We still talk about the rich and the working class as if nothing has changed, but 15 years ago, the economist Guy Standing argued that the old class system is dead. Instead, he thinks that society is divided into three, and this division is far, far more dangerous than at any time.
At the top, you have a 'plutocracy' (the ultra-wealthy, the billionaires, the people who do not just have money, but have influence). Below them sits the 'salariat' (people with salary jobs, pensions, sick pay, a career ladder). But below both of these is a new class known as the 'precariat'.
Imagine somebody called Emma. Emma has a degree and she is working three zero-hour jobs, none of which offer her a full contract. She has no pension, no sick pay, and no guarantee she will have a job next Tuesday. She is not unemployed, she is perpetually almost employed. Standing argues that the problem with the precariat is not just they are precarious, but they have no identity. They are isolated, anxious, and they belong to nothing. They have no unions or common cause.
Standing warns that when millions of people feel like they have no stake in society, one of two things happens. Either they disengage completely, they do not care about politics, their community, or even the law, or they turn to dangerous, extreme ideologies because they want something to belong to. They want some sense of identity. If we have an expanded precariat, what are we expecting them to do, and do we think this is going to end well for the whole of society?