1.

m
2.

Social Mobility
The NCDS (National Child Development Study) 1997 found in a longitudinal study that 61% of men and 45% of
women stayed in the same class they were born into.

The graph to the right shows that there is a strong link between how much a father and son will earn in their
life. This therefore indicates that if your parent earns well you will too and vice versa showing that social
mobility is not common.

Blanden et al (2005) found that 37% of those born into the lowest quartile remained there for the rest of their
lives. The same was true for the highest quartile. Thus the class of one’s birth remains the most significant
determinant of present situation.

In 2010 the government carried out a report into inequality known as the Hills Report. It found that inequality
between social classes was as high as it had been since the Second World War. Statistics showed that the
richest top 1% of the country had wealth of over £2.6 million or more each on average. It added that these
disadvantages for the working classes are passed on through generations.

In 2015, both official government statistics and a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) on social mobility across the globe concluded that Britain has some of the lowest social
mobility in the developed world. Moreover, social mobility in the UK has got worse since the 1970s. For
example, the number of people from poor families going to university in 2015 has fallen compared with the
1990s while the number of graduates from better-off homes has increased.

Wealth and income

There is a clear link between income, wealth and

class. The graph is on household income from
the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in 2009.
The dark blue is income before taxes and
benefits and the light blue is income after. The
addition of benefits from the government does
appear to help reduce the inequalities between
the groups but the difference in income between
the upper middle classes and the lower working
classes is still around £40,000.

In addition a study in 2013 by the ONS found that

2.3% of the population are currently on zero
hours contracts. This means that a number of
people are in jobs which are insecure without a
guaranteed income.

The ONS also found that there were inequalities within home ownership with 92% of the upper middle classes
owning their own home compared to just 14% of the lowest class. People from working class backgrounds are
far more likely to rent or live in social housing. Poor housing has been found to have major effects on other
life chances such as health and educational achievement.

In 2010 the ONS in a study into inheritance found that 76% of wealth which was inherited that year was given
to less that 20% of the population. This shows that a minority of people benefit from inheritance – the rich
ensure their children stay rich.
Poverty

Defining and measuring poverty

Poverty is continually difficult to define as different sociologists will define and
measure poverty in various ways. The Rowntree Foundation uses the measure of the
poverty line. It take the median (middle/average) income of families in the UK and
any families who earn less than 60% of this income are classified as living below the
poverty line and therefore live in poverty.

By this measurement:
 23% of people in the UK live in poverty
 31% of children in the UK live in poverty
 18% of pensioners in the UK live in poverty
(Rowntree Foundation)

Cultural explanations of poverty

Culture of dependency – Marsland is highly critical of those living in poverty and is particularly critical of the
welfare state and benefits system. Marsland believes that we have created a ‘culture of dependency’ where
as a society we expect the government to provide for us instead of providing for ourselves. This causes the
working class to become lazy and not try to gain employment.

Culture of poverty – Lewis has argued that the poor have a set of values known as the culture of poverty
which keeps them in poverty throughout their life. Families socialise their children into values of fatalism
(accepting their position) and immediate gratification (living for the now and not saving/ educating
themselves for the future). This leads to a cycle of deprivation where those who are born poor are likely to
stay there for the rest of their lives as will future generations in their family.

Murray and the underclass

Murray is a New Right sociologist and claimed that a new class had developed in Britain which he termed the
‘underclass’. These were people who were unemployed, not looking for work and reliant on benefits. Murray
identified a rise in those with negative attitudes towards working and were happy to be dependent on
benefits. Murray has linked this rise in negative attitudes to the number of lone-parents where children are
not socialised into society’s norms and values which leads them into deviant behaviour.

Structural explanations of poverty

There are a significant number of sociologists which reject cultural explanations of poverty and criticise the
work of Murray for blaming the poor and not understanding the government’s role in causing poverty. As can
be seen from the diagram below, the amount of money spent by the government on benefits for the
unemployed is minimal. Marxists instead say we
should blame the government for not providing
enough in welfare such as benefits to help the poor
escape poverty.

The idea of the poverty trap is often used to explain

this. If a person on benefits gains a low paid job they
will lose their benefits. However often their salary
will be less than their benefits and therefore it is
difficult for them to have a job and enough money to
escape poverty.
Education

Key statistics
 Middle class children are 7 times more likely to
attend university than working class children
 There is a significant difference between GCSE
pass rates and class. Around 80% of middle class
pupils compared with 35% of working class gain 5
or more GCSEs A*-C

Attainment of five or more GCSE grades A* to C: by parental NS-SEC, 2002, England & Wales

 7% of the UK population
attend private schools and
yet a disproportionate
number carry on to gain
high status, highly paid
jobs.

