The urban class structure: class change and spatial divisions from a multidimensional class perspective

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive information on variables in the LCA (weighted proportions)

Variable	2008	2017	Total
Household income
% minimum or less	21.2	24.2	23.0
% minimum to modal	33.0	32.0	32.4
% modal to double modal	27.3	25.0	25.9
% more than double modal	18.5	18.8	18.7
Property value
% renter <125k	30.1	32.9	31.7
% renter >125k	29.4	22.9	25.7
% homeowner <200k	23.8	30.5	27.7
% homeowner >200k	16.7	13.7	15.0
Social support
% (totally) disagree	6.8	9.9	8.6
% neutral	20.5	24.0	22.5
% (totally) agree	72.8	66.2	68.9
Contact with friends
% less than once a month	5.4	8.2	7.1
% at least once a month	16.5	17.0	16.8
% at least once a week	78.1	74.7	76.1
Education level
% low	43.0	34.0	37.4
% middle	36.0	39.0	37.7
% high	21.0	27.0	24.8
Cultural visit
% never	42.0	23.8	31.3
% less than once a month	31.1	37.4	34.8
% at least once a month	26.9	38.8	33.9
N	10,686	15,215	25,901

Table 2. Fit measures of different LCA models (pooled dataset)

Model	Resid. df	Entropy R2	Adjusted BIC	BIC	AIC	Log-likelihood (pseudo)
4 classes	1,236	0.603	3,341.9	3,529.4	3,047.9	−152,406.3
5 classes	1,221	0.610	2,989.6	3,224.8	2,620.8	−152,177.8
6 classes	1,206	0.581	2,678.8	2,961.7	2,235.3	−151,970.0
7 classes	1,191	0.584	2,566.9	2,897.4	2,048.5	−151,861.6
8 classes	1,176	0.565	2,554.4	2,932.5	1,961.3	−151,803.0
9 classes	1,161	0.569	2,541.1	2,967.0	1,873.3	−151,744.0
10 classes	1,146	0.563	2,553.2	3,026.7	1,810.5	−151,697.6

log-likelihood is a pseudo-function because weights were used

N = 25,901

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for seven classes

Variables	Established upper class	Cultural middle class	Traditional middle class	Contact-poor middle class	Emergent middle class	Lower class	Precariat	Total
Household income (1–4)	3.9	3.1	2.9	2.9	1.6	1.7	1.4	2.4
Property value (in euros)	308,599	146,233	179,266	163,684	126,704	124,802	116,691	160,907
% homeowner	86	57	86	61	13	4	13	43
Friends contact (1–3)	2.8	3.0	2.9	1.7	2.9	2.7	2.2	2.7
Social support (1–3)	2.9	2.9	2.8	2.2	2.6	2.9	1.6	2.6
Education level (1–7)^1	6.1	5.6	3.5	4.2	4.3	2.4	2.5	4.0
Cultural visit (1–3)	2.5	2.8	1.9	1.8	2.7	1.3	1.3	2.1

all values indicate mean scores (except % homeowner). Range of variables is shown between brackets.

¹The original variable is used here to better indicate the variation across classes.

N = 25,901

Table 4. Sociodemographic characteristics for seven classes

Variables	Established upper class	Cultural middle class	Traditional middle class	Contact-poor middle class	Emergent middle class	Lower class	Precariat	Total
Mean age	46	40	48	51	41	54	52	47
Median age	43	37	47	51	37	57	53	45
% female	44	48	50	40	55	57	54	51
% employed	84	82	64	62	49	30	23	56
% unemployed/welfare benefits	1	3	4	6	14	16	32	11
% retired	10	7	17	22	13	33	26	18
% dual-adult HH	87	59	75	71	39	53	45	59
% 1-adult/1-parent HH	13	41	25	29	61	47	55	41
% migration background^1	28	41	36	39	57	52	61	46

¹Persons who are born abroad or have at least one parent born abroad.

N = 25,901

Table 5. Class change between 2008 and 2017

	2008		2017
	Population (estimated)	%	Population (estimated)	%	% total
Established upper class	52,975	11.8	58,061	11.8	11.8
Cultural middle class	57,396	12.8	86,146	17.5	15.6
Traditional middle class	91,126	20.3	78,483	16.0	17.7
Contact-poor middle class	21,560	4.8	27,572	5.6	5.3
Emergent middle class	70,787	15.7	107,562	21.9	19.3
Lower class	103,044	22.9	65,403	13.3	17.2
Precariat	53,101	11.8	68,609	13.9	13.1
Total	449,989	100	491,835	100	100
N (survey)		10,686		15,215	25,901

Population numbers are based on percentage share in the sample and total population aged 18 + . The class shares are statistically different from each other in 2008 and 2017 (p < .05, two-sided tests; pairwise comparisons within a row are adjusted using the Bonferroni correction), except for the established upper class.

Figure 1a. (a) Established upper class in Rotterdam, 2008

Figure 1b. Change in the established upper class in Rotterdam, 2008-2017

Figure 2a. (a) Traditional middle class in Rotterdam, 2008

Figure 2b. (b) Change in the traditional middle class in Rotterdam, 2008–2017

Figure 3a. (a) Emergent middle class in Rotterdam, 2008

Figure 3b. (b) Change in the emergent middle class in Rotterdam, 2008–2017