Social class variations in mortality.

SOCIAL CLASSES.-The basic unit of the social class grouping is the occupational group. Every occupation in the country, of which there are many thousands, is assignable to one or other of 586 occupational unit groups (General Register Office, 1951). These 586 occupational groups are each assigned as a whole to one or other of five social classes (Table I), on the basis of the predominant characteristics of the majority of the persons in the unit group. The general implication is that classes so composed will reflect the differing social make-up and environment normally associated with persons within those occupational categories. The social class grouping is thus not a classification of individuals, and in assigning an individual to the appropriate social class no account is taken of personal circumstances other than. occupation. Having established the occupation, the social class grading follows automatically. Moreover, as well as ignoring individual circumstances other than occupation, the social classification, in treating the occupational group as a whole, makes no special provision for particular occupational minorities within the group, that might, if considered by themselves, qualify for a different grading from that to which their occupational group as a whole has been assigned. Accordingly, having determined an individual's occupation, the group to which that occupation belongs is immediately established, and the occupational group as a whole is assignable automatically to one or another of the five social classes. For instance, if John Jones is a plumber's mate, the