Social class make-up

Undoubtedly Britain is a class-conscious society but this does not mean that society is more divided than, for example, in France.

Most people are classified according to their work occupations, falling into two broad groups, as in other industrialised societies: the middle class (or white-collar workers) and the working class (or blue-collar workers).

The peculiarity of the British class make-up is that there are no peasants at all. There are farmers and their hired (mostly for a season) labourers, which make a part of the working class.

The working class is rapidly declining. Since the 50s there has been a massive growth of the middle class.

The middle class embraces a range of people from senior professionals, judges, senior medical specialists and senior civil servants to clerical workers. The middle class is the engine room of the economy. Over half of today's middle class started life in the working class. This increase was quite considerable during the rule of Margaret Thatcher.

Beyond the middle class lies a small but powerful upper class, which survives from one generation to another. It is characterised by three things: property, networks and power. The core of the class is probably only between 25000 and 50000 people, but they control key areas of capital in the national economy.

The strangest feature of class in Britain is that it is not entirely dependent on money. In certain circumstances one can be high class and poor, or low class and rich. It is so because the class system is also based on something historical which does not exactly match present conditions.

Those who think that Britain has a class-ridden society usually think of the contrast between this small group, maintained by-its great wealth, property and privileged education, and the shrinking unskilled manual working class, which has been characterised by significantly higher unemployment than other groups. But these two extremes are where there is the least social mobility. Almost half those born into the upper class remain in it, while 40 % of sons of unskilled manual workers themselves remain in that class. But among the intermediate categories of people, skilled manual workers, clerical workers, supervisors, managers and professionals, there is a high degree of social mobility.

Official statistics treats class as a strictly economic distinctio which is based on a six-point scale of employment types;

A — Upper middle class (top managers, doctors, lawyers...

В — Middle class (middle managers, teachers...)

C— Lower middle class (office workers...)

C — Skilled working class (electricians, car mechanics...)

D — Unskilled working class (farm or building labourers...)

E — Residual (unemployed...)

The weakest group economically are retired people, single women and people belonging to ethnic minorities. Pension age is 65 for males and 60 for females.

GENDER

Men continue to control the positions of power and wealth and are slow to share these with women. In spite of having a female monarch and having had a female Prime Minister for over a decade, only 6,2 % of seats in the Commons are held by women. Fewer than 3 % of university professors are women, only 2 % of surgeons are women and there are only few successful women in business and industry. Women sense that a "glass ceiling" exists which prevents them reaching the top. Women are also paid less than men. On average women earn between 2/3 and 3/4 of man's pay.