Factors inside school which affect class and educational achievement

Labelling – Becker found that many teachers viewed middle class children as the ‘ideal pupil’ and as a result
they were labelled positively. Teachers (middle class themselves) expected middle class pupils to have more
positive attitudes towards education, to be more intelligent and to generally behave well in lessons. In
contrast they had negative labels of working class children, assuming they were lazy, disruptive and lacking in
intelligence. As a result this often can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy.

Setting – Ball found that one element of this labelling was that working class children were often put in the
bottom sets. This is because teachers assumed they lacked intelligence. As a result this could impact on their
chances of achieving the highest grades – for example if they were put in bottom set and did not have a
chance to sit higher GCSE papers.

Subcultures – as a result of being in the bottom sets it has been found that working class children join anti-
school subcultures. Willis found that working class boys often formed anti-school subcultures with values of
immediate gratification (living for now and not preparing for the future) due to limited career options when
they left school.

Factors outside school which affect class and educational achievement

Cultural deprivation/ capital – Bourdieu found that middle class children were at an advantage due to their
parents passing on knowledge which would help them in school (cultural capital). For example middle class
parents were more likely to read to their children, take them to museums and help them with their homework
which helps them in schools compared to working class children who lacked this (cultural deprivation)

Material deprivation – it has been found that working class children lack the money to pay for resources such
as textbooks, trips etc which affects their achievement. Leech and Campos found that middle class families
were able to move to expensive areas where the best schools were.

Language – Bernstein found that middle class children speak in an ‘elaborated code’ which is speaking in more
complex language teachers view positively which can lead to positive labelling compared to working class
children who speak in a ‘restricted code’ which lacked complex language and often included slang.
Health
Key statistics
 The Black Report estimated a difference in life expectancy between the highest and lowest social
classes. Middle class men on average live 5 years longer than working class men.
 Wilkinson’s study in 2014 claimed that there could be as much as a 25 year difference in life
expectancy between the richest and poorest people living in London
 Cater and Coleman also found that teenage pregnancy was 10 times more likely to happen if the girl
was from a working class family.
 Bottero - major diseases such as cancer, heart disease and strokes are more common amongst the
working classes
 Coulthard - lower working classes have higher rates of mental illnesses such as depression,
schizophrenia and anxiety disorders than all the other classes.

Cultural explanations for health inequalities

Warde has found that higher social classes eat more fresh fruit and vegetables which
are likely to reduce the risk of heart problems. Whereas the lower social classes eat
more junk food and consume more sweets and fizzy drinks. Blackburn added that if
you improved the income of working class families their diet and therefore health is
highly likely to improve.

Statistics show a significant difference in smoking habits between social classes. The
working class also smoke more with around 40% smoking compared to 15%. It has
been suggested that this could be because it becomes a norm from their parents which working class children
are socialised into.

Structural/ material explanations for health inequalities

Tudor Hart’s inverse care law - the greater the need the less the medical provision, the lower the need the
greater the provision. This is shown by the number of hospitals and doctors’ surgeries are fewer in poorer
areas.

In addition Lobstein compared the prices of food in affluent and poorer areas of London and found that
healthy food actually cost more in poorer areas whilst unhealthy food was cheaper in these areas.

Martin found that those who live in poorer housing conditions are more likely to suffer from respiratory
diseases such as asthma and therefore a lack of money leaves the poor more susceptible to illnesses.
Crime

Key statistics
 1% of male prisoners come from class I and 14% from classes I&II combined
 5% of population is unemployed whereas 67% of prisoners were unemployed
before prison.
 15% of population have no qualifications, but 53% of male and 71% of female
prisoners have no qualifications.
 The working class are more likely to be victims of crime

Explanations of why working class crime

Lea & Young have calculated that unskilled workers are twice as likely to be burgled as other members of the
working class. The poorer the area, the higher the rates of burglary and assault due to problems associated
with social deprivation. This is reflected in statistics on the fear of being a victim with the working classes
more likely to fear being a victim of crime.

Marxists argue that the working classes are more likely to turn to crime due to material deprivation – they
turn to crime because they are unemployed or in low-paid jobs which do not provide them with the ability to
support themselves. Miller adds that working class males are often part of subcultures caused by boredom
which leads them to take part in deviant activities. They feel cut off from the rest of society and are therefore
happy to break society’s norms. Another cause can be relative deprivation where the working classes often
live in areas very near affluent areas and can easily see the advantages that come with being wealthy. This can
cause them to commit crimes against the wealthy due to jealousy/ feelings of inferiority.

The legal system

Marxists would argue that the legal system is biased towards the middle classes. Middle class people do
commit crimes but these tend to be white collar crimes such as fraud, tax evasion, stock market scams etc. In
contrast working class people tend to commit blue collar crimes such as mugging,
benefit fraud and assault. Sutherland states that there is a consistent bias in the
administration of criminal justice that ignores white collar crime and focuses on the
crimes of the poor. Some believe that due to those in the judiciary system being
middle class they do not sentence white collar crime as harshly.