Traditional working class in Britain is a ‘shrinking breed’ and has been replaced by a whole new ‘elite’ class, according to a new study.
The three main classes in Britain – upper, middle and working class – has become blurred and replaced by at least
seven different classes based on their income, savings, house value and social capital.
One of the largest class-based studies conducted by the BBC, found that the traditional working class is a shrinking breed with a whole new “elite” class emerging at the top-end of the social strata.
The ‘traditional working class’ has dwindled and fallen to just 14 per cent of the total population, and ‘is fading from contemporary importance’, the study claims.
It is striking that we have been able to discern a distinctive elite, whose sheer economic advantage sets it
apart from other classes,” said Professor Mike Savage of the London School of Economics (LSE) who conducted the ‘Great British Class’ survey alongside Professor Fiona Devine of the University of Manchester with the help of BBC Lab UK.
Unlike the three traditional class divisions, defined by occupation, wealth and education, the new classes range from the privileged to the deprived, based on income, savings, house value and social capital.
The new classes have been defined as ‘elite’ – the most privileged group; ‘established middle class’ – the second
wealthiest and second highest for cultural capital; ‘technical middle class’ – a small, distinctive new class distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy; ‘new affluent workers’ – a young class group which is socially and culturally active.
The rest are described as ‘traditional working class’ – low on all forms of capital, but not completely deprived;
’emergent service workers’ – a new, young, urban group relatively poor but with high cultural capital; and ‘precariat or precarious proletariat’ – the poorest, most deprived class.
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