Høgskolen i Oslo SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK Professional English

Høgskolen i Oslo I Class l What is class? l Materialist definition; economic situation only (Karl Marx) l A number of factors determine class: income, wealth, education, housing, life style, language, status etc. Stratification of society exists, but social mobility is possible. (Max Weber)

Høgskolen i Oslo The British Class System l What classes are there in Britain? –Upper class –Upper middle class –Middle middle class –Lower middle class –Working class –Underclass? l What characterizes the different classes?

Høgskolen i Oslo Is Britain still class divided? l Distribution of wealth l A widening gap between rich and poor l Unequal opportunities l Social exclusion l Differences within the classes l A classless society? A meritocracy?

Høgskolen i Oslo II Poverty l 1/5 of the British population (about 12 million) are poor l More than 1/5 of the children(about 25 %) l Social exclusion - Unemployment - Little education - Broken families l But, also the ”working poor”

Høgskolen i Oslo III Unemployment 1986: 13.7% (3.4 million) 1997: 6.2% 2004: 4.8% 2006: 5.5% 2007: 5.4% 2008: 6.0% 2010: 7.9% 2.5 million unemployed (Nov.2010)

Høgskolen i Oslo l Varies according to : –Region –Occupation –Age –Gender –Race l State intervention - Jobseeker’s allowance - Training programmes ”Welfare-to-work” and ”New Deals”. Rights and responsibilities

Høgskolen i Oslo IV Crime l Less registred crime, but more perceived crime l More people imprisoned l Youth crime l ”Tough on crime. Tough on the causes of Crime” (New Labour) l Tough on which crimes and which criminals?

Høgskolen i Oslo V The Welfare State l The age of consensus after WWII l The National Health Service l National Insurance l National assistance l The system was left largely unchanged until the 1980s

Høgskolen i Oslo The Welfare State Today l Reforms in the 80s: ”Rolling back the state” l Reforms made by New Labour: –Joint partnerships between the public and the private sectors –”A hand up”; programmes for training and education l Changes and reforms to be made by the coalition government: –Massive budget cuts –A new Health and Social Care Bill introduced. The most radical reform of the NHS since 1946.reform of the NHS

Høgskolen i Oslo VI Immigration and Race Rel ations l 7 %, or about 4 million people, say they belong to a non-white minority l Mainly from Commonwealth countries l History of immigration to Britain after 1945: –Open-door policy until the 60s –Push and pull factors –Recent developments

Høgskolen i Oslo l Social inequality l Riots, e.g. –Notting Hill 1958 –Brixton 1981 and 1985 –Oldham 2001 l Discrimination and racism and efforts to protect against it l Religion as a divisive issue l BUT, Britain is also in many ways considered a successful multicultural society