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Germany, downward mobility is producing a new class society. The upper class inhabits a socially sealed-off, stable world. The middle class reproduces itself by the increasing practice of social closure and cultural distinction. The mixture of socialstatus control and discipline, precarious jobs and welfare benefits, is constructing a new underclass,148 fixed in a social situation from which only a few manage to climb out and up. They are not excluded from paid employment, but integrated either indirectly (as recipients of transfer payments) or directly (as low-paid workers).149 Class matters, and its relevance is growing, particularly in terms of life expectancy. The difference in life expectancy between men from the top 10 per cent and men from the bottom 10 per cent has grown from four to seven years since the end of the Second World War.
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