Social class | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: 6 days ago
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 75-90 minutes
Social class is one of the main dimensions through which sociologists examine inequality. This Social class A-Level Sociology revision page explores how people may be differentiated and stratified by class, the patterns of inequality associated with class position, and competing explanations of why these inequalities exist. It develops the foundations introduced in social stratification [Social stratification and differentiation] and prepares you to examine class alongside status, power and life chances later in the course. AQA specifically requires sociological explanations of stratification and differentiation by social class.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define social class and explain how it can form a basis of social differentiation and stratification.
Explain how social class may be associated with unequal resources and opportunities.
Analyse patterns of class inequality in areas such as employment, education and life chances.
Explain Marxist and functionalist approaches to class inequality and stratification.
Compare class-based explanations with alternative sociological approaches.
Evaluate the extent to which social class remains an important source of inequality.
Revision Notes 📚
Social class A-Level Sociology revision overview
Within Stratification and Differentiation, AQA requires students to understand:
stratification and differentiation by social class
class as a dimension of inequality
differences in life chances by social class
problems in defining and measuring social class
changes in structures of inequality
patterns of social mobility
The revision plan separates these broad requirements into individual lessons. This page therefore concentrates on what social class means as a source of stratification, major patterns of class inequality and explanations of those inequalities. Measurement is developed separately in measuring social class [Defining and measuring social class], while detailed differences in life chances are developed in class and gender inequalities [Social class, gender and life chances].
What is social class?
Social class refers to a person's or group's position within a system of socio-economic inequality.
AQA assessment material has described a social class as a group whose members share a socio-economic status. Social class can be associated with differences in life chances, consumption, leisure, values and beliefs.
Social class is therefore more than simply a label such as "working class" or "middle class". Sociologists use class to investigate how people's positions within society may be connected to unequal:
economic resources
occupational opportunities
social advantages
power
status
life chances
Exactly how class should be defined and measured is contested, which is why the specification treats defining and measuring social class as an issue in its own right.
Social class as social differentiation
Social differentiation involves distinguishing between social groups.
When sociologists distinguish people according to class, they are engaging in differentiation by identifying groups that occupy different socio-economic positions.
Examples may include distinctions between:
working-class and middle-class positions
owners and workers
professional and manual occupations
groups with different levels of economic resources
The important point is that differentiation identifies a difference. It does not automatically demonstrate inequality.
Social class as social stratification
Social stratification exists when differences between classes form part of a structured pattern of inequality.
For example, if one class has:
greater economic resources
greater access to desirable opportunities
greater occupational security
more influence
greater chances of maintaining its social position
than another class, society is stratified by class.
AQA assessment has explicitly contrasted higher social classes, which may possess resources that provide greater opportunities, with groups possessing fewer resources. It has also explored how these advantages can help higher-class families maintain their position.
A useful distinction is therefore:
Class differentiation | Class stratification |
Identifies different social class positions. | Shows that class positions are unequal. |
Focuses on social differences. | Focuses on structured advantages and disadvantages. |
May distinguish occupational or socio-economic groups. | Examines unequal resources, opportunities, status or power. |
Does not itself prove inequality. | Directly concerns inequality. |
📌 Exam tip: If a question asks about class stratification, do not simply describe different classes. Explain the inequality between them.
Social class and unequal resources
One of the clearest patterns of class inequality concerns access to resources.
People in higher social class positions may possess greater economic resources, giving them advantages that can be used to protect or improve their position.
AQA material has linked higher social class position with resources that create greater opportunities. Examples recognised in mark schemes include economic capital, educational advantages, social networks and inherited advantages.
These resources can become cumulative.
For example:
A family has greater economic resources.
Those resources provide access to additional opportunities.
Opportunities may improve educational or occupational outcomes.
These outcomes help maintain an advantaged class position.
Advantages may then be passed between generations.
This means class inequality can involve the reproduction of advantage, rather than each generation beginning from the same position.
Economic capital
Economic capital refers to material and financial resources.
Within class inequality, economic resources can give individuals greater ability to:
access opportunities
cope with periods of difficulty
invest in themselves or their families
protect an existing social position
AQA's assessment material has accepted economic capital as one factor helping higher social classes avoid downward mobility.
