Polly Toynbee’s Guardian article discussing social mobility brings a lot of debate. We are meant to live in an open and meritocratic society so in theory anyone should be able to change their social standing. We have an education system that is fair to all but there are hidden barriers to stop people becoming part of some classes.

Polly suggests an upward surge, post war change of social class from working class to middle class jobs. However, previous to this and over the last 100 years, mass deindustrialisation has changed class structure greatly. During deindustrialisation, popularised money lending allowed working and middle classes a means to owning their own homes where as previously only the upper classes were wealthy enough to own properties etc.

Class has changed so much and modernised objective measurements of class, defined through occupation and income are measured through NS-SEC and the Great British Class Survey. Resulting from the lateral test, I am from the ’emergent service workers’. Reasoning given for this is that I am young, enjoy a cultured social life and rent my home. I don’t believe that social class is or isn’t fading as Polly suggests but that for some, social class is too subjective and people’s perceptions are ever changing. I know (and hope) that in 5 years time if I take the Great British Class survey again I would be categorised to a different class due to changes in my life.