Some believe old-fashioned elitism no longer has a place in today’s society, but is this really the case? A recent poll for the Guardian newspaper showed that 90% of 18- to 24-year-olds still feel they are judged by their social class. Has social mobility in the UK come to a standstill? Is so-called ‘social engineering’ by governments acceptable? How has the rise in graduates affected the UK class system, with more people now identifying as middle class? Is social standing elitist, or a necessary evil of a structured society? These are some of the question explored in A Classless Society?
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
Chapter One: Social Class
A level playing field, Rise of the working class?, So who do we really think we are?, Social class definition, Class psychology, Middle-class teenagers made ‘whipping boys’, Chavs and chav nots, A child’s-eye view of social difference, Health and social class, Life expectancy and social class, A question of class – and tomatoes, Forget class, it’s postcodes that count.
Chapter Two: Social Mobility
Social mobility in Britain, Middle Britain, Social mobility, Social contrast, The class debate demands to be heard, Social mobility in advanced countries, The tyranny of suburbia, Inequality in Britain, The work-rich/work-poor society, Gap between rich and poor narrows, Education key to promoting social mobility, Social mobility not improving, Keeping class out of the classroom, Education is the only way to close class divide, Britain’s teenagers’ social skills gap widens, The cost of exclusion.
Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
Key Facts
• ‘Class’ is a key issue when attempting to understand why in society certain groups fare better than others. (page 1)
• Nearly six in 10 adults claim to be working class despite the growth in the number of jobs whose pay and prestige would traditionally be regarded as the preserve of the middle class. (page 3)
• 77% of children with parents in higher professional occupations attained five or more grades A* to C at GCSE, compared to only 32% of those whose parents are in routine occupations. (page 11)
• Of those questioned in a Guardian/ICM 2007 poll, 89% said they think people are still judged by their class – with almost half saying that it still counts for ‘a lot’. Only 8% think that class does not matter at all in shaping the way people are seen. (page 18)
• The new Middle Britain report shows that although over half of the population say they are working class (53%), over four in ten Britons (43%) now see themselves as middle class. This is a rise of 44% since 1966, when just 30% of the population regarded themselves as middle class. Moreover, the research predicts that by 2020 more UK adults will regard themselves as middle class than working class. (page 19)
• An LSE study found that social mobility in Britain – the way in which someone’s adult outcomes are related to their circumstances as a child – is lower than in Canada, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Of the countries considered, the US and UK were at the bottom of the mobility league. (page 25)
• Children who are not in receipt of free school meals are twice as likely to get five good GCSEs as those who are and those from poorer backgrounds are also three times less likely to overcome a dip in their results. (page 30)
• One in six candidates starting at the UK’s top two universities come from just 30 schools – of which just two are state grammars and one is a comprehensive. (page 34)
A Classless Society? Study Guide
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.50
ISBN: 978 1 86168 448 6 |
