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Is there an underclass in Britain?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 07:38 authored by Alan Buckingham
This paper sets out to define the underclass and then test the predictions of three competing theories in the underclass debate. Using the National Child Development Study for the analysis it is found that an ‘underclass’ suffering from a lack of qualifications, low cognitive ability and chronic joblessness exists. The validity of making a distinction between the working class and an ‘underclass’ has often been questioned both because of the dubious history of such a distinction and because it is not believed that such a distinction is empirically true. The results in this paper contradict this assertion by finding the underclass to be distinctive from the working class in terms of patterns of family formation, work commitment and political allegiance. The distinct attitudes of the underclass, when coupled with evidence of inter- and intra-generational stability of membership, provide early evidence that a new social class, the underclass, may now exist in Britain.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

British Journal of Sociology

ISSN

1468-4446

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Issue

1

Volume

50

Page range

49 - 75

ISBN

0007-1315

Department affiliated with

  • Sociology and Criminology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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