Did Britain become a Classless Society after 1945?

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Did Britain become a Classless Society after 1945?

Matthew Woodward – The Road from 1945: Britain since the Second World War

Social class in Britain played a key factor in determining a citizen’s wealth, political power, education opportunities and more generally a person’s lifestyle. The Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines class as “a group of people within society who have the same economical and social position” whilst Karl Marx argued that class was an ‘economic category’. Towards the end of the Second World War it was becoming increasingly suggestive that the British social classes were beginning to merge together in order to form what for former Prime Minister Harold Wilson once described as a ‘classless’ society. Social classes in Britain are traced back as far as the Industrial Revolution, seeing that it provided different parts of the country with various speeds of progress. The struggle of the working class and the dominance of capitalism highlighted class importance all throughout the nineteenth and most of the twentieth century. Since 1945, political events, traditions, national characteristics and consequences of the war all had an impact on the forms of class. Social analyst Michael Young argued that ‘the lower classes no longer have a distinctive ideology with the ethos of society’ suggesting that there was no reason for the British working class to exist. Arguably, class exists due to modern social inequalities such as power, authority, inheritance and income. Despite post war implications of Britain becoming a classless society, to this date, 90% of British citizens still associate themselves to a social class. This essay will investigate the extent of social change after the Second World War, debating whether or not the divisions of social class were reduced.

Post War British society was broken down into the three social groups: The Upper, Middle and Working class; all three of which have specific characteristics, providing an identity for British citizens. Statistics have shown that 60% of the nation made up the British working class in the forties, which consisted of road workers, agricultural labourers, miners, fishermen, servants, laundrywomen, alongside thousands of other professions. Class was often related back to your origin and local accents, which surprisingly had a large influence on a working man’s career success, as stiff Cockney, Scouse, Geordie and Brummie accents rarely provided triumphant employers with good impressions, distinguishing them as common and unattractive, further proving difficult to succeed in the lower class.

Additionally, the working class has received the most attention in regard to class struggle. As the nineteenth century prevailed, workers emerged from common social abuse and unfairness (impact of the Industrial Revolution) to achieve political mobilization with the creation of the Labour Party in 1900. The growth of the Trade Unions all throughout the twentieth century demonstrated the working class’s economical power, with 8.8 million affiliates representing 45% of working class citizens. Accents, Trade Union membership cards, ‘two up, two down terraced houses’  and after-work drinks at the local pub represented the commonness between the people of the working class as it allowed recognition between each other, furthermore distancing themselves from the upper and middle social classes.

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Moreover, the talk of a ‘classless’ society in 1945 was possibly one of the first direct social ambitions regarding the consequences of the war. However, the image of society remained largely unaltered from where it had left off in 1939 as the working class still saw themselves as ‘Us’ and the middle and upper classes as ‘Them’, isolating any kind of social mergence. The ‘private’ sector could be seen as one of the reasons for which class existed, due to factors such as private insurance schemes, private medical services, private building industry and a capitalist housing market. The idea of ...

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This essay is a good attempt to answer the question and provides a reasonable argument and evidence to support it. It would be improved by exploring the definitions of class more closely, specifically whether it was economic, social or cultural, and whether this changed over time. This would give a more nuanced argument. 4 stars.