Class Distinctions

We have a report in The Independent on Sunday of a survey of the British working class carried out by BritainThinks, Deborah Mattinson’s research company.

It is the second phase of the study that we reported, in the newspaper and on this blog, in March. Then, we looked at the attitudes of the newly-expanded middle class; this time we are looking at the 24% who describe themselves as working class.

There was a lot of rich information in the BritainThinks opinion survey carried out for both studies, some of which we used for the graphics in The Independent on Sunday today, but I thought you might be interested to see more of the data.

Most eye-catching were BritainThinks’s findings about which of pairs of words people use most often, splitting the responses between those who describe themselves as working class (WC) and middle class (MC):

Lavatory WC 4% MC 11% Toilet WC 96% MC 89%

Living room WC 90% MC 80% Sitting room WC 10% MC 20%

Pudding WC 58% MC 49% Dessert WC 42% MC 51%

Sofa WC 53% MC 59% Settee WC 47% MC 41%

In the contest between serviette and napkin there was no significant difference between the classes, as the nation split down the middle.

Working class and middle class differ most on:

Which social class will your children be? Working class WC 58% MC 3%

I often have conversations with friends about shows like the X-Factor or Britain’s Got Talent WC 51% MC 29%

I don’t know who to trust these days WC 58% MC 42%

I often feel lonely WC 37% MC 22%

Which hobbies and activities do you do most in your spare time? Listening to music WC 17% MC 10%

Working class people are more likely to watch:

X-Factor WC 44% MC 29%

Britain’s Got Talent WC 36% MC 22%

EastEnders WC 34% MC 21%

Coronation Street WC 34% MC 24%

Big Brother WC 15% MC 7%

Brands that working-class people claim as their own:

EasyJet WC 52%

eBay WC41%

Pizza Express WC 36%

Compare the Market WC 28%

Sainsbury’s WC 13%

BritainThinks commissioned PDS to conduct an online survey of 2,000 GB adults. Respondents were sampled across the country between 11 & 14 December 2010 and quotas were set to ensure that the sample was representative of all GB adults.