In considering their own identities, most Canadians don’t think or talk much about social class, according to a recent survey by U of A sociologists.
What’s more, they believe hard work, education and ambition contribute to success far more than class background.
In partnership with the Angus Reid Institute, sociologists Michelle Maroto, Zohreh BayatRizi and Guillaume Durou surveyed more than 8,000 people across the country to gauge how they see themselves in Canada’s class structure, releasing their findings in the first report from the Great Canadian Class Study— a large-scale project that combines original survey and interview data with Statistics Canada data to provide a better understanding of social class in Canada.
Sociologists typically refer to external measures such as income, occupation and acquired wealth in describing class distinctions, says Maroto. But she and her team wanted to capture a bigger picture, accounting for more nuanced subjective factors, such as family background, social connections, and cultural tastes and preferences.
Seventy four per cent of respondents claimed they had either a weak or no attachment to social class identity, believing that hard work, education and ambition play a much greater role in getting ahead.
“People were pretty readily able to put themselves in a category, but very few would say this was actually something that’s important in life,” says Maroto.
Income, occupation and wealth were no more important than other factors in respondents’ self-perception of social class, even though economic inequality is probably “the most visible and easily identifiable aspect of social class differentiation in Canada,” write the report’s authors.
“Respondents often indicated it’s the people you spend time with, things related to what you like, and what you can talk about with other people that influence social class identity, not just how much you make or what your job is,” says Maroto.
Majority in the middle
Most Canadians surveyed identified overall with the middle class — including 17 per cent with the lower middle class, another 17 per cent with the upper middle class and 42 per cent who identified as somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Six per cent saw themselves in the lower or poverty class, while only one per cent said they were in the upper class.
Social class identity was linked somewhat to income differences. Those in the poverty class reported an average after-tax household income of about $35,000. Average household income among working and lower-middle-class individuals was $67,000. For middle-class respondents, average household income came in at about $100,000, and for those in the upper middle class, about $140,000.
Such a strong identification with the middle class makes sense, says Maroto, since it tends to dominate political discourse: “We have political leaders who are always talking about the middle class and wanting to help out the middle class, even though it’s hard to define what ‘middle class’ is.
“When I looked recently at (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau’s talking points about addressing aspects of inflation and affordability — most of them were about the middle class and people who want to become part of the middle class.”
Does social class run in the family?
Though most Canadians believe class is fairly fluid — and that there is a degree of mobility between generations — “their parents’ and own social class identity are still very much linked,” say the report’s authors.
Of those born into middle-class families, 57 per cent continue to identify as such. For those of upper-middle-class backgrounds, the proportion is 42 per cent. Proportions are lower for those reporting working- and poverty-class parents, at 35 and 22 per cent respectively.
However, mobility is rare from bottom to top, say Maroto and her colleagues. Only seven per cent of those who say their parents were in the poverty class now see themselves in the upper middle. And conversely, only three per cent with upper-middle-class parents say they are now in the poverty class.
“We see some movement in the middle, but it’s very tough to go all the way up the ladder,” says Maroto. “It’s also tough to go all the way down the ladder, since there are a lot of protections that keep you from falling into poverty compared to your parents.”
Those who were able to move up tended overwhelmingly to cite hard work and education as the main drivers, reinforcing the view that Canadian society is a meritocracy. The consistency in response surprised Maroto somewhat: “I would have expected a little more diversity there.”
Class perceptions can also shift with the times, she adds. Amidst the current housing crisis, for instance, home ownership has become a strong indicator.
“The topic that matters right now is, can you afford a home? You may have a great income but not a lot of savings, and so you’re still not a homeowner. That affects people’s perceptions of class.”
When it comes to cultural tastes and preferences, there are similarities across social classes, but there are also some subtle differences.
Those identifying with the poverty class, for example, are the most likely to say they are most comfortable in fast-food restaurants, and the least likely to say they are comfortable with fine dining. The opposite is true of those who identify with the upper middle class.
And while hybrid SUVs are popular across classes, they are most popular among those in the upper middle class. Pickup trucks are the preferred choice for roughly a third of those in the working class. Poverty-class respondents were the most likely to say they preferred not to drive.
For beverages, all classes preferred independent coffee shops from alternative choices presented in the survey, except those in the poverty class, one-third of whom selected Tim Hortons as their top choice.
Some other findings of note in the Great Canadian Class Study:
- Working-class (35 per cent) and upper-middle/upper-class (35 per cent) Canadians are the most likely to have a strong attachment to their class identity, but that is still the minority opinion in those groups.
- Those in Saskatchewan (26 per cent) are more likely than those in other regions of the country to identify as working class. A plurality in all provinces identify as middle class.
- Canadians who say their parents were poverty class are less likely than the average to say they were read to as a child (31 per cent vs. 53 per cent average), grew up in a safe neighbourhood (41 per cent vs. 74 per cent) and regularly visited the doctor and dentist when they were children (39 per cent vs. 70 per cent).
- Canadians who say they grew up in an upper-class or upper-middle-class household are much more likely than others to say that, as children, their family assumed they would attend university (72 per cent vs. 51 per cent average), they had travelled outside Canada for vacations (35 per cent vs. 60 per cent), and had a mutual fund, RESP or TFSA before they turned 18 (25 per cent vs. 13 per cent).
Maroto says a clear, detailed picture of perceived class distinctions is crucial for developing policy aimed at reducing economic inequality and barriers to opportunity.
In addition to this representative survey, she and her collaborators are also collecting data through a large open public survey.
“We need to start talking more about social class, and how it matters for different types of outcomes. If we ignore it or avoid talking about it, then we’re not identifying key differences or similarities that might matter. We’re also leaving out a key structural dimension of inequality.”
To complete the Great Canadian Class Survey and see where you stand in terms of social class, please go to https://angusreid.org/great-canadian-class-survey/.