Table 1.

Booth's classes (1896) and registrar general's classes (1991)

Colour on 1896 map	Booth's description	% of households in 1896	Equivalent registrar general's class	% of households in 1991*	1896 SEP indicator†	1991 SEP indicator†
Black	Lowest class; vicious, semi-criminal	1.5 ‡
Blue	Very poor; casual labour, chronic want	3.7 ‡	V§	6.9	0.937	0.965
Light blue	Poor; 18-21 shillings a week for a moderate family	7.4 ‡
Purple	Mixed; some comfortable, others poor	16.2	IV	12.8	0.794	0.867
Pink	Fairly comfortable; good ordinary earnings	35.2	III	33.8	0.537	0.634
Red	Well to do; middle class	27.7	II	37.3	0.223	0.278
Yellow	Wealthy; upper middle and upper classes	8.4	I	9.2	0.042	0.046

^*Excludes households with no social class allocation in the 1991 census (those described as in the army, inadequately described, and others without a social class). 

^†Socioeconomic position indicators are cumulative proportions: for class I, (I/2)/(I+II+III+IV+V); for class II, (I+II/2)/(I+II+III+IV+V); for class III, (I+II+III/2)/(I+II+III+IV+V); for class IV, (I+II+III+IV/2)/(I+II+III+IV+V); for class V, (I+II+III+IV+V/2)/(I+II+III+IV+V). 

^‡Poor families made up 12.6% of households in 1896. 

^§Includes people of working age who have not worked in the last 10 years.