This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Martin, B. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Australian middle class, 1986-1995: stable, declining or restructuring?

Department of Sociology Flinders University of South Australia

This article uses Australian Bureau of Statistics data to examine the changing fortunes of the professional-managerial middle class in Australia between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. It examines employment levels, gender patterns of employment, and relative earnings amongst professional and managerial workers. Results show considerable variation between occupational groups, though there is little evidence of the general 'crisis' of the middle class diagnosed by some writers. The complex picture suggests several patterns. First, there is a tendency for the more private sector, market-oriented occupations (such as private sector managers and 'business professionals') to have experienced rising employment levels and relative earnings, especially in the second half of the period, while more state dependent occupations have faced the opposite. Second, and cross-cutting the first tendency, lower level managers have fared far less well than upper level ones, indicating an increasing bifurcation in managerial ranks. Third, some heavily state dependent professional groups, particularly those with elite professional status or strong trade union-like organisation, have been quite successful in resisting the negative impacts of the squeeze on the state sector. Finally, feminisation of all middle class occupations has continued apace throughout the period, although from highly variable starting points.

Journal of Sociology, Vol. 34, No. 2, 135-151 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/144078339803400203


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Martin, W. Riemens, and J. Wajcman Managerial and professional careers in an era of organisational restructuring Journal of Sociology, January 1, 2000; 36(3): 329 - 344. [Abstract] [PDF]