Legacy unique identifier: P00031

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These data were originally collected by the Censuses of Population for England and Wales, and for Scotland. They were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators. They form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales.

The first census report to tabulate social class was 1951, but this collection also includes a table from the Registrar-General's 1931 Decennial Supplement which drew on census occupational data to tabulate social class by region. In 1961 and 1971 the census used a more detailed classification of Socio-Economic Groups, from which the five Social Classes are a simplification.

This is a new edition. Data from the Census of Scotland have been added for 1951, 1961 and 1971. Wherever possible, ID numbers have been added for counties and districts which match those used in the digital boundary data created by the GBH GIS, greatly simplifying mapping.

This graph displays how important social identity is to adults in Great Britain in 2017 by age group. The survey showed that ** percent of ***** year olds believe social identity is important, which is * percentage points higher than those aged 50 years and older. The majority of those aged 25 to 64 believe social identity is not important.

In 2021, 20.1% of people from the Indian ethnic group were in higher managerial and professional occupations – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups in this socioeconomic group.

Despite renewed interest in social class,very little is known about the meaning of class membership in twenty-first century Britain. This project aims to fill a growing gap in sociological research and political understanding by documenting the ways in which the deepest layers of everyday life are differentiated by social class. This includes: the use of space and time; daily routines and rhythms of life; geographical mobility; roles and activities in work and in the domestic sphere. The latter will cover the household division of labour, relations with children and schoolwork, leisure activities and mealtimes. To capture all this, the project will involve intensive study of some twenty family households in Bristol. The interest is in 'ordinary' representatives of the class structure rather than the most marginalised, so participants will be households in which at least one adult has full-time work and at least one child is living at home. Households will be contacted through a randomised mailout to selected areas in Bristol and suitable participants will be selected. The project will deploy an innovative mix of research methods, including qualitative time-diaries, observation, photographic methods and interviews, to document the most taken-for-granted elements of their routine everyday lives.

This graphic illustrates how favorable or unfavorable the working class view other social classes in Great Britain. According to the 2017 survey, ** percent of those who identify as working class view their own social sector as the most favorable whilst only * percent view the upper class favorably. ** percent of respondents felt unfavorably towards the upper class.

Legacy unique identifier: P00032

A 2024 survey among internet users in the United Kingdom (UK) found that users belonging to the socio-economic group C1 (lower middle class) accounted for ** percent of medium online users, who used the internet for **** to ***** types of online activities.

This statistic illustrates which class sector is the most hardworking in the United Kingdom according to British residents in 2017. Of respondents, 53 percent said they view the working class as the hardest working in society. Only 1 percent of respondents felt that the upper class were the hardest working.

This statistic displays which social class has the nicest people according to adults in Great Britain in 2017. The working class is viewed as the nicest social class according to those aged 25 years and older. However, ** percent of 18 to 24 year olds think the middle class has the nicest people, which is **** percentage points more than how they see the working class. No respondents aged 65 and older saw the upper class as the nicest with ** percent believing the working class has the nicest people. Only *** percent of 18 to 64 year olds thought the nicest people were in the upper class.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The two former official measures of social class - Social Class by Occupation (SC), previously known as Registrar General's Social Class (RGSC), and Socio-economic Groups (SEG) - were discontinued in 2001 when the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) was adopted as the sole official measure of social class in the UK.

Derivation Matrices for the Former Official Measures of Social Class, 2000, 2010 and 2020 provides derivation matrices for SC and SEG from the Standard Occupational Classifications 2000, 2010, and 2020 after their official discontinuation to enable their use in longitudinal data and comparative analyses.

Further information is available in the publications detailing the 2010 and 2020 work.

Derivation matrices for SC and SEG are available from the Standard Occupational Classifications for 2000, 2010, and 2020. These derivation matrices can be used on any data with the relevant occupational data.

Focus group interviews were conducted between November and December 2010 in five different locations, including in each of the four territories comprising the UK: Bristol, Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Belfast. Separate group interviews were conducted amongst low income samples (5 groups), non-low income samples (5 groups), and mixed income samples (4 groups). These groups were also stratified by household type (11 groups) and minority ethnic status (3 groups)

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) has been running continuously since 1992 to meet the information needs of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It is almost wholly funded by DWP.

The FRS collects information from a large, and representative sample of private households in the United Kingdom (prior to 2002, it covered Great Britain only). The interview year runs from April to March.

The focus of the survey is on income, and how much comes from the many possible sources (such as employee earnings, self-employed earnings or profits from businesses, and dividends; individual pensions; state benefits, including Universal Credit and the State Pension; and other sources such as savings and investments). Specific items of expenditure, such as rent or mortgage, Council Tax and water bills, are also covered.

Many other topics are covered and the dataset has a very wide range of personal characteristics, at the adult or child, family and then household levels. These include education, caring, childcare and disability. The dataset also captures material deprivation, household food security and (new for 2021/22) household food bank usage.

The FRS is a national statistic whose results are published on the gov.uk website. It is also possible to create your own tables from FRS data, using DWP’s Stat Xplore tool. Further information can be found on the gov.uk Family Resources Survey webpage.

Secure Access FRS data
In addition to the standard End User Licence (EUL) version, Secure Access datasets, containing unrounded data and additional variables, are also available for FRS from 2005/06 onwards - see SN 9256. Prospective users of the Secure Access version of the FRS will need to fulfil additional requirements beyond those associated with the EUL datasets. Full details of the application requirements are available from Guidance on applying for the Family Resources Survey: Secure Access.

FRS, HBAI and PI
The FRS underpins the related Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset, which focuses on poverty in the UK, and the related Pensioners' Incomes (PI) dataset. The EUL versions of HBAI and PI are held under SNs 5828 and 8503, respectively. The Secure Access versions are held under SN 7196 and 9257 (see above).

Household characteristics (family composition, tenure); housing costs including rent or details of mortgage; household bills including Council Tax, buildings and contents insurance, water and sewerage rates; receipt of state support from all state benefits, including Universal Credit and Tax Credits; educational level and grants and loans; children in education; care, both those receiving care and those caring for others; childcare; occupation, employment, self-employment and earnings/wage details; income tax payments and refunds; National Insurance contributions; earnings from odd jobs; health, restrictions on work, children's health, and disability or limiting long-standing illness; personal and occupational pension schemes; income from pensions and trusts, royalties and allowances, and other sources; children's earnings; interest and dividends from investments including National Savings products, stocks and shares; and total household assets.

Standard Measures
Standard Occupational Classification; Ethnicity

The majority of domestic holiday trips taken in Great Britain in 2019 were taken by middle class groups (AB and C1), with a total of 69 percent. Working class and non working British residents (DE) took just 12 percent of all domestic vacation trips.