Not important

A huge middle class (1)

• there has been a huge growth in middle class from 30% of the population in 1951 to almost ¾ of British people identifying themselves as middle class in 2011

A part time office worker in a small engineering company has little in common with a solicitor, although both can be placed in middle classes despite the difference in pay and status.

A huge middle class (2)

• therefore class is becoming a less important part of identity as most society identifying with the same class

• The middle class are a very diverse group now because most of society have a university education and own their own homes

A huge middle class (3) sociologist

Savage

• beleived class identities today are weak.

• The old class divisions are not breaking down and it is not so easy to predict someone’s lifestyle purely based on their social class

Hutton - the erosion of working class identity (1)

• has argued that the decline in trade union memberships and the dispersal of working class communities has eroded working class idenitity

• 60& of the Uk still claim to be the ‘working class’ when asked to express a class identity (Heath et al)

• There is a significant difference between being working class as defined by official and social scientists in terms of occupation and being working class as defined by the people themselves

Offe - lack of common experience

• argues that in today’s society fewer individuals share a common, unifying experience of full time work

• the experience that used to shape the culture of social classes

• The days when people had a job for life have gone, and we are all able to crate our own identities regardless of the social classes of our families and the level of qualification or job we may have at any one time