In search of the wage-labour/service contract: new evidence on the validity of the Goldthorpe class schema

In this paper we examine new empirical evidence on the coherence and magnitude of the main classes in the Goldthorpe class schema. Particular attention is paid to issues that have recently been a source of academic dispute: the coherence and size of the service class and the distinction between the service class and intermediate classes. Using recently available British data collected by the Office for National Statistics we examine: (i) the extent to which measures of class-relevant job characteristics are empirically discriminated by the categories of the schema; (ii) the structure of a `contract type' dimension of employment relations conceived of as a categorical latent variable; and (iii) the association between this latent variable and both the Goldthorpe class schema and a related measure socio-economic group (SEG). We find that the data are consistent with the existence of a three category latent `contract type' variable largely corresponding to the notions of service, intermediate and wage-labour contracts explicit in discussions of the theoretical rationale for the Goldthorpe schema. We further find a substantial degree of fit between the latent `contract types' and the schema. However, the service class fault line appears to lie within class I and II of the schema rather than between them and the intermediate classes which suggests a revised, smaller service class would better capture the reality of the contemporary British occupational structure.