Social Structure

Mapping Social Structure

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The first census in 1801 simply divided people into those employed in agriculture and those in trade or manufacturing, and the 1841 census, the first to gather detailed occupational data, imposed no real order on it at all. However, the first occupational classification, introduced in 1851, was clearly concerned with social status as well as with what people made: it began with the Queen, followed by government officials and then by 'the learned professions'.

In the twentieth century a separate system of social classes was devised. Originally created to help understand mortality, the Registrar General's Social Classification was tabulated by the census from 1951 onwards. However, the Office for National Statistics no longer officially use the social classification, but instead provide data for an essentially similar set of 'Social Grades' defined by the British Market Research Society. To provide a longer perspective we have re-organised earlier occupational information to the same system. Like the published 1951 data, all our figures are limited to men.

This is only possible where we have very detailed occupational statistics at district-level, so these earlier censuses are limited to 1841, where the replies to the occupational question were tabulated almost raw; 1881, where we can use complete data from the enumerator's books; and 1931, which produced the most detailed of all occupational reports.

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District/Unitary Authority Government Office Region
Percentage of Working-Age Males in Social Grades A & B 1951 - 2011
1951 - 2011
Percentage of Working-Age Males in Social Grade C 1951 - 2011
1951 - 2011
Percentage of Working-Age Males in Social Grades D & E 1951 - 2011
1951 - 2011

Redistricted data on Social Structure

These notes concern the historical statistics for modern local authorities, which have been created for Vision of Britain by re-districting statistics originally reported for other units. We have also had to deal with variations in the categories and classifications used in statistical reporting over the years.

    1951: Data for local government districts in England and wales come from Table 27, "Social Class distribution of Occupied and Retired Males aged 15 and over", in the County Reports of the 1951 census. The limitation of this table to males, and the fact that it does not sub-divide social class 3 into manual and non-manual, explain why we limit all our other social class data in the same way. National totals for England and Wales are from Table 17, "Social Classes by Age distinguishing four categories", on p.148 of Census 1951 England and Wales: Occupation Tables, using data for "Males (Occupied and Retired)" of all ages. This table does not give numbers for "not stated". Data for cities, counties and Large Burghs in Scotland plus the national totals come from Table 10, "Social Class Distribution of Males and Females (Occupied and Retired)", in Volume IV of the 1951 census reports, Occupations and Industries.
  • 1971: Data for local government districts in England and Wales come from Table 37, "Males by area of usual residence and socio-economic class (10% sample)", in the Economic Activity Tables, Part V. This table provides data on 17 'Socio-Economic Groups', some of which are further subdivided. These have been assembled here into the Social Classes 1 to 5. National Totals for England and Wales plus those for Scotland also come from Table 37. The data for Scotland are based on Table 4, "Males by area of usual residence and socio-economic class" for "Planning sub-regions, cities, counties, local authority areas, new towns", in the Economic Activity, County Tables of the 1971 Scottish census.
  • 1981: Data for Great Britain were taken from Table 52, "Social class of households (10% Sample): Households with residents; residents in households", in the Small Area Statistics release from the 1981 Census of Population, and were downloaded from the CASWEB system. They cover all persons aged 16 and over, list numbers in social classes 1 to 5 (with class 3 divided into manual and non-manual), and have been multiplied by ten to adjust for their being from the ten per cent sample.
  • 1991: The data for all areas of Great Britain are computed from table S91, "Social class and economic position (10% sample): Residents aged 16 and over in households", in the 10% sample of households in the 1991 Small Area Statistics, downloaded from the NOMIS online system. The original data were for wards, cover all persons economically active and have been multiplied by ten to adjust for their being from the ten per cent sample. This is the most recent year for which the census published data for the social classes 1 to 5.
  • 2001: The data for all areas of Great Britain are computed from Table CS066, "Sex and Approximated Social Grade by Age: All People Aged 16 and Over in Households", in the Census Area Statistics release from the 2001 Census of Population, and were downloaded from the CASWEB system. The original data are for wards.
  • 2011: Data for England and Wales are from Table LC6124EW, "Approximate social grade by sex by age", downloaded from the NOMIS online system. Data for Scotland area from Table LC6124SC, "Approximate social grade by sex by age", downloaded from the Scotland's Census website. All data are for local authority areas as defined in 2011, so have not required redistricting.