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Ashley Martin
Professor Clive Bloom
Global Orientations: British Culture
1 May 2014
Class in Britain Today
Britain is a globalized country, with a greatly diverse population in terms of economic status and
in terms of heritage. However, the recent period of change that has led to this diverse country has
given rise to social issues that are highly important to society today. The topic of division
between the social classes and immobility between classes has been amplified by the growing
diversity. This issue is far from being solved or agreed upon and is at the forefront of media and
politics in the present day.
Social and economic class in the United Kingdom is of high concern to many. In her article for
The Telegraph titled Britains class system alive and well, claims research, Caroline Gamell
discusses the British class system, and that Prime Minister Blair in 1997 pledged to create a
classless society. The reality is that the class system is still in full effect. A government report
cited in the article concluded that children of the wealthiest families are securing the best jobs,
and that children with limited wealth had a much lower chance of even getting higher education
due to high university fees. This is leading to immobility between classes, as those from the
lower class or middle class have little to no chance of moving to a higher class financially. Many
children with working class parents pursue the same career or same type of career as their
parents, and according to the article, tend to live close to where they grew up. Achieving the
status of upper class is nearly impossible, and according to John Rentoul and Matt Chorley in
their article for The Independent titled Class exclusive: Seven in 10 of us belong to Middle
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Britain, no one labels him or herself upper class anymore. However, more Brits than ever view
themselves as middle class, with only 24% describing themselves as working class. This
shrinking working class makes the thought of never escaping the working class a fearful state. In
the past, Britain made things. Nowadays, Britain makes hardly anything on British soil, and this
leaves many factory jobs overseas. Coal and Steel are no longer huge industries, and these areas
and families in them have near to no options in terms of careers anymore. The small amount of
working class jobs combined with the inability to leave the working class creates a crisis for
those trapped in it. Prime Minister Milburn even was quoted to say We still live in a country
where, invariably, if you're born poor, you die poor, just as if you go to a low-achieving school,
you tend to end up in a low-achieving job. The proposed solution of many politicians is
pumping money into schools, thereby increasing the chances for disadvantaged pupil to attend
better schools. However, some argue that this will not solve the problem of education. According
to Stuart Weir in his piece Social immobility in Britain: dont blame the parents, this will not
solve the absence of committed and well-educated parents for the children in the working class.
These children are spoken to less, encouraged less, read to less, and live under huge stress
and disadvantages. The advantage of having parents with education begins at birth, continues
through adolescence and throughout education, and having social connections and networks is
incredibly beneficial. Even with help paying school fees, the children of the poor cannot compete
with these advantages. Stuart Weir suggests a structural change to Britain in the true answer,
saying, securing housing, and employment, for all parents are as important as better schools. I
agree with Weir in that simply throwing money at it cannot solve the problem. A solution may
lie in providing resources for working class parents to help prepare children at a young age to be
able to keep up with their middle class peers. In any case, the problem cannot be solved
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immediately and any solution will take years to show any change in the mobility between
classes.
Classes depend not only on career or economic status, but also on behaviour. In Clive
Blooms lecture on British Class, behaviour and even accent were discussed. If you have a heavy
accent, you are most likely from the country, the higher the class you belong to and the less
accent you have. Where you live, who you spend time around, and even what items you consume
all affect your social class. According to Bloom, it used to be what you made is what you are,
now what you consume is what you are. One common trend is impersonating the upper class by
buying upper class items like designer clothes. However, dressing in a gaudy fashion often
gives away that you arent truly upper class. The lowest class possible, deemed chavs, are
described as underclass, even lawless. The 2011 riots in London were even blamed on the chavs
taking what they wanted. In Owen Jones piece for the Independent titled Why chavs were the
riots scapegoats, Jones explains the way in which the media demonized the underclass in their
coverage of the riots. By making the underclass out to be the undeserving poor, or even inhuman,
the gap between classes has widened, decreasing mobility between classes even more. The
interesting thing about the class system, however, is that Brits often embrace their class. British
characters have identities deeply rooted in their class. Mary Poppins works for an upper middle
class family, Harry Potter goes to a special school, deserves a higher class. In Joe Tuckers
lecture What Makes Britain Laugh? Tucker discussed the presence of class humor in British
comedies. Comedies such as Monty Pythons Upper Class Twit of the Year or even Jeeves and
Wooster all find their humor in poking fun at the dim-witted upper class. Identifying with a class
is more important even than identifying with a race according to Bloom. Belonging to a certain
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class is almost comforting to many, and this creates a strange juxtaposition between immobility
between classes and finding comfort in belonging to a certain class.
Class plays an important part in identity and everyday life in Britain. The issue of immobility
between classes, heightened by the difficulty in acquiring education as a working class child, is
far from solved, and yet people still find comfort in identifying with their class. The class
system, while being a major issue facing British society today, is also incredibly important to
British identity, and in my opinion, will always be a part of Britain.












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Works Cited
Gammell, Caroline. "Britain's Class System 'alive and Well', Claims Research." The Telegraph.
Telegraph Media Group, 17 Apr. 2009. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Jones, Owen. "Why chavs Were the Riots Scapegoats." The Independent. Independent Digital News
and Media, 1 May 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Rentoul, John. "Class Exclusive: Seven in 10 of Us Belong to Middle Britain." The Independent.
Independent Digital News and Media, 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Weir, Stuart. "Social Immobility in Britain: Don't Blame the Parents." OpenDemocracy. N.p., 17 May
2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.