The Conception of the Middle Classes

N THESE days, when the desire for exact statistical measurement has taken so strong a hold on men because of its positive achievements in the irealms of natural science, it is not to be wondered at that some sociologists have set out hopefully to measure the magnitude of the rniddle classes. There are two ways in which such measurement has been attempted. The one is to begin with a definition of the social groups which are deemed to belong to. the middle classes, and thereafter to use the available demographic matenal for forming an estimate of the numbers of persons included in these groups. This method, however good the statistical data may be, is bound to yield results which differ widely according to the definition adopted by the person making the estimate. Nor is this simply a matter of including or excluding certain entire doubtful groups, such as shop assistants or works foremen and supervisors. It is also a matter of drawing the line at this or that point within particular groups, in which some members seem clearly to belong to the middle and others not. Foremen and shopkeepers, clerks and typists, and retired or disabled persons livlng on pensions or small savings are obvious examples. As the groups whose inclusion in the ranks of the middle is most doubtful are also, in many societies, the most numerous, the precise points at which the lines are drawn make a vast difference to the result. All that emerges from the use of this method is the conclusion that, in modern civilized countries, the class structure is exceedingly complex, and that any classification involving the notion of a middle class or of an identifiable constellation of middle classes is bound to be arbitrary, and to be quite

Political science · History · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies

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