Social class, wealth and multidimensional inequalities: the Great British Class Survey after ten years

Mike Savage

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper reflects on the impact of the Great British Class Survey, hosted by the BBC from 2011 to 2013. I argue that its intense appeal lay in the ability to crystallize three separate trends in one piece of research. These are (i) the problems of relying on a single variable definition of class, such as one based on employment and occupation; (ii) the growing significance of wealth and property as a central driver of 21st century class relations; and (iii) the inherent intersectionality of class with multiple other divides, notably around race and gender. The Great British Class Survey both undercut occupationally based models of class analysis that had become hegemonic during the late 20th century, and offered a template for a new multidimensional approach to class analysis. I consider how these multidimensional perspectives on class are being strengthened through the important shift towards centering wealth and property as the 21st century bedrock of class relations.

Keywords: class; Great British Class Survey; wealth; multidimensional inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2025-06-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-hpe
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Published in Mens & Maatschappij, 1, June, 2025, 100(2), pp. 126 - 142. ISSN: 0025-9454

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:128616

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