The current classes we recognize are classes of the machine age, of cities, of the age we think of as modern. What made capitalism so new were the machines, and as capitalism changes so will class.

Writing about class feeds the English obsession with class. But in England class is a relevant and important subject. The English are now most separated into social classes simply by how much money they have. Often this results in greater spatial separation, as that money buys homes in differing locations and someone’s address begins to reveal more and more about them. In England your zip code/postcode is the unhidden part of your wealth.

Compared to how accent, dress, first name and even surname can still reveal so much about who you are in Britain, most European societies have overcome to some extent many of the restrictions of older class systems. They have not necessarily become ‘better’ places or rid themselves of the associated problems in society. But what has happened in most other parts of Europe and the world is that a revolution or invasion has abruptly disrupted what were traditional class systems; by comparison, the gradual loss of its global hegemonic status has not had so much impact on Britain. The same schools, same established Church, same universities, same classes, dominate - as they did some time ago, but under that façade of slow movement there are changes afoot.

Social class in Britain is clearly no longer neatly defined by occupation. The same occupation label can conceal a wide range of incomes. People of the same income can have access to widely varying resources of wealth, so knowing income alone is no longer enough. Class is no longer simply a vertical ranking linked to capital and a system of production in some way. Someone can now more easily have multiple class identities.

In much of the UK, without some inheritance from wealthy parents or grandparents you cannot possibly get a mortgage almost no matter how well you ‘perform’ occupationally. In some ways we are returning to a gilded age where family wealth matters more. Classes in the future in the UK could be less about what we do and more about where we are from. There is always a range of opportunity but the level and extent of that range can both vary and narrow.