This provides a challenge to the idea that everybody competes for social positions under identical circumstances.
Cultural capital
Cultural capital refers to culturally valued knowledge, skills and ways of behaving that may provide advantages.
AQA mark schemes use cultural capital when explaining differences in class opportunities and mobility. Working-class people may have less access to forms of cultural capital that help individuals take advantage of particular educational or occupational opportunities.
This connects class inequality to education.
Students examine these processes in greater detail elsewhere in the course through class differences in achievement [Social class and educational achievement].
Social capital and networks
Social capital refers to useful social relationships and networks.
Class inequalities may be reproduced when access to influential or useful networks differs between social groups.
AQA's 2025 mark scheme identifies lack of access to social and cultural networks as a potential barrier to upward mobility for working-class people.
This illustrates an important sociological point: inequality does not operate only through money. Relationships and access to people who can provide information or opportunities may also matter.
Social closure and opportunity hoarding
Class advantages may be protected when members of advantaged groups restrict access to desirable opportunities.
This is sometimes discussed through social closure, where access to resources, rewards or positions is limited.
A related concept recognised in AQA mark schemes is opportunity hoarding, where advantaged groups are able to retain opportunities for themselves or their families.
This may help explain why class inequality can persist even where formal opportunities appear to be open.
You will examine these processes more closely when studying movement between classes [Social mobility].
Class inequality and education
Education can be connected to class inequality because educational experiences and outcomes may influence later opportunities.
Recent AQA assessment has specifically recognised:
working-class underachievement as a possible barrier to upward mobility
differences in resources between working-class and more advantaged groups
education as one route through which social mobility may occur
The 2025 examiner report noted that many students successfully connected lower educational achievement among working-class groups to reduced opportunities for upward social mobility.
This creates a possible chain:
class position → educational opportunities or outcomes → occupational opportunities → future class position
It is important, however, not to assume that every individual from one class has identical educational experiences.
Class inequality and occupation
Occupation is an important part of debates about class.
AQA assessment has linked occupation to several aspects of inequality, including:
income
job security
occupational risks
benefits associated with professional employment
opportunities for social mobility
For example, low-paid or insecure work may reduce life chances, while professional occupations may provide higher incomes and additional benefits.
However, occupation cannot simply be treated as a perfect definition of class. AQA specifically requires students to understand the problems of defining and measuring social class, including the relationship between occupation and class.
This is considered fully in occupation-based class measurement [Occupation, gender and social class].
Class inequality and employment security
Class differences can involve not only whether people are employed, but also the conditions under which they work.
AQA assessment material recognises:
insecure employment
low-paid employment
short-term work
precarious work
unemployment
as factors that can affect working-class life chances.
This means two people who are both technically "in employment" may nevertheless occupy very different positions within a structure of inequality.
Class inequality and health
Class position can also be associated with differences in health-related life chances.
AQA assessment has linked occupational position to:
exposure to workplace hazards
risks of illness
income available to improve life chances
employment benefits
job security
For example, some occupations involve greater physical risks, while higher occupational positions may provide financial resources that can be used to improve life chances.
The important sociological point is the relationship between class position and opportunity, rather than simply memorising isolated examples.
Class inequality and consumption
Class position can influence what people are able to consume.
AQA mark schemes have recognised:
differences in financial resources
differences in leisure opportunities
high and popular culture
expectations about appropriate consumption
consumption as a symbol of status and identity
Higher-income groups may have access to a wider range of consumption choices, while people with fewer financial resources face greater constraints.
However, consumption should not be confused with class itself. Someone's purchases do not automatically reveal their entire class position.
Class inequality and life chances
Life chances concern the opportunities people have to experience particular outcomes.
The specification explicitly requires students to study differences in life chances by social class.
Class inequality can therefore be expressed through differences in:
Area | Possible relationship with class inequality |
Education | Unequal resources and educational opportunities may affect outcomes. |
Employment | Classes may differ in access to occupations, job security and working conditions. |
Income | Occupational and economic positions may produce unequal financial resources. |
Health | Work, income and resources may be associated with different health chances. |
Consumption | Financial resources can expand or restrict choices. |
Social mobility | Existing advantages and disadvantages may affect movement between class positions. |
The detailed relationship between these outcomes and class is explored in life chances [Social class, gender and life chances].
