Myth of the Classless Society

Ros Wynne-Jones

It all used to be so simple. You were born to be upper class, middle class or working class, and you were stuck with it for the rest of your life.

If you had a mouthful of marbles you were a toff. If you had a handful of school certificates and an indoor loo you were middle class. And if you had a marf-full of apples and pears you were one of the great unwashed.

But class, that peculiarly British hang-up, ain't what it used to be. In the last two decades social divisions in Britain have changed more radically than ever before.

When the grocer's daughter came to power in 1979, one-third of the British people were middle-class. Today, half of Britain is middle class. And since 1976, the way in which class defines our lives has dramatically altered.

You can be top of the heap with a thick Scouse accent and on Skid Row with an elocuted drawl. Experts no longer divide Britain into the upper, middle and working classes but into six different categories based not on your manners, education and accent but on your job, income and lifestyle.

And at least one thing is clear. For all John Major's bluster about the Classless Society, just like his dream of an England of warm beer and cricket on the village green, it is a myth.

Three-quarters of us say we are conscious of living in a society divided by class. Two-thirds of us believe the class system is harmful to us and those around us.

According to a recent MORI poll for World In Action, nearly half the people surveyed believe Britain is more divided by class today than it was in 1979, when Thatcher came to power. And 37 per cent think this country is even more divided by class today than it was during the last election in 1992.

The British public clearly see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Different people view class in different ways. Major, the boy from Brixton who failed the bus conductor's exam but went on to take Britain's top job, doesn't think it exists.

Steven Norris, Tory MP and former second-hand car dealer, thinks class no longer matters.

Top TV interviewer Jeremy Paxman believes we are all "more or less middle class now". Labour deputy leader John Prescott admits he is now "pretty middle class".

Across the class divide Eddie Windsor, fifth in line to the throne, famously proclaimed: "We are for ever being told we have a rigid class structure. That's codswallop. There are more opportunities than ever to do just about anything you want."

Brummie comic Frank Skinner told Tony Blair his definition of working class was whether someone had a bucket in their bedroom.

"A bucket?" repeated middle class Blair. "For what purpose?"

"Well, if you've got an outside lav you don't want to be going outdoors in the middle of the night," explained Skinner. "I grew up with a bucket in my bedroom and I think that's a good definition for whether people are working class or not."

Britain is not a level playing field with equal opportunities for all. Sociology professor Rosemary Crompton says: "Among men educated to GCSE standard, 43 per cent from the upper-middle class were in white collar occupations but only 15 per cent from the working class were in the same occupations.

"These people were educated to exactly the same standard, but they went on to get different jobs because of the barriers class was throwing in their way."

"Working class people are less likely to be able to pay for extra training and qualifications, and less able to afford extra tuition in subjects they are weak in."

WHAT CLASS ARE YOU? READ ACROSS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND TICK THE STATEMENTS YOU STRONGLY AGREE WITH

