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It seems that it is. Less and less employers are wanting to hire non-college graduates even for positions that don't require a degree. Retailers and restaurant chains both are like that. Also so many manufacturing jobs are being outsourced to other countries and labor unions are declining. So that's my take on it.
Yes, I do, and I think it will continue to get worse.
I live in a county very rich in high tech industry, and I served my time working production lines like so many other longer-timers here. Today, there are so little such positions left in spite of stratospheric growth in this field.
I think more and more jobs will be threatened by robotics.
England has always been known for it's class system. There was the upper class, the middle class, and the working class. The upper class is a small group. Titled aristocrats like the Royal family and their associates. Duke this, and Lord that.......... It would also include those with inherited wealth in general.
The middle classes were folks like doctor's, lawyers, business people, dentists........ the sort of people who could afford to send their children to private school, and ensure they had access to all the good things in life.
The majority of the population was the working class. I guess in America they would be called 'blue collar.' This class tended to live in rented homes, be paid weekly, work in trades like electrician, joiner, car mechanic. The lower working class tended to be semi or unskilled workers working in factories.
This system existed for many, many years. It started to fall apart in my lifetime. Up until the 1970s, the social structure was as I have described. The working classes had improved their situation massively since the second world war. The difference in my father's life, from his father's was enormous. My grandfather had known long term employment in the 1930s, and great poverty. He had a short spell in the 1950s of improved quality of life until he died.
My father built trucks, and worked for good wages. The British government set out on a house building programme after the war. My dad had grown up in an old four room house without a bathroom. The toilet was out back, and a tin bath hung on a nail over the back door. He moved into a newly built rented house in the year after I was born in 1953. It had a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a proper bathroom. This was the beginning of a better life for the working classes.
As the 60s dawned, the working class started to better it's social situation. Young people started to buy their own homes with a mortgage, and began to take holidays abroad in countries like Spain or Greece. Car ownership boomed in the 60s. Life was good for the ordinary working man. More and more women went out into the workplace, and the traditional roles of the sexes started to shift.
There was full employment, the working class had never had it so good. Then things started to go wrong. Traditional industries like coal mining, steel works, the cotton industry, and car factories suffered from prolonged strikes. Britain became known as the sick man of Europe. The upper classes were as secure as ever. The middle class complained, but were doing ok. The working class were starting to see change. Then Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979.
She promised to bring the unions under control, and began by privatizing some state owned assets. She sold off British Telecom (BT) and British Gas for starters. Ordinary folks were allowed to buy shares in companies that were in theory, already owned by the people. Unemployment doubled in the first two years of Thatcher's reign. One of her ministers said, "unemployment is a price well worth paying."
Thatcher became very unpopular at this early stage of her spell as Prime Minister. Then she got herself a war, which she won. This always goes down well with the British, and she won her next General Election easily. She then set about destroyed the coal mining industry. Her political party, the Conservatives, had a bone to pick with the miners. They had two successful strikes in the 70s. The second of these brought down the Government, of which she was a member.
She provoked a strike which lasted a year. The miners surrendered, and went back to work defeated. Thatcher then set about a massive coal mining closure scheme. Coal was available cheaper from countries like Poland, and she liked the idea of more gas fired electrical generation plants. The steel industry was privatized, once again with great difficulty. Many ordinary working class folks felt the sand shifting beneath their feet, unsure of what was coming next.
Thatcher's reign came to an end when she overreached herself with her issue with rates. These are the taxes paid by homeowners to their local council. These rates were used to fund local services. Maggie decided that not just homeowners should pay this tax, but everyone aged over 18. In theory, this is a fair system. The problem you have with billing individuals is that they can disappear. A house owner can't do this of course. Local councils sent out these individual bills of which many weren't paid. It also led to a massive riot in London. The politician's blamed Thatcher for this fiasco, and she was thrown out of power by her own political party.
