Class! quite a thought provoking subject. There are those who refuse to be defined by class, refusing to be labelled and possessing a strong value system that disagrees with placing people in different classes that in some way supposes that one group of people is better than another.
Though I can relate to such a concept from an ideological perspective and would love to align myself with such thinking, I feel that class is an increasingly imposing aspect of our society. England never had a French revolution, our aristocracy have remained firmly in their social positions for decades, their children continue to enjoy the privileges that that their birth rights defer on them. A top class education paid in full by their parents, inherited property and land and as I have talked about recently clear routes into some of the most influential positions in Britain.
I believe it may have been Margaret Thatcher who tried to convince us that the American Dream should be part of our national value system. Sure it was never called that but the whole idea of a market led economy, the idea that everybody should be able to own their own property and that social mobility was possible for anyone who was willing to work hard to achieve their dreams became a message loud and clear. For a while, I believe we were caught up in the euphoria of our great achievements. We purchased our council properties and then sold them to buy nice houses on private estates. Yes social mobility in action!
Well excuse my scepticism please but there are a number of factors that make me feel social mobility is not on the increase in the UK, the main one being the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor. I do try not to be a conspiracy theorist but I cannot help but feel there has been a systematic approach to undermine social mobility in the UK and ensure that leading this country is left to its natural leaders. A bit strong? Maybe yes, but to me class remains one of the single most defining factors in a person’s life. Whether you agree with me or not I guess depends on how you define class.
I am apparently now middle class. I am defined as such due to my education and my profession. Well to think that I might be in the same class as Kate Middleton to me is laughable. She again had a top class education culminating in her place at St Andrews which is where she met her husband to be. She could well be a case for social mobility achieved through marriage; the Middletons may be one of the first middle class families in Britain to have their own coat of arms. My point is my life and hers were poles apart long before she met her Prince.
I believe money has a large part to play, it dictates the extent to which you can help your children on their way in life, it dictates the area’s in which you can live, the people with whom you can socialise and the extent to which art and culture can be a part of your life. Yes there are of course exceptions to this; there are exceptions to everything but in the main your financial circumstances play a large part in how exactly you live your life and with whom.
So what has been happening to the finances of the lower middle classes? Well we are of course the squeezed middle and I feel we have been squeezed for some time now. Just a quick look at what we could get for our money in the 80’s and early 90’s compared to now and you understand why social mobility is in fact on the decrease.
So in 1980, the average teacher apparently earned around £20,000 does not sound like very much now. When you consider however the cost of living, things look much better. The average house in the West Midlands cost £22,000. So by purchasing a house three times their income a teacher in the West Midlands could purchase a nice semi-detached house in a nice part of town. Send their children to the best local schools etcetera, etcetera. That is why we are able to watch retired teachers on shows like escape to the country, selling up their city homes for up to five hundred thousand pounds and moving to nice expensive “middle class” rural areas, all made possible by the property boom they were lucky enough to experience. Things are looking very different for the next generation, the average teacher now earns around £34,000 a big increase, but the average house in the West Midlands is now around £178,000. As you can see the average teacher may have difficulty even making it onto the property ladder. My experience is that they may be able to purchase an apartment or small house built in the middle of an inner city deprived area, not offering their children the same privileges as their predecessors.
Bearing this in mind I find it absolutely ridiculous that the current government felt that it was wise to bring the higher tax rate threshold down to £35,000. Seriously people who are earning let’s say £40,000 cannot even purchase a decent property in much of the UK and yet are expected to pay 40% tax on earnings over £35,000. Is this really a morally sound policy? Under the current structure social mobility may be almost impossible for the next generation, when you add to all of this the fact that they will also be paying off their tuition fees for most of their working life there may well be very little disposable income left for the privileges outlined above.
I recognise that there are many different opinions on this subject, this is just mine. I also know that in the grand scheme of things none of this may actually matter but I believe from a social justice perspective it actually does.
