56% of Britons identify as working class, while seeing job and income as the most important factors in identifying class
George Orwell once described Britain as “the most class-ridden society under the sun”. While class has been said to be less meaningful in modern society, it remains a topic of political debate. So how do the public see social class in Britain today?
How do Britons see class?
In terms of how Britons see themselves, 56% of the public consider themselves to be working class, while 36% would describe themselves as middle class. Less than 1% of the public identify as ‘upper class’. This represents a small increase in working class identity since 2019, when 51% of Britons described themselves as working class, compared to 39% identifying as middle class.
Notably, this differs from more formal social classifications, such as NRS social grade, which divides Britain into ABC1s, the 57% of Britons who are said to live in middle class households, and C2DEs, the 43% considered to live in working class households.
However, of those classed as ABC1s, there is an even split between the 47% who consider themselves to be middle class and the 46% who see themselves as working class. C2DEs more align with expectations, with 70% saying they are working class, although 21% identify as middle class.
But while almost all Britons consider themselves to belong to one class or another, they are split on whether belonging to a class actually matters, with 48% of Britons saying it does at least a fair amount, against 45% who feel that which class you belong to either does not matter much in today’s Britain.
Similarly, just 38% of Britons say they have a strong attachment to their class identity, compared to 43% who describe their attachment as weak. Attachment is a little higher among those who consider themselves to be working class (43%) than those who see themselves as middle class (36%).
Perhaps key to this ambivalence towards class among many Britons is that around half (52%) feel that the distinction between being middle class and working class is not clear in modern Britain. This compares to 38% who feel that the distinction between classes is clear, including just 9% who see the difference as very clear.
There is, though, a class divide as to whether the class divide is clear or not. While those who identify as middle class see the class boundaries as being not clear by 60% to 35%, those who see themselves as working class are more evenly split between the 48% who feel the divide is unclear and the 42% who see it as clear.
How do Britons distinguish between classes?
Although most Britons might feel the distinction between classes is no longer obvious, there are still some factors that are seen as indicating which class somebody belongs to.
Just over half of Britons (52-53%) say that someone’s job or income are a major factor in telling whether they are middle or working class. A further three in ten (29-31%) say they are minor factors, while only 10% of Britons would not use either as an indicator of class.
For 45% of Britons, whether somebody went to private or state school is also a major factor in identifying someone’s class, while whether they own their own home is seen as a key factor for 36% of the public. A third of Britons (33%) see the job someone’s parents did as being a major influence on their class, while 29% say the same of which social activities someone participates in.
Whether or not somebody went to university is only seen as a major factor by 19% of Britons, the same as the number who would use someone’s accent to identify whether they were middle or working class. Few see ethnicity as important here, with only 7% of Britons viewing it as a major factor in determining whether a person was middle or working class, against 65% who see it as not a factor.
But regardless of whether something is or is not a factor in determining class, how do Britons use those factors to draw distinctions?
Around three quarters of the public (75-77%) believe you can still be considered working class if you own your house, it you attended university or if you have a job that does not involve manual labour, with only around one in ten Britons (10-11%) believing any of these qualities disqualify you from being working class.
Six in ten Britons (62%) say somebody can still be considered working class if they earn more than the average salary, though this falls to just one in three (34%) if they are earning more than double the average salary, with half of Britons (50%) then believing you cannot be considered working class.
Britons’ tendencies to see multiple factors as influencing class can also be seen when it comes to the enduring debate of whether class is determined by upbringing or your current circumstances. Four in ten Britons (39%) say that your class is equally determined by your past and your present, more than the 33% who feel it is shaped more or entirely by your upbringing or the 19% who believe class is more or entirely a reflection of your current circumstances.
Which jobs do Britons see as middle or working class?
With most Britons considering someone’s job to be a major factor in identifying someone’s social class, what do they see individual jobs as indicating?
There is little disagreement on professions like lawyer, company director and doctor, which over nine in ten Britons (91-93%) see as middle class jobs. Nearly as many see being a scientist (89%), university lecturer (87%) or accountant (86%) as also being more middle class than working class.
Similarly, the overwhelming majority of Britons (92-95%) agree that bus driver, cleaner, factory worker and shop assistant are working class jobs. Being a builder, call centre worker, care worker, mechanic or plumber are likewise identified as being working class by nearly nine in ten Britons (86-89%).
