It has been suggested that class schemas are appropriate for analysing class relations among men but not among women.This article examines wage growth patterns, i.e. a crucial aspect of class relations. There are several reasons why class would be less effective as a predictor of wage growth for women than for men: for example, that factors such as discrimination blur this association for women; and that women are over-represented in occupational sectors where this association is less strong.The analyses are based on a Swedish panel data set of employees (age 30—35 years) in large private firms and in the public sector who had the same employer in 1999 and 2003 (N about 99,000). Class is measured using the European Socio-economic Classification — ESeC. Contrary to some expectations class patterns of wage growth are similar for women and men and for different sectors of the labour market.
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