I eat meat at least four to six days per week

I drive a car almost every day

I don't smoke

I drink alcohol almost every day

I exercise no more than once a week

I use unleaded petrol

I have a pounds 100 cheque guarantee card

I read a book at least once a month

I support the monarchy

If I won Lottery I'd buy Tudor manor or Georgian townhouse

I think it's OK for couples to live together before marriage

I have taken cocaine

I do not support the idea of a minimum wage

My last holiday cost more than pounds 2,000 per person

I do not believe the death penalty is ever justified

I have not had sex this week

I consider myself to be European

I earn over pounds 30,000 per year

I am likely to vote at the next general election

I own my own home

I am a vegetarian

I exercise two to six times a week

I take bottles, papers and cans to be recycled

I have recently walked in the countryside or along the coast

I have a credit card

I have a pounds 50 cheque guarantee card

I think the monarchy should be abolished

I have taken cocaine

I do not support the idea of a minimum wage

I think abortion should be made easier

I have been on holiday abroad in the last 12 months

I know someone who has taken heroin

I don't know what I think about the death penalty

My sex life would be improved by having more sex

I have taken Ecstasy

I earn over pounds 14,000 but less than pounds 30,000 per year

I am likely to vote at the next general election

I rent my home privately

I think cannabis should be legalised

I consider myself to be fairly European

I have one pet

I never smoke cigars

I drink alcohol only about once a week

I exercise two to six times a week

I have recently walked in the countryside or along the coast

I have a cashpoint card

If I won the Lottery I'd move to a country cottage

I never read books

I think the monarchy should be abolished

I don't think women should take the lead in sex

I think it's wrong for couples to live together before marriage

I have never taken drugs

I support the idea of a minimum wage

I think abortion should be made more difficult

I have not been on holiday in the last 12 months

I have had sex about four times this week

I don't consider myself to be European

I earn less than pounds 14,000 per year

I have bought my home from the council

I think cannabis should be legalised

I eat meat two or three times a week

I never exercise

I wrote to a newspaper this year about an environmental issue

If I won the Lottery I would buy a villa in the sun

I support the monarchy

I know someone who has taken crack cocaine

I have taken Ecstasy

I support the idea of a minimum wage

I think abortion should be made easier

I have been on holiday only in the UK in the last 12 months

I believe the death penalty is sometimes justified

Talking more freely about sex would improve my sex life

I earn under pounds 8,000 per year

I am not likely to vote at the next general election

I rent my home privately

I have more than one pet

I do not drive

I smoke cigarettes

I have written to a newspaper this year

I don't really worry about the environment

I have more than one pet

I do not drive a car

I smoke cigarettes

I exercise every day

I never exercise

I never finish a book for pleasure

I support the monarchy

I think it's wrong for couples to live together before marriage

I have never taken drugs

I know someone who has taken crack cocaine

I support the idea of a minimum wage

I am a pensioner

My last holiday cost less than pounds 250 per person

I live mainly on state benefits

I believe the death penalty is sometimes justified

My sex life would be improved by having less sex

I don't consider myself to be European

I have had sex more than six times this week

I am not likely to vote at the next general election

I rent my home from the council

NOW FIND OUT WHAT CLASS YOU ARE

To find out what class you are, try our quiz on the opposite page. The questions are based on extensive research by opinion pollsters MORI. Read from left to right and tick all the statements which apply to you, or you strongly agree with. Don't worry if you tick more than one statement on the same line. Then turn to page 24 and see how you scored.

CLASS

Which one are you?

When you've ticked all the statements that apply to you on Page 23, look at the five vertical columns of boxes from top to bottom and see which column contains most ticks.

If it's the left-hand Column One, you're in the AB social class of top professionals. If it's Column Two, you're in the C1 class of white-collar workers and students.

If most of your ticks are in the middle Column Three, you're a C2 blue-collar worker. Column Four puts you in social class D, semi- skilled and unskilled workers.

And if most of your ticks are in the right-hand Column Five, you're in class E - probably unemployed or living on the State old age pension.

Now read more about your class...

ABs: On top of the heap

People in the A category are the former upper-middle classes in top managerial or professional jobs, just three per cent of the population. Bs, the old middle class, form 14 per cent of the population and are middle managers or professionals.

ABs are more aware of how class affects their lives. They know it can make all the difference to work and love.

They are more likely to have sexual relationships that aren't based on love and are more liberal about sex generally. However, they are also more likely to value marriage as an institution. They own their homes and have at least one car per household.

They are regular exercisers and take expensive foreign holidays. They have liberal views on the death penalty and abortion, and can afford the luxury of choosing products that benefit the environment.

C1s: They hold key to No 10

C1s, the former lower-middle classes, are junior managers or professionals or small traders with staff and premises, 26 per cent of the population.

The Tories see women C1s, or "Worcester Woman," as the crucial social group to win over in the next election.

Surveys show C1s to be the most sexually liberal and adventurous. They are most likely to smoke cannabis, but can also be conservative, tending to support the monarchy, for example.

About half own a car and drive it every day. Like ABs they tend to holiday abroad, but usually on package holidays and within Europe. As a result they think of themselves as more European than other classes. C1s are also the campaigning class, concerned about the environment and more likely to be vegetarian.

C2s: Home of Essex Man

C2s are the skilled working class, containing the famous Essex Man, the imaginary voter who won the last election for the Tories.

Sierra Man is also a C2. Tony Blair says he knew the last election was lost when he canvassed a C2 man polishing his Ford Sierra who said he was going to vote Tory.

C2s tend to be more sexually repressed than other classes - and certainly less liberal in their attitudes to sex.

Most own a car but don't necessarily drive it every day. They are likely to rent their homes rather than own them and rarely travel abroad, usually spending less than pounds 250 on a holiday.

Of all the classes they are most likely to be anti-Europe in their attitudes. Most are monarchists, but a significant proportion are republicans.

Ds: Mass of contradictions

Those in the D social category are the semi-skilled or unskilled workers, and are the class with the most contradictions.

They tend to find it difficult to talk openly about sex and are the class which most disapproves of adultery.

On the other hand they are more likely to have sex on the first date and to use pornography. They tend not to exercise regularly - but are more likely to be enthusiastic about serious body-building.

Like C2s they probably believe cannabis should be legalised and are more likely to have taken Ecstasy, but they are also more likely to be teetotal.

They tend to be staunch Labour voters, but are less likely than the other classes to bother to vote at all. Their rare holidays tend to be in British resorts.

Es: Trap with no way out

Few people in the E social class are there by choice. They are at the lowest level of subsistence, usually the unemployed or retired people living on the State old age pension, with no means of raising their income.

With C2s and Ds, they account for over half the population.

Those in the E category, for obvious reasons, do not drive, but they are more likely to have health problems because they tend to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol most days and rarely if ever take exercise.

They tend to have conservative views on sex and relationships, and while they disapprove of drug abuse they may know someone with a drug problem.

People in the E social class are also the nation's leading pet- lovers, usually with more than one household pet.

Copyright 1997 MGN LTD
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