A Modern definition of class
Growing up in the early 2000s, my class was an easily designated position that I was acutely aware of. The son of a baker and a shop worker, I fit into the ranks of the working classes along with the children of plumbers, electricians and postmen that I was raised alongside on our council estate. However by the time I had reached adolescence my family had moved out of the council owned property and into our own home. Although my parents were still working traditional ‘working class’ jobs, they were no longer archetypical of the status that they grew up with.
Likewise, the political standpoint of the classes which had stood firm and recognisable for decades was now completely askew. Labour were not an exclusively working class movement and the Conservatives were not merely a party for the upper classes. There had been a tangible change in the sociological and political spectrum – the middle classes were now larger than ever before and as the manufacturing industry in the UK all but ceased to exist, the definition of class became blurred and obscured.
Jumping forwards to today and we see a country that is vastly different. Most trade careers now will fetch an average annual wage of £30,000, while the booming service industry with its minimum wage structure has attracted both the traditional working class and younger members of the middle classes. Class is a grey area, and many of us may belong to 2 or more by the modern definitions without being conscious of it.
A Class System for the 21st Century
Back in 2013 the BBC ran a piece on a survey that revealed 7 new class distinctions for the UK based on average annual income as well as social and cultural capital. These new distinctions showed that while there is certainly a higher chance of social mobility in the middle strata of society – particularly for the younger elements of those groups – there is also a stifling level of inequality between the ‘wealthy elite’ and the ‘precarious proletariat’.
The most interesting development with the way that this system distinguishes class is that social standing is not necessarily based on one’s career. A more telling factor could be a person’s cultural capital – an individual earning minimum wage from a position in a call centre could have a higher social standing than their colleagues through their interests in the arts, for example. Access to information through social media has also made gaining an understanding of society a more independent task, as people who have access to the relatively inexpensive purchase of a smart phone are free to peruse their Twitter feeds to form their own opinions in a way that would have been unimaginable just 15 years ago.
The Persistence of Traditional Values
These advancements are still dependent on the one form of capital that persists above all else – inherited wealth. Of course there is more social mobility for the lower-middle classes to rise upwards and likewise the higher-middle classes to slip downwards, but the equaliser for the richest of the rich is still the weighted die of inherited wealth that provides an advantage before many are even able to sit at the table.
29% of the current MP’s that make up the House of Commons were privately educated, despite the fact that only 7% of Britons currently share that same advantage. This is not due to a fluke of luck, the system that is put in place by the wealthy elite protects the interests of those from privileged positions to remain in the upper echelons of society. This has a trickle-down effect in the way we all perceive a person of better mettle. We may place more value on being well spoken than being articulate, looking more presentable than having more proficient attributes and looking for personal connections over a person’s experience.
While it is a positive reflection of our society that class is no longer determined by the profession we have or the postcode we reside in, there is no arguing that our modern perception of class is still affected by tradition and the certainty that the privileged elite will remain as such. It does after all take 10 generations for those at the top to drop to the middle, if they ever do at all.
There has already been a slow shift in the way class is viewed, particularly amongst the younger population who can participate in society without paying too much mind to their status in it. However, while class can be viewed as an abstract idea by some it is still treated as a heavyweight currency where the right connections can see you rise to the very top. If we are to move away from a system where class plays a vital part in determining the success of an individual, it will take more than just looking at the way we define class. It will take a complete deconstruction of the way in which we value it.
To do this there are a few steps that would be integral to dismantling the archaic system that still persists today. Wealth will always be the overarching factor in determining who remains at the top, as the very rich can practically buy their way into society through the campaigns they fund and the connections they make. Britain would need to see a change in the way we approach taxing the super-rich to dissuade them from hiding vast majorities of their wealth abroad. This would also mean that the tax they do not currently pay could fund better education and give more opportunities to people of lower social ranking. This additional tax could also fund basic income to improve the welfare of the destitute, as was tested in Finland and found to boost morale and life satisfaction.
It will take time and a consolidated effort from the whole of society but dismantling the current system we have in place is conceivable. Not only would removing the burden of this system from our society give greater opportunities to those who currently lack the means for social mobility, it would also modernise our country to the point that we are in line with the vast number of European countries who no longer regard class as important at all. I, like many others, have found myself in the privileged position where I am able to disregard my social status. Those at the very bottom do not need to view their class on a theoretical level, it is something they are reminded of every day. Perhaps it is time to give everybody the opportunity to give their full potential to society, rather than have society tell us what our limits are.