Social Class and Identity 1. The working class are associated mainly with the labour party and trade unions

Social Class and Identity                                                                                             

1. The working class are associated mainly with the labour party and trade unions. Working class people did mainly manual jobs such as mining and shipbuilding, since the numbers employed in traditional manual industries have dropped rapidly since the 1970’s and 1980’s. Manual workers now make up considerably less than half the total workforce. The working class now define themselves through their families and standard of living rather than through their work. They have lost the hostility they once held against capitalism.

2. These are typical working class people; shown here in the soap drama   ‘Eastenders,’ running a market stall.

       

3. The underclass are different from the working class because they rely on state benefit as their means of financial income. The working class mainly have job security as they do the jobs that are vital to maintain society. Saunders describes the underclass as those who are in badly paid or casual jobs, the unemployed, and single parents. Saunders suggests that the culture and identity of this underclass revolve around being work-shy and dependant on the welfare benefits provided by the state. Not all sociologists believe that there is an underclass. Jordan suggests that those living in poverty have the same views about work and family as everyone else. Research has shown that the poor often feel shame and guilt about having to ask others for help, it is a loss of their dignity.

4. An example of the underclass, reaching for help.

     

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6. The Middle Classes are different from the working classes because they have more established, higher paid jobs. They also have a higher standard of living and a more comfortable lifestyle. Unlike the working class, Middle Class jobs usually require high qualifications and skills. Middle Class people tend to have a better quality education than the working class. They were also brought up to know that they would be successful and go to university, there is simply not this kind of belief and encouragement within the working class.

7. Changes have occurred which have made us uncertain about who the Middle Classes are. For example, clerks and secretaries traditionally have been seen as having middle-class identity. However with the introduction of technology, such as computers, their skills are seen as less important. As a result, their pay and status have declined and they now have more in common with the working class. On the other hand, surveys of clerical workers indicated that they see themselves as Middle Class as they rarely mix with manual workers and spend their leisure time and money in quite different ways.

8. According to Mackintosh and Mooney it is hard to identify the upper class. They said ‘ wealth and privilege are not very visible.’ They suggested that we can identify the upper class mainly by how powerful in society they are.

9. Children born into the upper class learn distinct ways of speaking, mannerisms, attitudes, values and ways of seeing the world that clearly distinguish them from other classes. They learn that they have security, control, and power over the lives of others. This lifestyle results in self-confidence and a sense of social superiority.

11. The upper class practices social closure, it is self recruiting in that entry to the class is not the result of merit. Entry is restricted to those with a social background deemed ‘worthy’ by the upper class.