What hope is there for the working-classes in neoliberal Britain, particularly when poverty, unemployment and uncertainty about the future is the norm, rather than the exception? Sixty to seventy years ago, when British industry was driven by manufacturing and production processes, the working-classes were perceived as the backbone of the economy. However, under the current modes of financial capitalism, unskilled and semi-skilled work are generally considered as surplus to the requirements of the neoliberal labour market. Sociologically, workers at the lower end of the occupational class structure are now viewed as the precariat. This is because of the precarious nature of their insecure employment positions, such as agency work and zero-hour contract jobs. However, their unemployed counterparts are demonised and labelled as the underclass by the political classes. The underclass are viewed as underserving, feckless, lazy, work-shy and welfare dependent. Stereotypical images of the unemployed poor are commodified by the media for the purpose of entertainment, which is often referred to as poverty porn. This negative portrayal of the poor overlooks the impact that structural violence has on maintaining poverty in society.
As the rich get richer, and increasingly more of the unemployed get prison, the media reinforces the victim-blaming notion that the so-called underclass are the architects of their own misfortune. Consequently, due to the way in which contemporary capitalism is organised, it seems that we can no longer speak of a work[ing]-class with any certainty. A reason being is that those whose precarious lives leave them tottering on the brink of society are ascribed as the less: the worth-less; the work-less; the job-less; the home-less; the future-less and hope-less. The poor in neoliberal times are conceived as less deserving than their middle-class or in-work counterparts. In contrast, society’s strivers are conveyed to the public as those who made the right choices and are consequently able to engage with the markets of neoliberal capitalism; whereas the predicament of society’s skivers is explained by the poor choices they have made. We have become used to the idea that the poor amongst us are the causal factors of everything that is wrong in society, rather than seeing them as victims of mass economic changes, which are beyond their control.
Refer to your lived-experience, or those of a social group that you identify with. Respond to this post by explaining how an example of your [or their] material [i.e. financial/poverty] situation, might be seen [by the wider public or the State] as a consequence of poor individual lifestyle choices.
SOCIAL ACTION SOCIETY C.I.C. 
People will find their life is easier on benefits, when jobs don’t pay enough.
Cash in hand jobs are high in demand.
The working class keep slipping, even if they have sufficient qualifications. Opportunities are limited.
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In this system, the focus on individualism and market forces can lead to increased poverty, unemployment, and uncertainty. It is important to address these issues through policies that promote social equality, access to education, and job security. By advocating for change and supporting initiatives that aim to uplift the working-classes, we can strive towards a more inclusive and equitable society.
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Yeonsu Kim : The more invisible the small labor, the more social atmosphere should be created to pay attention to their voices. With the advent of neoliberalism and easy access to all forms of media, it has become natural to hear the voices of various people. If you have enjoyed the abundance of technology, you have an obligation too to return the benefits to a positive impact on society. It will be essential to hear the voices of the marginalized.
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Josh- in a modern society the working class are given the labels of lazy and undeserving individuals and are made out to be a folk devil. They are shown as “benefit scroungers” in the media. Allowing for the middle and upper classes to feel power looking down on them giving the prospective of they don’t want to work they just want to sit at home whilst I work all day, not knowing the individual and there situation. It further gives the media something to pick at and twist in some ways like for example saying they are receiving a lot of money per year when in reality in some cases it could be £80 for 2 weeks to live off.
