Stratification Life Chances and Changes in the Class

Stratification, Life Chances and Changes in the Class Structure www. educationforum. co. uk

What are Life Chances o o Life chances are your chances of getting sociably desirable things throughout your life – e. g. health, money, education, longevity, wealth. Life chances are largely determined by your social class - lower class suffer worse life chances – give examples…. .

Traditional Class Structure o 1. 2. 3. 4. Britain has been traditional divided into 4 classes The Upper Class – wealthy and powerful – own land, business and property – pass there advantage on from generation to generation, privately educated. Excellent life chances The Middle Class – engage in non manual work – doctors, lawyers, managers, teachers, office workers. Good Life Chances. Working Class – engage in manual work – factory workers, miners, labourers. Poor Life Chances The Underclass – unemployed and never employed, live off state benefits, occasional casual work, includes the homeless. Very Poor Life Chances

Changes in UK Class Structure Four Key Debates: 1. Does the Ruling Class still exist? – New Right views V. Marxist. 2. The Embourgeoisement Debate – is the working class disappearing – are we all middle class now? 3. The Deskilling or proletarianisation debate – is new technology eroding the advantage of non manual (middle class) workers and making their jobs more routine, deskilled and more like the traditional working class 4. Is there a growing Underclass beneath the traditional working class with a distinct and problematic culture of dependency and criminality?