Explaining Social Class Identity Over Time: The Increasing Role of Asset Ownership

The contemporary social sciences are seeing a resurgence of interest in social class, prompted by widening economic inequalities. While much research associated with this resurgence remains true to the core maxims of class analysis, it has yet to fully grapple with contemporary transformations in class structure. In advanced economies such as Australia, the combined effects of wage stagnation and asset price inflation, supported by pro-asset owner policy regimes, have made asset ownership increasingly central to life chances. In this article, we explore whether the rise in asset-based inequalities is effecting a change in subjective social class identities. We ask: who identifies as working or middle class? And, have the determinants of social class identification changed over time? To investigate these questions, we analyse the series of Australian Election Study surveys fielded from 1987 to 2022, focusing on the period since 2001. By examining change in the determinants of social class identity over time, we show that homeownership has become an increasingly important factor shaping identification with the middle class, while renters are becoming more likely to identify as working class. While asset ownership has become increasingly important for class identities, the impact of more traditional indicators of class, including education and supervisory roles at work, has weakened over time. This article therefore demonstrates how asset ownership is transforming social class identities.