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We are living under a new type of economy where individuals are seen to becoming more reliant on benefits, leaving a representation of a new undeserving poor. Therefore, we understand that the state has created a new status of workers because of this new economy, this new status of workers is the precariat class where work is insecure and short term meaning there is no formal contract. After the covid 19 pandemic we understand that the economy has been struggling and this highlights that unemployment should be expected, however the media does not represent this their representations are solely based on blaming the poor for these economic struggles when this is not the case because they are actually the victims. This emphasises that the media only looks at the consequences while not looking at the causes, leading to a neoliberal war against the poor where the government are not taking any responsibility for the rising employment. it
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I think the system is designed to keep people in this sort of position I think the working class are positioned to be (worker ants) to keep the rich rich and the working class reliant upon the state Ryan Samuels
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There genuinely is no hope for a lower class in the ‘fair’, ‘democratic’ society we live within, there is a huge definition between those with and those without. As well as this there is a clear difference between those who are living and who are just surviving. The wealth state was created in a time in which Britain was recovering from a huge international war and this just doesn’t apply to todays society, it’s an outdated system which doesn’t support families in the current economical crisis a key example of this is free school meals; there is atleast 800,000 young people that do not have access to free school meals because they don’t fall within the catchment however they still live below the poverty line. This shows that the system is broken
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Emily
Although there is uncertainty of the future, it is likely that a class system will still exist and function. For working classes, there will likely be limited opportunities for the future.
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– Seungjoo Lee
Currently, our society emphasizes welfare and seems to give fair opportunities to the lower class, but if you look inside, it is entrenching the position of the lower class so that they cannot rise to a higher level. Ultimately, what the lower class needs is an opportunity to move up to a higher class, but society does not allow that, and the lower class continues to be lower class, and the rich continue to pass on their wealth. In particular, the media makes people see the lower class as if they fell into the lower class because they did not work hard, and blames them for their poverty.
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Many believe that those who are not working and are on benefits should be working if others are doing the same especially if they have more than 2-3 children and I agree with this. There is hope for those who are in working class, for example men can seek jobs in job centres and work as many hours as they can to provide for their family however it can be harder for women because of patriarchy so they can’t get manual jobs like being a construction worker but there are other jobs like teaching assistants but they’ll have to find someone to look after their children so they don’t go through neglect.
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You can say that this is the new norm because of how the system works now people are most likely to follow this norm, where they blame the poor for they financial problems and that everyone is responsible of their choices where this can be argued with different types of situations where people just end up in poverty or just born into it so this can be argued depending on the circumstances
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Niyaz
In a neoliberalism society in Britain I would say the poor can choose not to be poor for example as educations gets stronger and knowledge of the world and technology gets better the people should learn to adapt to society even if the future is unknown.
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I think it’s limited I feel the system will need to create more stable jobs with higher pay to give working class more of a chance to progress
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I agree that the issues raised in this text are important and serious in contemporary society. In the era of neoliberalism, unstable jobs and social inequality are increasing, causing difficulties for both workers and the unemployed. It’s crucial to raise awareness of these issues and work towards structural changes and social support to improve their situations.
Yein Kim
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Woori Chae / The neglect of the working class in modern society is a structural problem, but it is treated as a causal factor. So it is considered a personal problem and explained as just bad luck. However, this is the result of structural violence in society and not due to individual misfortune. The capitalist mechanism that does not listen to the voices of workers and treats them as non-existent is wrong. This mechanism has continued from the past to the present, causing the power of capitalism to grow stronger and the working class to lose its voice.
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Hyoin Jeong
I agree that the media perceives poor people as risky individuals. I believe that the media can also stigmatize them as societal failures by portraying them as people who make mistakes and put in less effort. Blaming them as problematic targets is certainly unjust. I think it’s crucial not to overlook the structural violence against the poor.
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Suwon Han
In a social atmosphere in which poverty and wealth are passed down, we must first think about whether everyone is living on the same line. Let’s think about whether an environment has been created where the poor can escape poverty, and whether society was indifferent amid repeated frustrations. As the content of the article, it is acknowledged to some extent that there are many people who perceive the poor as lazy and unwilling to participate in the market. However, our society should not turn a blind eye to the poor. The poor are the victims of economic change, and I think society should try to rescue them.
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I think although many working class citizens who receive welfare benefits are undeserving of poverty. I think many are deserving of this. A number of these citizens never have and never will work, and this is at their own discretion. However, it is a low percentage of people that do not work out of everyone who receives benefits, meaning the amount of people who don’t work by choice due to laziness is even smaller. Because of this I don’t think the deserving poor is a significant issue on our countries economy as they are in the minority of people that receive benefits without working.
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