Scrutiny Commission on Equalities

1
Scrutiny Commission on Equalities

• Categorising Social Class
• Norma Spark
• Head of Strategy Policy
• Chief Executives Dept

2
Definitions of Social Class

• Dividing the population into groupings is
  convenient for social policy formulation,
  targeting and evaluation
• Occupation and income level are generally used as
  measures
• Subjective and inconsistent

3
Registrar General Social Class system (RSGC)

• Professional occupations - Social Class l
• Managers/administrators - Social Class ll
• Professional / technical - Social Class lll(N)
• Clerical / secretarial - Social Class lll(N)
• Craft / related - Social Class lll(M)
• Personal/protective services - Social Class
  lll(M)
• Sales - Social Class lV
• Plant / Machine operatives - Social Class lV
• No /unknown occupations - Unclassified

4
Market Research Classifications

• Professional occupations - A
• Managers/administrators - B
• Professional / technical - C.1
• Clerical / secretarial - C.1
• Craft / related - C.2
• Personal/protective services - C.2
• Sales - D
• Plant / Machine operatives - D
• No /unknown occupations - Unclassified

5
Newham Residents in employment

• 1991 1999
• Social Class l 3 3
• Social Class ll 22 27
• Social Class lll(N) 26 27
• Social Class lll(M) 22 23
• Social Class lV 18 16
• Social Class V 7 4
• Sources 1991 Census and 1999 Annual Labour Force
  Survey

6
Newham Residents unemployed or on benefits

• Social Class l 2.2
• Social Class ll 2.5
• Social Class lll(N) 20.3
• Social Class lll(M) 19.6
• Social Class lV 10.0
• Social Class V 7.4
• Unknown/ No occupation 21.1
• Other 17.0
• Sources Unemployment Claimants (Oct 2000)
  Historic Occupation Date

7
The Learning ...

• Three quarters of our population are from Social
  Classes ll, lll(N) lll(M)
• Since 1991 - increase in these classes and a
  decrease in Social Classes lV V
• Unemployed residents are predominantly in Social
  Class lll (N) and (M)
• Unclassified - can be up to 40 of the population
  i.e. the long term unemployed and the retired

8
Income denotes class ?

• Analysis of income patterns between 1997/8 and
  2000/1 offers a snapshot of the relative wealth /
  poverty in the borough
• Average income in Newham in 2001 was 23,900 - an
  increase of 24 on 1996 average of 19,200
• Average Inner London income in 2001 - 29,700
• 2001 - Beckton Community Forum area had the
  highest average income at 29,000 and Green
  Street - the lowest at 21,200

9
Issues ...

• Categorising by occupation - usually counts the
  employed person in a household
• What about a cleaner with a maths degree?
• Or a mother who is claiming benefits and is a
  professor?

10

• Categorising the last job of a retired person -
  can compound inaccuracies
• Market research categories are based upon
  assumptions - where people live, shop, socialise,
  what they read
• Danger of value judgements ...

11
Household Panel Survey 2002-5

• Longitudinal research project
• 2000 people in Newham - 3 years
• Insights into poverty, health, employment,
  quality of life, aspirations
• baseline of the demography and social makeup of
  the borough