Class inequality and social mobility
If individuals have unequal starting positions, their chances of moving within the class structure may also differ.
AQA's 2025 assessment asked why working-class people may be unable to achieve upward mobility. Accepted explanations included:
educational underachievement
socialisation and aspirations
limited access to social networks
differences in cultural capital
wider structural restrictions
Class inequality can therefore reproduce itself across time.
However, this does not mean social mobility never occurs. Sociologists investigate both the extent of mobility and the barriers that may restrict it.
This debate is developed fully in social mobility [Social mobility].
Marxist explanations of social class inequality
Marxist explanations place social class at the centre of social stratification.
AQA's 2023 examination presented the Marxist view that capitalist society is fundamentally divided between two social classes:
the bourgeoisie, who own the means of production
the proletariat, who have to sell their labour power
The different interests of these groups lead to class conflict.
Ownership and class position
For Marxists, ownership is crucial.
The bourgeoisie control productive resources, while the proletariat depend on selling their labour.
The relationship between these classes is unequal because one group owns and controls productive resources while the other must work for them.
Class inequality is therefore built into the organisation of capitalism.
Exploitation
Marxist explanations view class inequality as involving exploitation.
Workers produce economic value through their labour, while owners are able to benefit from their ownership and control of production.
From this perspective, differences between classes are not simply the result of individuals having different levels of talent or effort. They are produced by the structure of capitalism.
Class conflict
Because the bourgeoisie and proletariat have different economic interests, Marxists expect class conflict.
Workers may seek better wages and conditions, while owners seek to protect profitability and ownership.
This makes Marxism a conflict theory of stratification.
Rather than viewing class inequality as beneficial to everybody, Marxists ask:
Which class benefits from the structure of inequality?
Reproduction of class inequality
Marxist explanations can also account for the persistence of inequality.
Advantaged classes possess resources that can help maintain their position, while working-class groups may face barriers to accessing the same opportunities.
AQA assessment repeatedly links unequal class resources to different opportunities for mobility.
This gives Marxism a structural explanation: class position constrains the opportunities available to individuals.
Strengths of Marxist explanations
Marxism draws attention to:
major differences in ownership and resources
conflicts of interest between classes
the persistence of economic inequality
structural barriers to equal opportunities
ways advantages may be reproduced
It therefore provides a clear explanation for why class inequality may persist despite formal claims that society is open.
Evaluating Marxism
One criticism is that a simple two-class model may not capture the complexity of contemporary class structures.
AQA mark schemes recognise a much wider debate involving:
Weberianism
functionalism
feminisms
postmodernism
neo-Marxism
Marxism may also be criticised for placing too much emphasis on social class if other inequalities, such as gender or ethnicity, independently affect people's social positions.
The next lessons on gender inequality [Gender] and ethnic inequality [Ethnicity] help you develop this evaluation.
Functionalist explanations of class inequality
Functionalism provides a very different explanation of stratification.
AQA's 2022 examination presented the functionalist argument that stratification is necessary for social order and that value consensus encourages members of society to accept the system.
Functionalists therefore do not automatically see all inequality as evidence of exploitation.
Role allocation
Functionalist explanations connect stratification to role allocation.
Different members of society perform different occupational and social roles. A system of unequal rewards can be linked to allocating people to these positions.
AQA mark schemes identify role allocation, meritocracy, value consensus and the division of labour as relevant concepts when discussing functionalist explanations of stratification.
Meritocracy
A meritocracy is a system in which social positions are allocated according to achievement, talent or ability.
Functionalist explanations can therefore interpret social inequality as compatible with an open society if individuals have opportunities to achieve positions according to their abilities.
AQA's 2024 examination linked the functionalist view of social mobility to the idea that people with the appropriate talent and ability are allocated to suitable occupational roles.
Value consensus
Value consensus refers to agreement about important values.
Functionalists argue that shared values can make stratification legitimate because members of society broadly accept the rules by which social positions and rewards are allocated.
