1. What about the workers?
A new study on the Working Class by BritainThinks

3. Introduction
About BritainThinks
Putting the people that matter at the heart of
your thinking makes for better decisions, more
effective communications and stronger, deeper
relationships.
BritainThinks offers strategic advice rooted in
new insight into the people that matter most to
you, whether they are stakeholders, consumers,
citizens or colleagues.

4. Introduction
“What about the workers”
At BritainThinks we believe it is essential to understand the context
in which companies, brands and other organisations operate.
That’s why we do a great deal of our own research to keep abreast
of the constantly changing environment. We have a qualitative
panel that we are regularly in touch with and we carry out large
projects from time to time to look at some of the big questions of
the day.
This March, BritainThinks produced “Speaking Middle English” a
survey exploring the views and attitudes of the 71% of Britons who
self define as Middle Class. This report considers the views of the
24% who consider themselves to be “Working Class”. It draws on the
poll findings, alongside a series of specially convened focus groups,
to explore what it means to feel Working Class in today’s Britain.
Our findings have resonance, not only for the politicians and policy-
makers, but also for brands and companies who seek to better
understand this critical group in British society.

5. 7-out-of-10 self identify as Middle Class
Upper 0%
Upper middle 7%
33.6
Middle 43% 71% Million
adults
Lower middle 21%
Working 24%
Not sure 4%

6. And less than 1-in-4 now define as Working Class
Upper 0%
Upper middle 7%
Middle 43%
Lower middle 21%
Working 24% 11.4 Million adults
Not sure 4%

7. The object that symbolised being Middle Class
was…

8. The equivalent for the Working Class is…
“Because working class people are the ones that do the work – you
wouldn’t see a Middle Class person by the side of the road fixing pipes”

11. Who are the Working Class?
Products & Brands Leisure time
% who have taken a foreign holiday in last
3 years
Middle Class 75%
Working Class 48%
% who say Tesco understands people like me
Middle Class 39%
Working Class 55%
% who eat at restaurant with table service
once a month or more
Middle Class 44%
Working Class 22%

12. The ‘good old’ days?
More opportunities
“Immigration
meant my
“When I left school I wages went
got apprenticeships in from £250 a
three different firms, day down to
I could take my pick” £110, to now
being £70”
Different attitudes % saying ‘I’d rather take on debt than
cut back on spending’
“They had family, they Working Class
had community. I live in 17%
(Under 30)
a block of flats, you
have no community Working Class
around you. Then it was 8%
(50+)
everyone for all.”

13. The bad old days?
Quality of life
Lack of opportunities
Work was harder…. - Longer hours (especially for women)
- More physical
- More shift work / less
flexible working
And more dangerous… - Risk of death / serious injury
“Women just used to
stay at home and look
after the kids, and do
the cooking”
“These days people going abroad on
holiday, and not just to local places,
going to Australia, Canada, India,
wherever”

14. In the past, being working class
was something to be proud of…
• There was a ‘golden age’ where:
• Working class people (particularly men) did ‘real jobs’
• The work was physical and tough, and you ‘earned your keep’
• Everyone wanted to work
• Life back then was hard but… % who say ‘Children are
wrapped in cotton wool
• Working class people “knew how to have a good time” these days’
73%
• Tight–knit communities
• Respect for your neighbours and your elders
55%
… but now, there is a clear sense
that this is fast disappearing
Working Class Working Class
“It doesn’t really matter what class you are in – everyone (Under 30) (55+)
round here is just poor, really.”

15. The working class are almost all living hand-to-
mouth
% who say ‘I have savings which are equal to % who have defaulted on a loan/mortgage in
or greater than one month of my salary’ the last 2 years
Middle Class 61% Middle Class 6%
Working Class 33% Working Class 14%
% who say ‘It would be a big financial
% who say ‘I have enough savings to feel problem for me if I had to replace a large
secure about my future’
item’
Middle Class 32%
Middle Class 32%
Working Class 56%
Working Class 13%

16. And those closest to the line have almost no
aspirations beyond survival
Q. Thinking about your future which two of these are the most important to you?
72%
That I have enough money to make ends meet
63%
54%
That I have a secure home in the future
53%
That I have a good standard of living when I 20%
retire 33%
That I have a better standard of living than I do 27%
at the moment 20%
That I am not made redundant / able to find 18%
work 19%
Working Class (£14k or under)
That I am able to live somewhere where I feel 9%
part of the community 12% Working Class (£14k+)