The ramifications of Thatcher's spell in power are felt to this day. Some of the areas which suffered greatly from her closures like coal mining, never really recovered. A new class came into being - the under class. This group has grown from Thatcher's survival of the fittest policies. I literally saw them come into existence over a few decades.
They tend to be poorly educated, and many have grown up in long term unemployment households. They resent society, but at the same time want many of the desirable baubles of the working class. They want expensive sneakers, and top of the range phones. So they set out getting such prizes in any way possible. This tends to involve crime, and unsociable attitudes. To see many of the previous working class sink so low is a depressing sight for me. During the riots of 2011, the businesses robbed were not food stores, so these folks were not hungry. It was phone and sneaker stores.
So today, in England, the traditional class system has been disturbed. The upper and middle classes sail on nicely. The real blurring has been the working class. My son and his wife own a very expensive home, drive a beautiful car, and earn good salaries. They both come from working class homes, so what are they? If I ask them, they say working class, but many would see them as middle class nowadays. There has been upward mobility for some, while others have sunk. The intelligent ones who understand the new way of doing things are doing well. The plodders, of which many were working class, have seen their quality of life go down. Many are worse off than their parents were. The working class as I grew up knowing, doesn't exist anymore.
But the underclass are puzzled, confused, and angry...........
^^
There are sure to be differences, but we've had a not dissimilar experience in the US. Working people never had it so good after WW2. Then runaway inflation, uncontrolled immigration, offshoring of jobs, etc. changed all that for the worse. In the 1950s and 60s a working man could support a wife and kids, own a house and cars comparatively easily on a modest wage. There was an article just yesterday about how wages have remained stagnant in many working class jobs for decades while obviously inflation has not. Meanwhile some corporate profits have soared, but unlike earlier generations of managers, current ones don't seem to know the meaning of the phrase, share the wealth. It's become progressively harder for many ordinary people to enjoy a decent living wage.
^^
There are sure to be differences, but we've had a not dissimilar experience in the US. Working people never had it so good after WW2. Then runaway inflation, uncontrolled immigration, offshoring of jobs, etc. changed all that for the worse. In the 1950s and 60s a working man could support a wife and kids, own a house and cars comparatively easily on a modest wage. There was an article just yesterday about how wages have remained stagnant in many working class jobs for decades while obviously inflation has not. Meanwhile some corporate profits have soared, but unlike earlier generations of managers, current ones don't seem to know the meaning of the phrase, share the wealth. It's become progressively harder for many ordinary people to enjoy a decent living wage.
^^
There are sure to be differences, but we've had a not dissimilar experience in the US. Working people never had it so good after WW2. Then runaway inflation, uncontrolled immigration, offshoring of jobs, etc. changed all that for the worse. In the 1950s and 60s a working man could support a wife and kids, own a house and cars comparatively easily on a modest wage. There was an article just yesterday about how wages have remained stagnant in many working class jobs for decades while obviously inflation has not. Meanwhile some corporate profits have soared, but unlike earlier generations of managers, current ones don't seem to know the meaning of the phrase, share the wealth. It's become progressively harder for many ordinary people to enjoy a decent living wage.
There are a lot more luxuries to indulge in now that require much more disposable income to partake in. That could represent part of the perceived part of the experience. Still, I'd go back to the experience of the 50's and 60's in a heartbeat.
England has always been known for it's class system. There was the upper class, the middle class, and the working class. The upper class is a small group. Titled aristocrats like the Royal family and their associates. Duke this, and Lord that.......... It would also include those with inherited wealth in general.
The middle classes were folks like doctor's, lawyers, business people, dentists........ the sort of people who could afford to send their children to private school, and ensure they had access to all the good things in life.
The majority of the population was the working class. I guess in America they would be called 'blue collar.' This class tended to live in rented homes, be paid weekly, work in trades like electrician, joiner, car mechanic. The lower working class tended to be semi or unskilled workers working in factories.
