Young Workers in the Class Structure

Abstract

The sociological study of youth has tended to focus on either age and generation, or class and gender. Attempts to integrate the two approaches have been largely unsuccessful. This paper explores the longitudinal and cross-sectional dimensions of stratification and produces a framework for examining class differences in youth. Analysis of the inter-generational and intra-generational mobility of young workers, using two large national data sets, the General Household Survey and the National Child Development Study, leads to the identification of a typology of `Youth Class'. This empirically-based typology incorporates the notions of process and structure in a longitudinal class schema appropriate to the study of young people.