17. The closer to the line people are, the more
likely they are to feel nervous and lonely
Feeling nervous about family
Feeling lonely
future
% who say they feel nervous about their % who say they often feel lonely
family’s future
Middle Class 22% Middle Class 22%
Working Class Working Class
29% 36%
(earning £14k+) (earning £14k+)
Working Class Working Class
(earning less than 36% (earning less than 42%
£14k) £14k)

18. Hopes
“I don’t want my kids
to have the same life
as me”

19. Fears are concentrated around crime and
the future for the next generation
“Paedophilia –
this guy in the
news should be
hanged”
“I am worried that
our children and
grandchildren
won’t be able to
afford to get
married and have
children”

20. But working class people often refer to another,
‘lower’, class …
“That’s: ‘I’m pregnant, I’m getting a
house for nothing. I’ve got four kids and
no old man”
“She’s not working “She’s lower class
class, because she – we pay for these
doesn’t work” people”
… people who don’t work and, more importantly,
“don’t want to work”

21. They are anxious to differentiate themselves from
“the Chav” …
“[they] would know more about the benefits system
than all of us put together”
“I’ve worked most of my “That’s not working
life – she’s never done a class, that’s a yob”
days’ work in hers”
• “Sponging off the system”
• Rude and anti-social
• Lacking self-respect
… none more so than those who are “I may be out of work, but I
themselves out of work or reliant on want to work, I’m looking
hard for work … and that’s
benefits the difference”

22. Politics
How they say they’d vote % saying they’d be likely to turnout
(8-10 out of 10 likelihood)
Labour 35% Middle Class 83%
Working Class
Conservative 15% (earning £14k+)
71%
Working Class
Lib-Dem 7% (earning less than 57%
£14k)
“ There should be box for none of
“The politicians are all the above, so they’ve got an idea
millionaires – they don’t live in of the number of people out
the real world” there that didn’t want any of
them”

23. Politics – two key figures
“We’ve now got this benefit “I really liked him at first – he
generation which started when seemed different”
Thatcher closed all of the
industries. We’re now buying coal
from Australia”
“They stopped being the party of
the working class”
“It was only because of her that
people like me got the chance to
own a house”

24. Television is a key differentiator between the
working class and the middle class
% who say ‘I often have conversations with friends about shows like the X Factor or Britain's Got
Talent
Middle Class 29%
Working Class 51%
Q. Which of the following programmes and types of programmes do you watch at least once a week when they are on television?
Working
Class
respondents
WC
MC
Dif
Middle
Class
respondent
were
WC
MC
Dif
were
more
likely
to
watch...
more
likely
to
watch...
Historical
documentaries
(e.g.
X-­‐Factor
44%
29%
15%
27%
38%
11%
Time
team,
etc)
Current
affairs
documentaries
Britain’s
Got
Talent
36%
22%
14%
32%
40%
8%
(e.g.
Dispatches)
BBC
News
at
6
or
ITV
News
at
Eastenders
34%
21%
13%
41%
48%
7%
6
CoronaQon
Street
34%
24%
10%
The
AnQques
Roadshow
20%
25%
5%
Big
Brother
15%
7%
8%
Strictly
Come
Dancing
23%
27%
4%
24

25. Most Working Most Working
Class Celebrities Class Brands
1st Wayne Rooney 1st The Sun
2nd Jordan 2nd Iceland
3rd Cheryl Cole 3rd McDonald’s
4th Ashley Cole 4th KFC
5th Alan Sugar 5th Asda
6th Dizzee Rascal 6th The Labour Party
7th Alesha Dixon 7th EasyJet
8th Frank Lampard 8th ITV
9th Kelly Holmes 9th Alton Towers
10th Twiggy Gordon Ramsay 10th Pizza Express

26. Does class matter nowadays?
• There is broad agreement among the working class and middle
class that class matters less
BUT…
• The Middle classes will meet their aspirations more easily
• Being working class used to be a choice
• You wanted to work with your hands, do an honest day’s work, live in local
community, be unpretentious, play football
• Now being working class tends to just mean being poor
• And life is made harder because the working class is…
• Brought down by the work-shy ‘underclass’
• Challenged by immigrants who undercut wages
• Is education the key? Or is it ‘who you know’ rather than ‘what
you know’

27. What about the workers?
A new study on the Working Classes by BritainThinks

28. CONTACT DETAILS
BritainThinks
This study draws on an online survey of 2003 UK adults. Data were
demographically weighted to be representative of the UK adult population.
Alongside the survey, BritainThinks conducted ten focus groups to understand
the views of each of the different working and middle class segments.
For more information about this study, or the the work we do more generally,
please do get in touch:
BritainThinks
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R 1LA
info@britainthinks.com
020 7845 5880