Research Note: The Demography of Occupational Prestige in the Australian Workforce

Abstract

Occupational prestige is an indicator of social class amenable to measurement. Dividing the workforce of Australia on the basis of occupational prestige gives a profile of the numbers in each of six occupational prestige categories. This exercise provides a norm for the Australian population and gives a basic prestige distribution for comparative purposes. Of particular interest for sociologists and social scientists generally is the shape of this profile. The top two categories are very small indeed; the third holds 15 per cent of the workforce; and 80 per cent of the workforce are in the lower half of this prestige hierarchy.