British society

The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, with the concept still affecting British society in the early-21st century. Although definitions of social class in the United Kingdom vary and are highly controversial, most are influenced by factors of wealth, occupation and education. Until recently the Parliament of the United Kingdom was organised on a class basis, with the House of Lords representing the hereditary upper class and the House of Commons representing everyone else, and the British monarch is often viewed as being at the top of the social class structure.

British society has experienced significant change since the Second World War, including an expansion of higher education and home-ownership, a shift towards a services-dominated economy, mass immigration, a changing role for women and a more individualistic culture, and these changes have had a considerable impact on the social landscape. However, claims that the UK has become a classless society have frequently been met with scepticism. Research has shown that social status in the United Kingdom is influenced by the social class.

The UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) produced a new socio-economic classification of the British society. The reason was to provide a more comprehensive and detailed classification to take newer employment patterns into account. There are 8 categories in the new version:

1. Higher managerial and professional occupations

2. Lower managerial and professional occupations

3. Intermediate occupations (clerical, sales, service)

4. Small employers and own account workers

5. Lower supervisory and technical occupations

6. Semi-routine occupations

7. Routine occupations

8. Never worked and long-term unemployed

It is apparent that social class is a derived classification achieved by mapping occupation and employment status to class categories. But where do the raw data come from? The principal source of reliable national data comes from the decennial Population Census. Census data on occupation, employer and employment status are collected for the whole working population and 10 per cent of these data are then coded and used in analyses. Between Censuses, government social surveys also collect data required for social classifications, as do many academic studies. In addition valuable data for health and medical researchers are derived from death registration records which include the occupations of deceased persons.

In practice individuals are assigned to social classes by a threefold process. First, they are allocated an occupational group, defined according to the kind of work done and the nature of the operation performed. Each occupational category is then assigned as a whole to one or other social class and no account is taken of differences between individuals in the same occupation group, e.g. differences of education or level of remuneration. Finally, persons of particular employment status within occupational groups are removed to social classes different from that allocated the occupation as a whole.