This contrasts sharply with Marxism:
Functionalism | Marxism |
Stratification can contribute to social order. | Stratification reflects class inequality and conflict. |
Emphasises value consensus. | Emphasises competing class interests. |
Inequalities can be linked to role allocation. | Inequalities are rooted in ownership and capitalism. |
Meritocracy may make inequality legitimate. | Unequal starting positions can restrict genuinely equal opportunities. |
Evaluating functionalism
A major criticism is that functionalism may underestimate unequal starting points.
If some classes have:
more economic capital
greater cultural capital
better social networks
inherited advantages
then competition for desirable positions may not be taking place on equal terms.
AQA's 2021 and 2025 assessment material explicitly recognises these class-based differences in resources and opportunities.
Functionalism may therefore explain why a system of inequality could be socially accepted without necessarily demonstrating that the outcomes are fair.
Weberian explanations
Weberian approaches offer a more multidimensional account of stratification.
AQA requires students to understand class, status and power as dimensions of inequality, and Weberianism appears as an accepted perspective in mark schemes on stratification.
From this perspective, economic class remains important, but inequality cannot necessarily be reduced to a single division between owners and workers.
A person's economic position may interact with their:
social status
access to power
opportunities and life chances
This provides an important criticism of a simple Marxist model.
You will examine these relationships fully in dimensions of inequality [Class, status and power].
Feminist explanations and class
Feminist approaches challenge explanations that make social class the only major dimension of stratification.
AQA examinations have explicitly encouraged students to compare class explanations with gender inequality. The 2023 Marxism question, for example, allowed feminist approaches to be used when evaluating Marxist theories of stratification.
Feminists may argue that women's experiences cannot always be understood simply by locating them within a social class.
Gender may independently affect:
access to occupational positions
earnings
status
power
life chances
This does not necessarily mean class is unimportant. It suggests that a complete explanation of inequality may need to consider how different social divisions operate together.
Is social class still important?
A central debate is whether class remains the most significant form of stratification.
Evidence used within AQA assessments shows that class can remain related to:
resources
education
employment
health
consumption
social mobility
life chances
At the same time, AQA expects students to recognise inequalities based on gender, ethnicity, age and disability.
A strong evaluation therefore avoids either extreme:
"class explains everything"
"class no longer matters"
Instead, ask how important class is relative to other dimensions of inequality and whether its significance varies according to the particular outcome being studied.
Changing class structures
Class structures themselves may change.
AQA specifically requires students to examine changes in structures of inequality and their implications. Recent examination questions have raised issues such as increasingly blurred distinctions between occupations and changing living standards.
This means sociologists cannot simply assume that categories developed in an earlier period describe contemporary society perfectly.
These debates are examined in changing class structures [Changing structures of inequality].
Applying social class in an exam
Suppose an item tells you:
Children from more advantaged families have access to greater financial resources and wider social networks. Other children have fewer opportunities to develop the knowledge and connections valued by educational institutions and employers.
Do not simply write, "The middle class has more money."
Instead, develop the sociological connection:
Class inequality → unequal economic or social capital → unequal access to opportunities → differences in education or employment → reproduction of class inequality
That chain demonstrates analysis.
For evaluation, you could then consider:
whether meritocratic opportunities allow people to overcome class disadvantages
whether gender or ethnicity also affects the outcome
whether class positions and inequalities are changing
whether the explanation focuses too heavily on individuals or structures
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Social class | A person's or group's position within a system of socio-economic inequality. | Use when explaining patterns of stratification or differences in opportunities. |
Class stratification | Structured inequality between social classes. | Use when explaining unequal resources, rewards or opportunities between classes. |
Bourgeoisie | In Marxist theory, the class that owns the means of production. | Use when explaining Marxist theories of capitalist class inequality. |
Proletariat | In Marxist theory, the class that sells its labour power. | Contrast with the bourgeoisie when explaining class conflict. |
Class conflict | Conflict arising from different interests between social classes. | Use in Marxist explanations of stratification. |
Meritocracy | A system in which positions are allocated according to achievement, talent or ability. | Use when explaining or evaluating functionalist accounts of inequality. |
Cultural capital | Culturally valued knowledge, skills and ways of behaving that may provide advantages. | Use to explain how class differences may affect opportunities. |
Social capital | Useful relationships and social networks that may provide opportunities. | Use when explaining class advantages in education, employment or mobility. |
Social closure | Processes through which access to desirable resources or positions is restricted. | Use when explaining how class advantages may be maintained. |
Life chances | Opportunities to experience particular social outcomes. | Use to connect class inequality to education, work, health and mobility. |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
Examiner hint: Keep your explanation focused on the relationship named in the question. In 2025, students generally identified reasons why working-class people might experience restricted upward mobility, but the strongest answers clearly explained how education, inheritance, investment or other resources actually affected mobility.
