Presentation title Social class groupings Social class groupings Joan Garrod Fotolia.

Presentation title Social class groupings

Social class groupings

Joan Garrod

Foto

lia


In the 1950s, social classes in Britain tended to be thought of as

falling into three main groups, based on the occupation of the

main (usually male) breadwinner.

These were the upper, middle and working classes. Their

proportions in the population could be represented by a

pyramid shape.

Upper class

Middle class

Working class


Other, more refined classifications, were developed by the Registrar

General.

One of the most recent classifications used by the government and

other agencies is the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification,

or NS-SEC.

This uses three different scales, but the one most commonly used has

eight groupings.

Other classifications


The NS-SEC scale1. Higher managerial and professional occupations.

2. Lower managerial and professional occupations.

3. Intermediate occupations (clerical, sales, service)

4. Small employers and own-account workers.

5. Lower supervisory and technical occupations.

6. Semi-routine occupations.

7. Routine occupations.

8. Never worked or long-term unemployed.

Question: Why is occupation thought to be so important in the definition of social

class?


NRS social gradeThe NRS was first used to profile the readers of newspapers (NRS = National

Readership Survey), but is increasingly used by a wide range of groups to classify

people. It has six groupings:

A Upper middle class

B Middle class

C1 Lower middle class

C2 Skilled working class

D Working class

E Non-working (unemployed, pensioners, students)


The Great British Class Survey

In April 2013 the BBC published the results of a large-scale survey designed to

update our knowledge of the UK class structure. Two sociologists played leading

roles in the research. They were:

•Professor Fiona Devine of Manchester University

•Professor Mike Savage of the London School of Economics

Two sets of data were used in the analysis.

The findings received considerable media coverage.

Foto

lia


The research

A BBC project launched in January 2011 asked people to complete a 20-minute

online survey. This asked questions on occupation, geographical location, education,

cultural tastes and interests, and the occupations of people the respondents knew.

A total of 161,458 people completed the survey. Analysis showed, however, that

these were predominantly drawn from well-educated social groups.

To overcome this, a second identical survey was carried out by a survey company

focusing on a sample of people representative of the population of the UK as a

whole.

The data from both surveys were used in parallel.


The influence of Pierre Bourdieu

Mike Savage and Fiona Devine wanted to develop a new, more

sophisticated approach to the analysis of social class. In this they

were influenced by the French sociologist Bourdieu, who argued

that social class had three dimensions:

• Economic capital

• Social capital

• Cultural capital


The three dimensions of class

The survey questions were designed to measure all three forms of social capital, to

see how they contribute to a person’s overall class.

•Economic capital – income, savings, house value

•Social capital – the number and status of people one knows

•Cultural capital – the extent and nature of cultural interests and activities

Questions:

1.What possible problems can you identify with online surveys?

2.Can you think of any problems with the way the three types of capital were

identified and measured?


The resultsAnalysis of the two sets of data resulted in a new model of class with seven

groupings. These are:

The elite – the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes

through its wealth. Has the highest levels of all three capitals.

Established middle class – the largest and most gregarious group, and the second

wealthiest. Scores highly on all three capitals.

Technical middle class – a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous

but scores low for social and cultural capital.

New affluent workers – a young group which is socially and culturally active, with

middling levels of economic capital.


The resultsTraditional working class – scores low on all forms of capital, though not

completely deprived, as its members have reasonably high house values.

Emergent service workers – a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor

but has high social and cultural capital.

The precariat (or precarious proletariat) – the poorest and most deprived class,

scoring low for social and cultural capital.

The researchers say that the new affluent workers and emergent service workers

appear to be the children of the ‘traditional working class, which has been

fragmented by de-industrialisation, mass unemployment, immigration and the

restructuring of urban space.


The new class groups

Class group % of population Average age

Elite 6 57

Established middle class 25 46

Technical middle class 6 52

New affluent workers 15 44

Traditional working class 14 66

Emergent service workers 19 34

Precariat 15 50


The Great British Class Survey: conclusions

While this is undoubtedly an interesting and significant piece of work,

it has not been without its critics.

SociologyReviewExtras Vol. 23, No. 3 will look at some of these

criticisms.

In the meantime, you should learn the names of the new groups and

also be able to discuss the methods by which the data were obtained.

Presentation title Social class groupings Social class groupings Joan Garrod Fotolia.

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