This study has utilised a data set comprising nearly 2 million entries, spanning 21 quarters of the Labour Force Survey, over the past five years in order to give a picture of the relationship between occupation and housing status (in particular rent) in the UK. Who are the renters? Which workers tend to rent more and which are more likely to own a home? How does London compare to the UK as a whole in this regard?

As the debate around class continues to develop, this interactive report intends to contribute to answering some of those questions. Inevitably, more data is required for a granular, comprehensive analysis, but the complex findings presented here provide a snapshot of the composition of the UK workforce and its material conditions today.

Figure 1 plots over 200 occupations in the UK, the percentage of workers in those occupations that rent, and their median incomes in these roles.

The Theil-Sen regression lines show the relationship between income and rental status, for London and for the UK as a whole. As can be observed, there is a much stronger correlation between low-income occupations and the likelihood of renting (versus other forms of housing status) in London than in the rest of the country.

There is significant variation in rental rates for workers in similar income brackets. For instance, in the UK, the median weekly income for Library Clerks is £268, while the median income for Launderers, Dry Cleaners and Pressers is £270, but the rental rates for each are 51% and 20% respectively. This points to the fact that present income is far from the only factor that determines an individual’s housing tenure, which needs to be understood in terms of a longer timescale amongst other important additional factors.

The findings of this study suggest that the new logics of asset-based wealth have impacted people commonly referred to as ‘working class’ to significantly different degrees. As such, they complicate the picture of who exactly composes the working class, and who is worst off in today’s economy, beyond the narrow parameters of a few occupations.

If we look at Figure 2, we can see that many of those in occupations usually associated with the ‘working class’ – those that broadly fall into the C2DE social grades – are in fact homeowners, i.e., those that stand to benefit from the reproduction of the asset economy. Significantly, most manual workers, including those in ‘skilled’, ‘semi-skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ professions, are more often than not homeowners with a mortgage rather than renters. This includes ‘Carpenters and joiners’, ‘Plasterers’, ‘Electricians and electrical fitters’, ‘Floorers and wall tilers’ as well as ‘Roofers, rooftilers and slaters’. Aside from ‘Elementary construction workers’ in London, the majority of manual workers own their home as opposed to rent.

Similarly, those who work in factories as ‘Assemblers’, ‘Mobile machine drivers and operatives’ and ‘Metal-working machine operatives’ tend to own their homes with a mortgage or outright.

This suggests that those at the sharpest end of the UK economy are not necessarily those who work in manufacturing and manual trades – as certain stereotypes of the working class might suggest. We should instead pay more attention to a ‘new dispossessed’, represented disproportionately by service sector workers such as waitresses, cleaners and care workers, whose low wage and insecure work has made it impossible to get on the property ladder, and are thus left to the caprices of a volatile and increasingly expensive rental sector. 

Figure 2 is an interactive bar chart that allows you to see differing housing situations for each selected occupation in the UK. It presents the data for 227 UK occupations across 21 quarters of the Labour Force Survey (from October 2014 until December 2019).

Use the small scroll bar next to the drop-down options to select an occupation you would like to display.

The intersections between class, occupation and rent are further complicated by regional differences. Renting is much more common in the capital across most occupations. Indeed, many of the occupations associated with homeownership in regions outside of London have a high association with renting in the capital. On a national scale, ‘Van drivers’, ‘Taxi and cab drivers’, ‘Hairdressers’,  tend to own their homes. But in London, these occupations are more likely to rent by a significant majority

Other typically ‘middle class’ occupations such as ‘Teaching and other educational professionals’, ‘Social workers’ and ‘Authors, writers and translators’ have much higher levels of renting in London than other areas of the country. The majority of ‘Web design and development professionals’ in London rent their homes.

Similarly, the occupations associated with the highest levels of renting on a national scale are even higher in the capital. On a national scale, a small majority of ‘Care workers and home carers’ rent their homes. In London, this figure jumps to nearly 70%. Similarly, just under half of all ‘Kitchen and catering assistants’ rent when we take the UK as a whole. But, in London, again this figure jumps to over 70%.

Figure 3 is an interactive bar chart that visualises differing housing situations for each selected occupation in the UK, in comparison with the Manchester area.

It presents the data for 19 occupations across 21 quarters of the Labour Force Survey (from October 2014 until December 2019). There are fewer jobs plotted here because it was decided that there should be at least 300 entries for a specific occupation across the data sets in order for the results to be considered reliable. Some occupations did not have this data available.

Use the small scroll bar next to the drop-down options to select an occupation you would like to display.

Figure 4 is an interactive bar chart that allows you to see differing housing situations for each selected occupation in the UK, in comparison with the London area.

The occupations in London with the highest prevalence of renters are:

• Cleaners and domestics (81% are women)
• Waiters and waitresses (73% are women)
• Kitchen and catering assistants (64% are women)
• Care workers and home carers (84% are women)
• Elementary construction occupations (98% are men)

Here we present the data for 55 occupations across 21 quarters of the Labour Force Survey (from October 2014 until December 2019). There are fewer jobs plotted here because it was decided that there should be at least 300 entries for a specific occupation across the data sets in order for the results to be considered reliable. Some occupations did not have this data available.

Use the small scroll bar next to the drop-down options to select an occupation you would like to display.

This study is supported by the Alex Ferry Foundation.