Can a Person Truly Change Their Social Class in Modern Britain?
Journalism stands as one of the United Kingdom's most elite professions, according to research from the Sutton Trust charity. The statistics reveal a stark divide: nearly half of all newspaper columnists attended private schools, while only 7% of the British population enjoyed such privilege. As someone who grew up on a council estate and attended a comprehensive school in Dagenham, east London, I now work as a journalist. This personal journey raises a compelling question: does my professional status automatically make me middle class? To explore this further, Metro invited readers to share their views on whether social class is something you're born into or something you can genuinely change.
Defining Class: More Than Just Birth Circumstances
For the majority of respondents, class identity extends far beyond the circumstances of one's birth. Readers highlighted that class distinctions manifest through subtle indicators like accent, vocabulary, leisure activities, and even shopping habits. Sarah Evans noted that in the UK, "posh" can range from "buying McVities biscuits" to "owning several counties in the south west." Lynn Angel added a nuanced perspective, stating, "We are what we are, we wear different hats for different situations. One day I will eat smoked salmon and another day a tin of sardines."
YouGov data indicates that over half of the British public identify as working-class. Often, middle-class status is perceived as a checklist: a stable job, a mortgage, one or two family cars, and the financial capacity for holidays and pensions. However, campaigners argue that class represents an invisible form of inequality, where parental wealth significantly influences access to higher education and lucrative career opportunities. Research even suggests that grandchildren of wealthy grandparents are two-and-a-half times more likely to secure senior management positions, regardless of their parents' financial standing.
The Legal and Social Barriers to Class Mobility
This entrenched inequality has led some trade unions to advocate for class to become a protected characteristic under the Equalities Act, similar to gender, race, or disability. Legal experts warn that without such protections, discrimination based on accent or postcode remains technically lawful, allowing harmful stereotypes about lower earners to persist. Carmen Lockyet shared her experience of colleagues with designer bags and luxury holidays, while she waits at bus stops and plans caravan trips. "I've been faking it all my life," she confessed. "People are very judgemental and make presumptions. I was dressed well, I spoke well, had after-school activities, etc. People probably didn't know I was living in a council house with my mum, trying so hard to get us there."
Conversely, some individuals achieve professional success and homeownership while retaining what society labels a "working-class accent." Nick Strickland recounted how his father, an academic firmly in the middle class, was born in a council house and "desperately tried to cling onto his working-class roots." This illustrates the adage: you can take the boy out of the council house, but you can't take the council house out of the boy.
Is Social Mobility a Realistic Goal in Today's Britain?
Readers and experts express uncertainty about the feasibility of social mobility. Definitions of class vary widely; what one person considers posh might be another's everyday norm. Despite this, societal pressure to ascend the class ladder persists, a phenomenon known as social mobility. Some readers reported "educating themselves out of poverty" after growing up in council estates, showcasing mobility in action. However, government advisors recently found that such achievements remain rare, especially compared to other European nations. Opportunities are unevenly distributed, with London-born individuals facing better prospects than those from former mining and industrial towns in Yorkshire, the Midlands, or Wales.
Financial resources and the connections they afford can unlock doors that remain firmly closed to most. Access to class-defining activities like opera or worry-free university education often requires significant money. As Anton Cavanaugh commented, "You can [change class]. But society will make it as tough as possible." Alan Doofy noted that while earning more money might enable upward class movement, the reverse is also true, with working-class and middle-class individuals sometimes falling into an "under-class" due to personal or health crises.
Not everyone believes class can be altered, regardless of lifestyle changes like purchasing M&S avocados. March Purdy observed, "We're all closer to crossing the channel in a dinghy than we are to living in a palace." Jeff Thomas suggested a radical solution: scrapping class distinctions altogether. "In 2026, I think we are all fed up with these definitions that go back centuries and are mostly irrelevant," he stated.
