratch an existence and regular anaesthetic through drugs and alcohol, provides a temporary stupor of comfort.
To my mind, this is the real structure of society in the West today. Apart from the media magnets, everyone else is suffering if not financially, then at least in terms of their quality of life. It’s the outcome of failed leadership and an economic model that doesn’t work anymore.
We need new visions, better ideas, more competent leaders and we need them fast.
See the original BBC article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/21970879
