Suchergebnisse

This article deals with the preliminary findings on some social aspects of embourgeoisement amongst respondents to a social survey in Melbourne, Australia. The sample is stratified into blue collar, white collar and middle class workers. The findings are that whilst there is little or no difference in the source of general `life-satisfactions' and orientation to work across the groups, there are strong differences in the `leisure companion' network, membership of and leadership in `voluntary associations', and `educational aspirations for children'. The same results were found when income was held constant. These findings, taken into conjunction with previous findings about economic differences, lead to the broad conclusion that whilst Australia is affluent in a similar way to Britain and the U.S.A. the social structure is dissimilar and that there is little evidence of the convergence of the social classes.

This paper presents the first findings of a survey carried out in Melbourne, Australia. It attempts to test hypotheses based on the embourgeoisement thesis, and its variations, in a social system with a strong equalitarian ideology and compulsory arbitration for all sections of the work force. It assesses the economic differences between white collar and blue collar workers and also the difference between these groups and a middle class group. It also compares the Australian situation with America and Britain. It finds a significant difference between blue collar and white collar income rates, total income medians and career income medians, as against the apparent near parity of the situation in Britain and America. These differences are not mitigated by wives' earnings or income from other sources. There is an almost complete dichotomy between these groups and the middle class group.