Rebecca Leaf 09/05/2007
Does Social Class Matter?
Social class is very difficult to define as it is usually based on many factors of peoples’ lives. People within the class system are ranked hierarchically depending on their income, wealth, power, profession and life chances. The wealthiest people are at the top of the hierarchy and the unemployed are at the bottom. A common debate in Sociology is whether social class really matter and this essay is going to try and come to a final conclusion.
Inequality in education is a big disadvantage to being in one of the lower classes. Working class and under class children have less opportunities within education and are therefore less likely to achieve in life. Someone in the middles and upper classes can afford to send their children to good private school and universities. Almost 70% of pupils accepted into British universities are from the top two classes whereas only 1% are from the unskilled manual class. It is argued that children from families who have less money than others are not able to make the most of their educational opportunities because they simply do not have the time and space at home to do their work. Some families may not be able to afford school trips or educational materials such as books, computer and the internet, some school children have to also look after siblings and work part time to help support the rest of the family. A lot of children from lower class families are not taught to respect adults and often have parents with limited educational backgrounds, so are more likely to misbehave at school and have an unenthusiastic attitude towards work. Children from higher classes are almost always encouraged to try their best at school and there is a greater pressure to achieve as parents are usually very successful in their careers (as doctors or lawyers for example).
