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White working class 'voiceless' | White working class 'voiceless' |
(1 day later) | |
A majority of white working class Britons feel nobody speaks for people like them, a BBC survey has suggested. | A majority of white working class Britons feel nobody speaks for people like them, a BBC survey has suggested. |
Some 58% said they felt unrepresented compared with 46% of white middle class respondents to a Newsnight poll. | |
White working classes were also negative about the past decade with 62% saying life had generally become worse in the UK. | White working classes were also negative about the past decade with 62% saying life had generally become worse in the UK. |
In response to BBC Two's White Season, a special Newsnight on 6 March will feature full poll results and debate. | In response to BBC Two's White Season, a special Newsnight on 6 March will feature full poll results and debate. |
Pessimism | |
The researchers defined the middle classes as the ABC1 category of occupations - senior professionals, office workers and junior managers - while the working class was defined as the C2DE grades - skilled manual workers, semi and unskilled workers, and people on benefits. | |
In most areas covered by the survey the white working classes are more pessimistic about the future and more negative about the last decade in Britain than white middle class people. | In most areas covered by the survey the white working classes are more pessimistic about the future and more negative about the last decade in Britain than white middle class people. |
Of the working class people questioned 71% believe crime has got worse over the last decade, compared with 66% of middle class people. | |
On housing, 80% of the working class say that people like them can no longer afford to buy homes in the area they live. A smaller majority - 68% - of middle class people believed they had been priced out of the local housing market. | |
Overall 62% of the white working classes believe that life in Britain has generally got worse over the last decade compared with 51% of middle class white people. | Overall 62% of the white working classes believe that life in Britain has generally got worse over the last decade compared with 51% of middle class white people. |
Jobs risk | |
When asked whether they thought immigration into Britain, on the whole, was a good or bad thing for the country the survey suggests that opinion was divided between people from different social groups. | When asked whether they thought immigration into Britain, on the whole, was a good or bad thing for the country the survey suggests that opinion was divided between people from different social groups. |
Some 52% of the white working class people questioned thought immigration was a bad thing (42% thought it was a good thing), while just 33% of white middle class people thought it bad (62% thought it a good thing). | Some 52% of the white working class people questioned thought immigration was a bad thing (42% thought it was a good thing), while just 33% of white middle class people thought it bad (62% thought it a good thing). |
When asked whether they thought new immigrants had put their jobs at risk the survey suggests that more than twice as many white working class people (27%) compared with middle class (13%) people thought it had. | When asked whether they thought new immigrants had put their jobs at risk the survey suggests that more than twice as many white working class people (27%) compared with middle class (13%) people thought it had. |
Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,012 white British adults aged 18+ by telephone between 29th February and 2nd March 2008. | Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,012 white British adults aged 18+ by telephone between 29th February and 2nd March 2008. |
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