WJEC Eduqas GCSE Sociology Revision Guide

Class, life-chances and inequality Chapter 4  Social differentiation and stratification 64 Take the strengths and weaknesses of Fiona Devine’s study and write sentences about them using the following words: dated, typical, representativeness, validity, detailed, reliability, sample. AO2 Apply Take it further Explain why Devine deliberately chose a non-representative sample. Link to textbook pp 140–141: Do we live in a classless society? pp 142–143: Are inequalities of social class still important in the UK? pp 144–145: How does social class affect life-chances? Class, life-chances and inequality An individual’s social class is normally decided by their occupation. In the UK there are traditionally three main social classes: working, middle and upper class. The working class were traditionally a large group made up of people who worked in lower-paid and manual jobs. The middle classes worked in non-manual jobs and had higher aspirations. The upper classes were a smaller group consisting of those with power, wealth and privilege. Social class is an important part of sociological study. Since the 1970s, gender, ethnicity and other social differences have become more important in sociology. Marxists only see two important classes in society. These are the ruling class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (proletariat). Marxists believe that class still has the strongest effect on life-chances. Social class is shown statistically to have a great effect on life-chances in many aspects of life including education, health, wealth and crime. A study set up by Conservative MP Justine Greening in 2018 found that half of UK workers believe a regional accent and a working-class background are barriers to success. Greening, the former education secretary, said that the study showed that people think there is a ‘class ceiling’. Personal connections helped to get the best jobs. This suits the middle class better than working-class people. Some sociologists, such as the New Right, argue that social class is no longer important in the UK. They believe that we now live in a classless society. Many traditional working-class jobs have disappeared in the UK. New Right sociologists, such as Peter Saunders and Charles Murray argue that the reason for some working-class people having worse life-chances is down to poor attitudes. Those who have the ability and want to get on can do so. Research and social class A Sky News report in February 2018 based on data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the top 10 per cent in the UK had as much wealth as the bottom half. This sounds quite a big difference, but the Equality Trust, as reported on BBC Bitesize, showed that the 100 wealthiest people in the UK have as much wealth as the poorest 18 million. The figures can be looked at in different ways but the overall picture of inequality in the UK is of large differences. Pierre Bourdieu argued that higher social classes had an advantage through cultural capital. Cultural capital refers to the values and attitudes that enable parents of the higher social classes to help their children to be successful. Higher social classes are likely to have connections and privilege. Private education can help this to happen. Working-class parents cannot afford this advantage. John Goldthorpe and David Lockwood carried out the affluent worker study in Luton car factories in 1961–62. Goldthorpe and Lockwood set out to try to prove whether social class was disappearing. Would the affluent workers become like the middle class? They found that the working class was changing but was not disappearing. Fiona Devine repeated this study in the 1980s. Fiona Devine found a sense of working-class identity still existing in her study. Her study showed that we are not living in a classless society. Spec spotlight 5.3 Equality/inequality in relation to class 5.4 Factors which may influence access to life-chances and power: with specific reference to social class, private schooling, old boys’ network, affluent worker including the work of Devine Many traditional working-class jobs have disappeared. There are now new jobs which are non- manual but low in pay and status. Can you think of any others?