§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the membership in England and Great Britain, respectively, of each of the five socio-economic groups numerically and
Great Britain England Number As percentage of total Number As percentage of total Social Class I … 953,860 3.6 836,030 3.6 Social Class II … 4,760,540 17.8 4,103,650 17.8 Social Class III (non-manual) … 5,651,420 21.1 4,940,540 21.5 Social Class III (manual) … 7,626,950 28.4 6,512,140 28.3 Social Class IV … 5,604,250 20.9 4,792,740 20.8 Social Class V … 2,212,070 8.3 1,833,720 8.0 Total … 26,809,090 100.0 23,018,820 100.0 A further 3,558,840 persons in Great Britain and 3,126,430 in England aged 15 and over were classified as economically active or retired, but were not classified to a social class owing to lack of information.
These figures refer to men and women combined. The percentage distribution of men by social class differs significantly from that of women. The percentages for men—17,278,710 in total—and women— 9,530,380—in Great Britain were:
Men Women Social Class I … 5.0 1.0 Social Class II … 18.0 17.4 Social Class III (non-manual) … 11.9 37.7 Social Class III (manual) … 38.5 10.3 Social Class IV … 18.1 26.0 Social Class V … 8.6 7.6 These figures exclude 908,800 men and 2,650,040 women who were not classified to a social class. The distribution of social classes also varies from one age group to another.