Functionalists see our social stratification system as a positive thing. They believe it’s a system that allows society to function much more effectively. People who work hard get the higher class jobs (rewards). This is what motivates the individual to excel, otherwise people would become lazy. Social class is a way of putting a person into their rightful place, the concept being that those who are genuinely better, more capable and willing than others, will assume the roles, responsibilities, and rewards of the power and wealth of the highest positions in society. Functionalists support the idea of equality, that everyone in Britain today has the opportunity and the right to free education and full, open, career paths.
Whether or not class matters is often a personal issue. Legally, discrimination of class is not allowed by corporations. However, it’s easy to mask discrimination in the individual. What it often comes down to, is that those who happen to be in the higher social class’s have the resources and money at their command to give them an advantage in life. Sometimes this advantage is what makes or breaks someone going to university for instance. Politically the country has turned a lot more socialist than what it was in the past. The gap between the classes has closed. There will always be exceptions to this rule though, some people do still live in poverty right under our noses and this cannot be denied. However, there is a great deal more opportunity for creating your own social identity than what there ever has been. We’ve come a long way since the feudal system.
Some would deny that the traditional working class still exists. Left wing labour party has changed its image to appear like their right wing adversaries. Is this symbolic that the under class’s have changed their life style to become more like the upper class? Traditional jobs have been replaced due to global trade, and Britain finds itself assuming the role of professional tasks in today’s modern world. This is shown in official figures, manual working class occupations have fallen from 73.6% to 58.8% of all jobs between 1911 and 1971, this trend has probably continued and been accelerated over the last 30 years to make working class positions even less common.
Research has been conducted into some general trends in class divisions; it’s becoming apparent that those in the lower classes have less positive aspects of their life style, probably due to less money and different upbringings and environments. The lower classes have a life expectancy of up to 8 years less than the upper classes; more like to fall ill, much more likely to smoke, and shocking research was made into the background classes of successful university entrants. (only 1% from unskilled manual working families). Divorce is higher for the working class, and leisure time is reduced. It’s apparent that those in the occupations of lesser status lose out on a lot of benefits. Functionalists would argue that those in this position simply haven’t worked hard enough to earn anything better; it’s their own fault. Marxists would say that society has abused the working class for the benefit and greed of the upper class and that their trapped in a hole no matter how hard they’re prepared to work.
I believe that this question has no clear answer, and that any explanation I can give is based on personal opinion and the evidence shown. It’s true that social class matters much less than what it used to, and the legal/political system has taken steps to standardise equality in society. It’s also true that the working class do lose out on a lot of benefits. On the basis of ‘no’ outweighing ‘yes’, I believe that everyone in society has opportunity to change their status and situation if they’re prepared to do what is necessary. It maybe more difficult than what the functionalists claim, but it’s closer to the truth than the negative view of the Marxists.