The Underclass Under Scrutiny

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Frank Field hailed his work on the underclass as a piece of research "which should change the course of debate in Britain." Now Alan Buckingham, lecturer in SOC and the researcher in question, is ready to get the debate under way.

A constant buzzword in the media, 'the underclass' is far from an unproblematic term in the world of sociology, and Alan's research has reached some hard-hitting conclusions which are likely to arouse controversy. Not only has he found empirical evidence which overturns the concept of a three-tier class system, he has also concluded from his data that "we have a passive, retreatist underclass - a group of people who have just given up." Looking to the American model of social welfare as an inspiration for the UK, Alan has come to the conclusion that "we need to have more pro-active policies. Not working should not be an option any more."

For his ESRC-funded research, Alan used one of the most exhaustive sociological resources available in the country; a national dataset with 17,500 subjects - all of the people born in the UK in one week of 1958. Using the index of 'chronic worklessness' - when people spend a minimum of 15% of their working lives out of a job and dependent on benefits - as a primary criterion, Alan discovered that around 5.5% of the sample could be considered to be members of the underclass. This group is split evenly between women and men. It is crucial that, of that 5.5%, only 1% were of ethnic origin. This suggests that the concept of an underclass in the UK is very different to that in the USA, where, according to Alan, "The word 'underclass' is used as a synonym for dispossessed black people."

Many sociologists have argued that even though there is a statistical group which might share the characteristic of long term unemployment, the individuals who make up that 5.5% have very little else in common which could identify them as a distinct 'class'. Alan's research refutes this argument. The chronically workless are more likely to have been sacked, to have gone to prison and to be single parents. The qualitative part of the dataset, which is aimed at gauging people's attitudes, shows a common trend toward lack of motivation, lack of commitment to work and family, and general apathy. According to Alan, "It's quite clear that these people lack vocational skills and that they lack cognitive ability. Their situation can be seen as being caused by these factors, but it's actually difficult to work out whether the causal factor is attitude or lack of skills."

Alan's research also suggests that those in the 5.5% are less likely to sustain relationships. Around 50% of the men in this group hadn't had a relationship which had lasted for more than one month in the last ten years. Of the women, around 66% are single mothers.

With his emphasis on tough solutions, Alan calls above all for realism when dealing with the problem. "I've been criticised for using the term 'underclass' because it has connotations to do with being lazy and feckless. I'm happy to give it a different name, but it doesn't matter what you label it, the group - and the problems they bring with them - still exists."