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SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK

SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK. Professional English 24.1.2011. I Class. What is class? Materialist definition; economic situation only (Karl Marx)

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SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK

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  1. SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE UK Professional English 24.1.2011

  2. I Class • What is class? • Materialist definition; economic situation only (Karl Marx) • 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)

  3. The British Class System • What classes are there in Britain? • Upper class • Upper middle class • Middle middle class • Lower middle class • Working class • Underclass? • What characterizes the different classes?

  4. Is Britain still class divided? • Distributionof wealth • A widening gap between rich and poor • Unequal opportunities • Social exclusion • Differences within the classes • A classless society? A meritocracy?

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

  6. 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)

  7. Varies according to : • Region • Occupation • Age • Gender • Race • State intervention • Jobseeker’s allowance • Training programmes ”Welfare-to-work” and ”New Deals”. Rights and responsibilities

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

  9. V The Welfare State • The age of consensus after WWII • The National Health Service • National Insurance • National assistance • The system was left largely unchanged until the 1980s

  10. The Welfare State Today • Reforms in the 80s: ”Rolling back the state” • Reforms made by New Labour: • Joint partnerships between the public and the private sectors • ”A hand up”; programmes for training and education • 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.

  11. VI Immigration and Race Relations • 7 %, or about 4 million people, say they belong to a non-white minority • Mainly from Commonwealth countries • History of immigration to Britain after 1945: • Open-door policy until the 60s • Push and pull factors • Recentdevelopments

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

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