Interesting Facts

According to a survey conducted by uSwitch.com, 7 out of 10 Brits say they are middle-class, with a strong belief that middle-class people are more likely to be successful. (Only 53% think their parents were white-collar workers, and 6 out of 10 say their grandparents were working class. Fewer than a third of those who called themselves middle class were in a profession — such as lawyer or doctor, even though 3/4 of people believe being a professional is the top reason for being middle-class. The poll also showed that less than a 1/3of us believe our parents’ class or family wealth determines our status, which is just as well in my case, I'd have to go back down t' mine.) Search for "Class" if you want to learn more about the Class system in the UK.

According to educational charity, the Sutton Trust if you have a private education, you are considerably more likely to get to the top of British public life. (Their research shows that Oxbridge graduates are over represented in top jobs in fields as diverse as the law, politics, medicine, journalism, and even acting. In 2014 the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission reported that 59% of the Cabinet were Oxbridge graduates (compared to the average of less than 1% of the public as a whole). This recent research shows that although only 7% of the population attend independent fee-paying schools, almost three quarters (71%) of top military officers were educated privately, with just 12% having been taught in comprehensive schools. Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said: “As well as academic achievement, an independent education tends to develop essential skills such as confidence, articulacy and teamwork, which are vital to career success." Sir Peter, I think y...

A while ago we posted about the new class system in the UK.  Well they're at it again. This fits in nicely with Saturday's Business English session where we mentioned demographics. The LSE have worked out which class you belong to by Income, Education, Work, Likes, Address, and Who You Talk To. (The precariat, or precarious proletariat - Make up 15% of the country with an annual income of £8,253.  They have a low level education, are unemployed or work as cleaners / cashiers, with no cultural interests.  They live outside the South East of the country, and seemingly only talk to each other. The traditional working class -  Make up 14% of the country, with an annual income of  £13,305. Few have a degree of any kind, they work as secretaries, lorry drivers and electricians, and have a moderate interest in music and art. They live in Scotland and Wales, and talk to other traditional working class people. Emergents - Emergent service workers - Make up ...

According to research by the social mobility and child poverty commission, old-fashioned snobbery is alive and kicking in the UK. (Elite British companies are thwarting the career prospects of talented working-class applicants and recruiting applicants from public schools because of their accents and mannerisms. The commission examined recruitment at 13 elite law, accountancy and financial companies who between them appoint 45,000 of the top jobs in the country. It found that 70% of jobs offered by those firms in 2014 went to applicants from public or selective schools, even though such schools only educate around 11% of the population. I'm not in the least surprised, but it's their loss. If you are talented, but turned down for a job because you aren't "posh" enough, open your own company, and put them out of business in a few years.) !Note - A public school is a private school in the UK.  I went to a state school. Source

Varndean College, a sixth-form college in Brighton, offered sociology students a trip to watch a football match at Millwall Football Club. (Sounds fine so far, but the field trip was for them to "observe working-class culture". A poster for the trip promised participants would be able to see “gender performance” in action, including types such as “the new lad” on show, and the chance to observe “issues around sexuality, race and ethnicity,” “women challenging gender norms” and to “even talk to football fans”.  Wow! So, if anyone tells you the class system in the UK is dead, redirect them here.)

A report published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission in the UK says that a 'cosy club' of people educated at private schools and Oxbridge still dominates politics, the judiciary and media. (The report calls for class to be given as much priority as gender and ethnicity in a 'national mission' to break open an elite 'formed on the playing fields of independent schools' and 'finished in Oxbridge’s dreaming spires'. In his book, The Son Also Rises, Gregory Clark states that your chances of making a success of life are dependent on what your family accomplished 300 years ago. If your family were shopkeepers 200 years ago, the likelihood is you may be, too. I guess I'd better get down the mine.) !Note - Oxbridge = Oxford / Cambridge university.

The average size of class in a state school in the UK is 21. (The average public school (that's the one you pay for) classroom contains 10 pupils. The maximum size used to be 30, but the UK government recently relaxed rules so that class sizes can now be 31 or more, due to a rise in demand for places. I taught a class of 31 adults once. That was fun.)

According to a new survey, run by the London School of Economics, the University of Manchester, and BBC Lab UK, there are no longer three social classes in the UK. (But that does not mean Britain is a classless society, oh no. There are now 7 social classes, which are (from the bottom up):- The precariat, or precarious proletariat - Most deprived group, with low levels of all three capitals. The traditional working class - Low on all three capitals, but not the poorest. Older on average than other classes. Emergent service workers - New class with low economic but high 'emerging' cultural capital. High social capital. Predominantly young and often found in urban areas. New affluent workers - Medium levels of economic, but higher levels of cultural and social capital. Young and active. Technical middle class - New, small class, with high economic capital but less culturally engaged. Relatively few social contacts. Established middle class - High levels of all three capit...

According to research carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research 38% of women in the 1950s married men richer and better-educated than themselves, but today that percentage is just 16%. (The study found that women in the UK are increasingly marrying ‘beneath themselves’ by opting for men of lower social classes. 28 per cent of women born between 1976 and 1981 married men who were less educated and worse paid than them. In 1958, the figure for the same age group was 23 per cent. Of the women born between 1976 and 1981, only 16 per cent married up and more than half (56 per cent) married someone of the same class, defined by the IPPR as someone in a similar occupation. One example used is the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips who married former England rugby player Mike Tindall. The one thing this study really proves though is how class concious the UK still is.) Source

According to a government report, Fair Access to Professional Careers, 41% of law undergraduates, 57% of medical students and 49% of journalism students in Britain come from the UK's 'highest socio-economic groups’. (The independent reviewer on social mobility (yes we really do have one), Alan Milburn pointed out that some middle-class graduates were also locked out of the job market and internships because their families did not have - the right connections. Birds of a feather stick together Mr Milburn.) Source

According to a study carried out by psychologists at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, members of the upper classes are more likely to lie, cheat and even break the law than people from less privileged backgrounds. (The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that those from rich or powerful backgrounds appeared greedier, more likely to lie in negotiation and more likely to cheat. Is this really a surprise? They didn't get rich by being nice.)

According to the results of a BBC Lab UK survey, only 24% of people consider themselves working class. (In 1988 when they asked the same question, it was 67%. Of course in the UK there are only two classes - Them and Us.)

According to The Daily Telegraph Sean Connery posed for life drawing classes in Edinburgh. (If you don't know what a life drawing class is, it means he posed nude. I wonder how much he would be paid for that particular job nowadays.)

According to a survey by the Guardian newspaper 2% of people in the UK consider themselves upper class. (Of 1,011 adults question in the phone poll, 53% said they were working class and 41% middle class. Me? I've been told I have no class.)