The job polled that Britons were most divided on was police officer, which 43% of the public see as more of a middle class job, against 47% who see it as more of a working class job.
Other jobs where the perception is not entirely clear-cut include teacher, which 59% of Britons see as middle class and 34% as working class; nurse, which is seen as more working class by a margin of 62% to 30%; and farmer, a job perceived as working class by 66% of Britons and middle class by 27%.
But it is being an athlete that perhaps has the most curious perception. More Britons (26%) are unsure how to classify it than with any of the other jobs polled, with a noticeable age curve among those who could pigeonhole it. Among 18-24 year olds, being an athlete was seen as a middle class job by a margin of 66% to 13%, while those aged 65 and over were evenly split 31% to 32% on whether it was middle or working class.
Which activities do Britons see as middle or working class?
While the social activities somebody participates in are seen as less important in identifying their class, with just 29% of Britons seeing it as a major factor, some activities do still hold clear class connotations for the British public.
Three quarters of Britons (75%) see owning shares as more of a middle class activity, with around two-thirds feeling the same of playing golf (67%) or hosting a dinner party (65%). At the other end of the scale, six in ten Britons (60%) feel that reading a red-top tabloid newspaper is something more for working class people.
Nonetheless, some activities that may once have held class connotations are seen as somewhat universal today. For instance, 69% of Britons feel that watching TV is neither a middle nor working class activity, although 23% of the public do associate it more with the working classes. Similarly, going on holiday abroad and eating foreign food are primarily seen as classless activities (63-67%), though with a minority (21-26%) still associating them more with the middle class.
Where Britons are more divided is on living in the North of England, attending a football match or drinking in the pub, which around half of the public (49-53%) see as neither middle nor working class, though with between 36-40% of Britons associating them more with the working class.
One case where historic stereotypes arguably clash with modern reality is with trade union membership. Six in ten Britons (61%) associate it more with the working classes, compared to 24% who see it as classless and just 6% who link it more to the middle class. This is despite union members today being largely non-manual workers who are more likely than the wider population to hold a university degree.
Which political parties do Britons associate with each class?
The British party system was historically seen as a class-based party system, with the Conservatives associated with middle class interests and Labour founded as a vehicle for the working classes. In recent years, this has been diluted by Tory appeals to the working class and Labour’s increasingly middle class voter base, yet such historical allegiances do still tend to hold in the minds of the public.
The Conservatives are seen as more for middle class people by 63% of Britons, compared to 22% who see them for both main classes. Meanwhile, nearly half of the public (46%) see Labour as more for the working classes, against 27% who see them as classless and 13% who view them as a party more for middle class people.
More Britons see Reform UK as more for working class people (33%) than see them as a party for the middle classes (14%). The opposite is true of the smaller left-of-centre parties, with around a third (33-35%) seeing the Lib Dems and Greens as parties for the middle class, versus 8-9% who see them as mainly for the working classes.
How do Britons view the different classes?
Regardless of how the British public define being middle or working class, their perceptions of each other are not driven particularly by animosity. Two thirds of Britons (68%) have a favourable opinion of the working class, against just 9% with an unfavourable view, while 58% of the public have a favourable opinion of the middle class, versus just 15% who see them in an unfavourable light.
Majorities having favourable opinions of the two main classes isn’t just true of all Britons, but within both classes. Two-thirds of those who identify as middle class (68%) have a positive view of the working class, while half of people who see themselves as working class (52%) have a favourable opinion of the middle class, against just one in five (21%) with an unfavourable view.
The upper classes, though, are seen less positively, with only 23% of Britons having a favourable opinion of them, against 52% who have an unfavourable opinion.
Ultimately, one of the key questions raised by class is the relative advantage being from certain classes can bring you. But Britons are split on whether the middle classes in fact have an easy life, with 47% of the public feeling that neither class actually has it easier than the other in Britain today, compared to 43% who believe the middle classes do indeed have it easier than the working classes.
While those who identify as middle class are more likely to say neither class has it easier (55%, versus 42% among those who identify as working class), only 51% of those who consider themselves to be working class say middle class people have it easier in Britain today.
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