This system existed for many, many years. It started to fall apart in my lifetime. Up until the 1970s, the social structure was as I have described. The working classes had improved their situation massively since the second world war. The difference in my father's life, from his father's was enormous. My grandfather had known long term employment in the 1930s, and great poverty. He had a short spell in the 1950s of improved quality of life until he died.
My father built trucks, and worked for good wages. The British government set out on a house building programme after the war. My dad had grown up in an old four room house without a bathroom. The toilet was out back, and a tin bath hung on a nail over the back door. He moved into a newly built rented house in the year after I was born in 1953. It had a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a proper bathroom. This was the beginning of a better life for the working classes.
As the 60s dawned, the working class started to better it's social situation. Young people started to buy their own homes with a mortgage, and began to take holidays abroad in countries like Spain or Greece. Car ownership boomed in the 60s. Life was good for the ordinary working man. More and more women went out into the workplace, and the traditional roles of the sexes started to shift.
There was full employment, the working class had never had it so good. Then things started to go wrong. Traditional industries like coal mining, steel works, the cotton industry, and car factories suffered from prolonged strikes. Britain became known as the sick man of Europe. The upper classes were as secure as ever. The middle class complained, but were doing ok. The working class were starting to see change. Then Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979.
She promised to bring the unions under control, and began by privatizing some state owned assets. She sold off British Telecom (BT) and British Gas for starters. Ordinary folks were allowed to buy shares in companies that were in theory, already owned by the people. Unemployment doubled in the first two years of Thatcher's reign. One of her ministers said, "unemployment is a price well worth paying."
Thatcher became very unpopular at this early stage of her spell as Prime Minister. Then she got herself a war, which she won. This always goes down well with the British, and she won her next General Election easily. She then set about destroyed the coal mining industry. Her political party, the Conservatives, had a bone to pick with the miners. They had two successful strikes in the 70s. The second of these brought down the Government, of which she was a member.
She provoked a strike which lasted a year. The miners surrendered, and went back to work defeated. Thatcher then set about a massive coal mining closure scheme. Coal was available cheaper from countries like Poland, and she liked the idea of more gas fired electrical generation plants. The steel industry was privatized, once again with great difficulty. Many ordinary working class folks felt the sand shifting beneath their feet, unsure of what was coming next.
Thatcher's reign came to an end when she overreached herself with her issue with rates. These are the taxes paid by homeowners to their local council. These rates were used to fund local services. Maggie decided that not just homeowners should pay this tax, but everyone aged over 18. In theory, this is a fair system. The problem you have with billing individuals is that they can disappear. A house owner can't do this of course. Local councils sent out these individual bills of which many weren't paid. It also led to a massive riot in London. The politician's blamed Thatcher for this fiasco, and she was thrown out of power by her own political party.
The ramifications of Thatcher's spell in power are felt to this day. Some of the areas which suffered greatly from her closures like coal mining, never really recovered. A new class came into being - the under class. This group has grown from Thatcher's survival of the fittest policies. I literally saw them come into existence over a few decades.
They tend to be poorly educated, and many have grown up in long term unemployment households. They resent society, but at the same time want many of the desirable baubles of the working class. They want expensive sneakers, and top of the range phones. So they set out getting such prizes in any way possible. This tends to involve crime, and unsociable attitudes. To see many of the previous working class sink so low is a depressing sight for me. During the riots of 2011, the businesses robbed were not food stores, so these folks were not hungry. It was phone and sneaker stores.
So today, in England, the traditional class system has been disturbed. The upper and middle classes sail on nicely. The real blurring has been the working class. My son and his wife own a very expensive home, drive a beautiful car, and earn good salaries. They both come from working class homes, so what are they? If I ask them, they say working class, but many would see them as middle class nowadays. There has been upward mobility for some, while others have sunk. The intelligent ones who understand the new way of doing things are doing well. The plodders, of which many were working class, have seen their quality of life go down. Many are worse off than their parents were. The working class as I grew up knowing, doesn't exist anymore.
But the underclass are puzzled, confused, and angry...........
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It would also include those with inherited wealth in general.