Examiner hint: Use sociological evidence and concepts to deepen your analysis. The 2025 report noted that relatively few students referred to social mobility research, while stronger answers developed their explanations using sociological material rather than relying only on general examples.
Examiner hint: When evaluating one theory, keep that theory at the centre of the essay. The 2022 examiner report found that some answers on functionalist explanations drifted into general accounts of Marxism or feminism rather than using those perspectives specifically to evaluate functionalism.
Examiner hint: Do not simply place two theories next to each other. AQA's level descriptors distinguish explicit evaluation from merely juxtaposing competing positions. Explain precisely how one theory challenges, supports or modifies another.
Examiner hint: If an item gives you a starting point, develop it rather than repeating it. Recent reports repeatedly emphasise that the strongest answers use item material as a route into sociological explanation and then add relevant knowledge.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Treating social class as simply income
Why this is incorrect: Income may be related to class, but class inequality is broader. AQA assessment links social class to occupation, resources, social and cultural capital, opportunities, life chances and social mobility.
How to improve: Ask what aspect of class position the question is testing. Use income only when it is relevant to the chain of explanation.
Mistake: Assuming everybody in one class has identical experiences
Why this is incorrect: Social class describes patterns and structured inequalities. It does not mean every working-class or middle-class individual has exactly the same outcome.
How to improve: Use language such as "may", "tends to" or "is more likely to" rather than making absolute claims.
Mistake: Describing working-class disadvantage without explaining it
Why this is incorrect: A statement such as "working-class people have fewer opportunities" does not explain the social process producing the inequality.
How to improve: Develop a chain such as:
fewer resources → reduced access to opportunities → different educational or occupational outcome → unequal life chances
Mistake: Saying Marx believed society simply contains "rich and poor"
Why this is incorrect: The Marxist explanation concerns people's relationship to the means of production, specifically the division between the bourgeoisie and proletariat in capitalist society.
How to improve: Use accurate sociological terminology and explain ownership, labour and conflicting class interests.
Mistake: Treating functionalists as claiming inequality is simply "good"
Why this is incorrect: Functionalist arguments link stratification to concepts such as role allocation, meritocracy, value consensus and social order.
How to improve: Explain the mechanism by which inequality is claimed to contribute to the functioning of society.
Mistake: Using another theory without evaluating the one named in the question
Why this is incorrect: Examiners have reported that essays can drift into separate descriptions of perspectives.
How to improve: Use explicit evaluative links:
"However, this challenges the Marxist explanation because..."
"This supports the functionalist claim to the extent that..."
Mistake: Assuming class is the only source of inequality
Why this is incorrect: The specification also requires stratification and differentiation by gender, ethnicity and age, alongside differences in life chances associated with disability.
How to improve: When evaluating class explanations, consider whether another dimension of inequality provides a stronger explanation of the outcome in question.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Questions
1. Identify one resource that may contribute to class inequality.[1 mark]
2. Identify one sociological perspective that views class conflict as central to stratification.[1 mark]
3. Explain the difference between social differentiation by class and social stratification by class.[4 marks]
4. Explain two ways in which unequal resources may reproduce social class inequality.[6 marks]
5. Outline and explain two ways in which social class may affect an individual's opportunities.[10 marks]
6. Read Item A below and answer the question that follows.
Item A Some families have economic resources that allow them to provide additional opportunities for their children. They may also have social networks that help family members gain access to useful information and opportunities. Other families have fewer resources of these kinds.Differences in resources may contribute to class inequality.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which differences in resources may contribute to class inequality.[10 marks]
7. Read Item B below and answer the question that follows.
Item B Some sociologists argue that stratification contributes to social order. They claim that individuals can achieve occupational positions through talent and ability and that different social rewards assist the allocation of people to social roles.Other sociologists argue that class inequality is rooted in the organisation of capitalist society. They claim that unequal ownership creates groups with conflicting interests and that existing advantages can be reproduced.
Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate functionalist explanations of social class inequality.[20 marks]
8. Read Item C below and answer the question that follows.
Item C Social class is associated with differences in resources, employment opportunities and life chances. Marxists therefore argue that class is a fundamental source of inequality.However, society is also stratified by other characteristics, including gender and ethnicity, and contemporary class divisions may be more complex than a simple division between two groups.
Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate the view that social class is the most important source of inequality in society today.[20 marks]
Mark Scheme
Question 1
Award 1 mark for one relevant resource, for example:
economic capital
cultural capital
social capital or useful social networks
Question 2
Award 1 mark for:
Marxism
Question 3
Award up to 4 marks.
Indicative content:
Social differentiation identifies distinctions between social classes.
Social stratification concerns structured inequalities between those classes.
A developed answer should explain that class stratification involves unequal resources, opportunities, status, power or life chances rather than difference alone.
Example answer: Social differentiation by class means distinguishing between people occupying different socio-economic positions. Class stratification goes further because those positions are unequal, for example if one class has greater economic resources and opportunities than another.
Question 4
Award up to 6 marks for two explained ways.
Possible answers include:
Economic resources
Greater financial resources may give higher-class families access to opportunities unavailable to families with fewer resources. These advantages can contribute to maintaining an advantaged class position.
Social networks
Access to useful social networks may provide information or opportunities in education or employment. Unequal social capital may therefore help reproduce existing class differences.
Cultural capital
Some groups may possess forms of knowledge or behaviour valued by institutions, providing advantages that can affect future opportunities.
A high-mark answer needs explanation of the effect on class inequality, not simply definitions.
Question 5
This is an outline and explain question. Students should develop exactly two ways.
Indicative content may include:
unequal economic resources affecting opportunities
educational differences affecting later employment
occupational position affecting income or working conditions
social and cultural capital providing unequal opportunities
class position influencing chances of social mobility
low-paid or insecure employment reducing life chances
For each way:
State the class difference.
Explain the social process.
Link it clearly to opportunities.
Evaluation is not required.
Question 6
Students must use both hooks in Item A.
Way 1: Economic resources
Item A refers to families having economic resources.
Greater economic capital can provide access to additional educational or occupational opportunities.
These advantages can help individuals maintain or improve an advantaged class position.
People without equivalent resources may have fewer opportunities, reproducing inequality.
Way 2: Social networks
Item A refers to social networks.
Useful networks can provide information or access to opportunities.
Unequal social capital can therefore give some class groups advantages over others.
This can help reproduce differences between classes.
For high marks, both points should be explicitly applied to Item A and developed analytically.
Question 7
This is a 20-mark evaluative essay.
A high-level response should include:
Functionalist explanation
stratification and social order
value consensus
role allocation
meritocracy
talent and ability
differential social positions
Evaluation using Marxism
capitalist class structure
bourgeoisie and proletariat
ownership of the means of production
unequal resources
class conflict
structural barriers to equal opportunity
Further evaluation may include
Weberian arguments that inequality also involves status and power
feminist arguments that gender cannot simply be reduced to class
evidence that class resources affect education and mobility
whether social mobility supports or challenges meritocratic claims
The strongest answers should not simply write one paragraph on functionalism and then unrelated paragraphs on other theories. Each alternative should be used to test the functionalist explanation.
A reasoned conclusion should judge whether class inequalities are best explained as necessary features of social organisation or as consequences of unequal resources and power.
Question 8
A high-level response should maintain focus on the phrase "most important source of inequality".
Arguments supporting the view may include:
Marxist emphasis on ownership and class conflict
unequal economic resources
class differences in educational and employment opportunities
cultural and social capital
reproduction of class advantages
class differences in life chances and social mobility
Evaluation may include:
functionalist arguments about meritocracy and role allocation
Weberian arguments that stratification is multidimensional
gender as an independent source of inequality
ethnicity as another dimension of stratification
increasing complexity of contemporary class structures
evidence of social mobility
the possibility that class interacts with other dimensions rather than replacing them
For the highest marks, the conclusion should make a comparative judgement. It should explain when and why social class may be especially important while recognising that the significance of class can depend on the particular inequality being examined.
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