patterns of social class inequality

• Ritzer (satisfaction)


  -working class workers are dehumanised within fast food chains like McDonalds

  ->given scripts to recite rather than freedom to communicate with customers, and any creativity that may of existed is now undermined by machines, rotas and instructions

  -workers are no longer expected to enjoy work or be empowered

  ->'McJobs'
• Abrams (satisfaction)

  -observed people who lived below the minimum wage shows that the working class are often not paid for time spent at work

  -during undercover investigations she was asked to attend training which she was not paid for, her breaks were not paid for, and she ended up subbing her employers when purchasing essentials such as uniform and even rubber gloves, which she had to provide herself

  ->working class pay, although already lower than middle-class jobs, is further eroded by practices which are unethical
• Elite theory- the Sutton Trust (top jobs)

  -middle and upper classes have advantages in their employment opportunities

  ->ruling class elite use elite schools (e.g. Eton) to get into elite universities (e.g. Oxbridge) then use social networking and the old boys' network to gain employment in elite jobs

  -the working class are disadvantaged in terms of the options open to them in the job market

  ->50% of students attending the elite Westminster schools got a place at Oxford or Cambridge in 2007
• Milburn et al (top jobs)


  -there is a ‘glass floor’ which is an invisible safety net

  which the children of rich parents use to help maintain high paid jobs for their children e.g. private tutors and elite internships / job opportunities, so even those who were not particularly gifted maintained high wages

  -the judiciary system remains socially elitist, with 15 of the 17 Supreme Court judges and heads of division having all been educated at private school

  ->"The senior ranks of the professions are a closed shop.”
• Goldthorpe and Lockwood (employment opportunities)


  -argued that the working class are increasingly

  instrumental in their attitude to work

  -> the professional middle classes, they are less likely to gain satisfaction and status from their jobs, instead seeing them as a means to an end

  -days of fraternity and unity within traditional working-class jobs (e.g. steel works) are gone, and this means they face further disadvantage in comparison to the middle class
• Mac an Ghail (employment opportunities)


  -research showed how the decline of traditional manual labour jobs such as mining and ship building led to high levels of unemployment for working class men

  ->this not only left these men without a job, but it also impacted on their status in the community and their identity since work was seen as essential to a working-class male identity

  ->in comparison to jobs in the service sector which have grown over last 40 years

  -he called this problem the ‘crisis in masculinity’
• Owen Jones (pay and income)

  -income inequality prevalent in the tax & benefits system

  ->poorest 10% pay 43% of their income in tax -> richest 10% pay just 35% of their income in tax

  -the UK is run by a political and economic elite who manipulate society

  to their benefit e.g. PPE/test kit contracts given to friends of the elite -> huge financial gains = unethical/corrupt

  -Prince Charles inherited an estimated £600 million from the Queen BUT didn't pay inheritance tax

  ->incomes of the wealthy are protected by preferable treatment, whilst the incomes of the poor are continually attacked
• Garrod (pay and income)


  -increasing numbers of people on zero hours’ contracts

  where pay is variable from week to week

  ->leaves them at a disadvantage because they don’t

  have a guaranteed income -> middle class have fixed contracts

  -September 2021, around 917,000 people in the UK reported being on a zero hour contract, 3% of the workforce (ONS)

  -the 'gig economy' refers to how workers get paid for a ‘gig’ or small task

  ->companies do not have to provide workers with basic rights such as sick or holiday pay!

  ->estimated 1 million people work in the gig economy in Britain