“England is the most class-ridden
country under the sun. It is a land of snobbery and privilege, ruled largely by
the old and silly.” ―
George Orwell, Why I Write
Many Brits
are obsessed still by the ‘class’ thing. The success of TV’s Dowton Abbey
attests to that.
In the last
century we had Yuppies ,Chavs, Sloane rangers, DINKY ( double income no kids
yet) the English have always loved to classify and reclassify.
If we really
needed any proof of GB being a predominantly secular country the BBC Lab UK
study proves it. Its grading parameters
were:-
economic capital - income, savings, house
value –
and social
capital the study gives us 7 socio economic grades.
The old A, B
C1 C2 D and E have now been shelved it
seems. ( perhaps)
No doubt
Advertisers will find the survey of interest along with socio economists.
Since people
and relationships are a key currency to selling , Salespeople need to take note of this ‘new paradigm’ also.
Professor of sociology at Manchester University, Fiona
Devine, suggests the survey gives a sense of class in 21st Century Britain. BBC
Lab UK worked with Prof Mike Savage of the London School of Economics and Prof
Devine on the study.
The findings were published in the Sociology Journal and presented
at a conference of the British Sociological Association on Wednesday
The study
also measured cultural capital, defined as the extent and nature of cultural
interests and activities.
The new
classes are defined as:
Elite - the most privileged group in the
UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the
highest levels of all three capitals
Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring
highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring
second highest for cultural capital
Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group
which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital.
Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy
New affluent workers - a young class group which is
socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital
Traditional working
class - scores low on all forms of capital,
but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values,
explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66
Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is
relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital
Precariat, or precarious proletariat - the
poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital.
 |
| The above grading from fruits of success will still be useful :-) |
The GBCS was launched on line in January 2011, but data
showed participants were predominantly drawn from the well-educated social
groups. I guess this also indicates that such people are the most class
conscious !
To overcome this they
ran a second identical survey was run with a survey company GFK, with a sample
of people representing the population of the UK as a whole, using the
information in parallel.
Related Links:
The Great British Class Survey
Take the survey ( if you dare)
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