The NRS social grades are a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. They were originally developed by the National Readership Survey in order to classify readers but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research.[1]
Contents |
The grades
The classifications are based on the occupation of the head of the household.[1]
| Grade | Social class | Typical occupation |
|---|---|---|
| A | upper middle class | doctor, solicitor, barrister, accountant, company director |
| B | middle class | teacher, nurse, police officer, probation officer, librarian, middle manager |
| C1 | lower middle class | junior manager, student, clerical/office workers, supervisors |
| C2 | skilled working class | foreman, agricultural worker, plumber, bricklayer |
| D | working class | manual workers, shop worker, fisherman, apprentices |
| E | underclass | casual labourers, state pensioners |
The grades are often grouped into ABC1 and C2DE and these are taken to equate to middle class and working class respectively. Only around 2% of the UK population identifies itself as upper class,[2] and this group is not included in the classification scheme.
See also
References
- ^ a b Wilmshurst, J. & MacKay, A., The Fundamentals of Advertising, (1999)
- ^ Glover, J., Riven by class and no social mobility - Britain in 2007, The Guardian, 20 October 2007
