UK Introduction í Britain = three nations í The UK includes Northern Ireland í Long history í Importance of tradition

National Characteristics í Reserved í Polite í Friendly í Humorous í Traditional (conservative) í Patriotic

Divisions in society ê Class ê Gender ê Race ê Education ê Wealth

Is class still important? ï 90% reply yes in recent survey

Placing others (ascription) ê accent ê manners ê tastes ê occupation ê education ê residence

Increased social mobility Social status based increasingly on ”what you do”  achievement-based criteria  career prospects  job security  income differentialTrends  increase in service-sector jobs  decline in number of jobs in industry

Women: changing role ï more women seeking paid employment ï but 45% work part-time ï 2/3 of all new jobs created go to women ï earn approx. 80% of men’s wage ï 25% of middle managers are female ï 7% of top management ï in spite of Britain’s masculine business culture ï rapid improvements in academic qualifications

Social mobility among immigrants High mobility  African-Asians  Chinese ï well-educated ï professionals ï managers ï self-employed ï effective networks ï above average income Low Mobility  Pakistanis  Bangladeshis  Afro-Caribbeans ï living in relative poverty ï in poorly paid jobs ï poor academic qualifications ï more likely to become unemployed ï many single-parent families among A-Cs

Divisions in education Independent schools Pre-prep (4-8) Prep. school (9-13) Public school (14-18) ï 7% of school population ï based on fees ï highly-qualified staff ï small classes ï high % go on to university ï popular, but expensive State sector Primary school (6-10) Secondary school (11-16) Sixth-form college (17-18) ï varying standards ï larger classes ï new focus on results ï OFSTED set up to monitor standards ï league table of schools ï high drop-out rate

Differences in wealth Good news! ñ improvement in average standard of living ñ lower taxes ñ low unemployment level (4.2%) job seekers ñ increased social mobility ñ more dynamic, individualist culture ñ increased equality of opportunity Bad news! ï marked increase poverty ï reduced social benefits ï greater salary differentiation ï reduced job security ï less solidarity - tougher society  wealth gap 17th highest among western democracies

Recent changes in values Margaret Thatcher – Britain’s Reagan ï More “achievement-based” culture ï Increased individualism ï Increased competition ï Focus on the market ï Privatisation

Continuing the change ñ Tony Blair - Britain’s Bill Clinton ñ Focusing on the future ñ Politician of the “radical centre” ñ The Third Way (rights and responsibilities) New Labour