Pulling away? A social analysis of economic 'elites' in the UK

Katharina Hecht, Mike Savage, London School of Economics and Political Science

(Project no. 1013211)

This research will investigate whether British elites are pulling ahead, not just economically but also socially. Economic research has demonstrated that the richest 1 percent in terms of income in the UK have increased their relative advantage since the 1980s (Piketty, 2014; Atkinson, 2015) but we know less about whether their social and geographic mobility patterns are becoming more exclusive and hence whether there is a more general process of ‘elites pulling away’. The research will fill this gap by utilising the longitudinal data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS).

This research is part of a project for the Sutton Trust, with researcher, Katharina Hecht and directors Mike Savage and Sam Friedman. This project will also include analysis of ISSP data on perceptions towards economic inequality. We will write a report investigating whether British elites are pulling ahead, not just economically but also socially. Economic research has demonstrated that the richest 1 percent in terms of income in the UK have increased their relative advantage since the 1980s (Piketty, 2014; Atkinson, 2015) but we know less about whether their social mobility and self-identities are becoming more exclusive and hence whether there is a more general process of ‘elites pulling away’.

• We will draw on International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) data to assess whether the views of the richest individuals are pulling away from everyone else, i.e. whether those in the top decile group have become disproportionally more meritocratic in their views relative to all others. Here we will probe findings that meritocratic beliefs have increased in rich countries and are particularly strong in English-speaking nations (Mijs, forthcoming).
• We will use the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) to compare those with professional and managerial occupations (NS-SEC1) in 1991, 2001, and 2011 to consider their previous jobs and geographical locations in previous censuses going back to 1971. We will also compare those with NS-SEC1 occupations to all other LS members. We will be able to determine whether those in such occupations in 2011 have more socially and spatially exclusive histories than their counterparts in 2001 and 1991.