What social class am I?
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Original post by AvaAdore
I went to good uni, got good degree, good job, financially thriving, looking to buy my first home.
Original post by AvaAdore
I went to university and I am definitely working class.
I don't think working class means what you think it means, you look more of a middle class.
Original post by MangoFreak
Oh, well I'm definitely not a fan of that definition 
As in, a UKIP supporter? No, though I was a Liberal MP in the MHoC like a year ago, maybe that's where you remember me from?
As in, a UKIP supporter? No, though I was a Liberal MP in the MHoC like a year ago, maybe that's where you remember me from?
Well it separates the working and underclass which i suppose is good even if the word is negative.
No. I'm definitely thinking of a TSR Ukip ex MP.
Original post by Little Toy Gun
...Then who exactly is not in the working class? Unemployed people? Because even Elizabeth Windsor works.
Underclass = Unemployed for pronlonged periods of times, dependent fully on welfare
Working class = Blue-collar workers, unskilled, no university, some college, financial instability, renting.
Middle class = White-collar workers, semi-skilled or skilled, some university, financial stability, owning a house and vehicles
Upper class = Upper managerial/technical jobs, skilled, owning multiple houses or inherited and has enough assets to not work.
By household income working class would be around 20 - 50k, middle class 50 - ~120k and upper class onwards, with higher figures for London.
Really depends, varies by source. Might want to look at the BBC Class Survey 2011 or something
Original post by MangoFreak
How are teachers not workers?
The working class doesn't have to be, like, miners, or factory workers. Doctors, teachers, and most professions requiring an education are working class.
Your mother is working class, you can probably consider your father middle class.
The working class doesn't have to be, like, miners, or factory workers. Doctors, teachers, and most professions requiring an education are working class.
Your mother is working class, you can probably consider your father middle class.
how can a doctor be working class, A teacher isn't really middle class but probably still is as you need a degree. Working class is like hairdresser mechanic plumber shelf stacker office admin
Original post by karl pilkington
how can a doctor be working class...
if she stops going to work, she stops getting paid.
I don't subscribe to it but this is the Marxist understanding of who falls into which class, and the definition MangoFreak has said she is using. On the Marxist analysis the middle and upper classes own the means of production and enjoy the rentier benefits of that.
The system has no way of distinguishing those who were formerly working class who may have pushed into another, also is it solely based on income or lifestyle as well?
For example, My mother was brought up by a working class Irish family between her and 3 siblings. My Nan was a Nurse and my Grandfather was a road worker but also had nigt jobs as a security guard and a docker. However they did this to put my mum and two of her brothers through private school. Does this make them working class, as they all held jobs at the bottom end of the wage scale? Or middle class because of the fact they sent their children to private education?
Now take me, for the first five years of my life it was only me and my mother living in a two up two down in Hounslow. Eventually when my step father came into the fold, our income as a household increased. My mother also got promoted in her job to a management role, neither of them had a university education, we now live in a much larger house in Surrey. I consider myself middle class of course, but does one trade away their given "class" when they move up on the ladder.
tl;dr Do you stay the same class as you are born into, or can you leave it entirely?
For example, My mother was brought up by a working class Irish family between her and 3 siblings. My Nan was a Nurse and my Grandfather was a road worker but also had nigt jobs as a security guard and a docker. However they did this to put my mum and two of her brothers through private school. Does this make them working class, as they all held jobs at the bottom end of the wage scale? Or middle class because of the fact they sent their children to private education?
Now take me, for the first five years of my life it was only me and my mother living in a two up two down in Hounslow. Eventually when my step father came into the fold, our income as a household increased. My mother also got promoted in her job to a management role, neither of them had a university education, we now live in a much larger house in Surrey. I consider myself middle class of course, but does one trade away their given "class" when they move up on the ladder.
tl;dr Do you stay the same class as you are born into, or can you leave it entirely?
Wait let me guess... the book was either Of Mice and Men or Wuthering heights? hahaha
Original post by Drunken Bard
tl;dr Do you stay the same class as you are born into, or can you leave it entirely?
tl;dr Do you stay the same class as you are born into, or can you leave it entirely?
Social mobility moves you up classes, you don't necessarily stay in the same class. Most people don't.
Also I find the term "working class" in itself to be rather ridiculous, what? none of the other classes work for a living?
Original post by SotonianOne
Underclass = Unemployed for pronlonged periods of times, dependent fully on welfare
Working class = Blue-collar workers, unskilled, no university, some college, financial instability, renting.
Middle class = White-collar workers, semi-skilled or skilled, some university, financial stability, owning a house and vehicles
Upper class = Upper managerial/technical jobs, skilled, owning multiple houses or inherited and has enough assets to not work.
By household income working class would be around 20 - 50k, middle class 50 - ~120k and upper class onwards, with higher figures for London.
Really depends, varies by source. Might want to look at the BBC Class Survey 2011 or something
Working class = Blue-collar workers, unskilled, no university, some college, financial instability, renting.
Middle class = White-collar workers, semi-skilled or skilled, some university, financial stability, owning a house and vehicles
Upper class = Upper managerial/technical jobs, skilled, owning multiple houses or inherited and has enough assets to not work.
By household income working class would be around 20 - 50k, middle class 50 - ~120k and upper class onwards, with higher figures for London.
Really depends, varies by source. Might want to look at the BBC Class Survey 2011 or something
Good rules of thumb, except for the income brackets - £50k and working class!?
Original post by chazwomaq
Good rules of thumb, except for the income brackets - £50k and working class!?
Well 50k is below the average, although I may have overestimated that indeed. I wrote 40k the first time, but then deleted it for no reason. Would that be better? :P
Though if we take in recession circumstances rather than the strict "two adult" definition, a household with three adults (two parents, one child of working age) could probably pass the 50k threshold as the child won't be moving out soon.
Original post by SotonianOne
Underclass = Unemployed for pronlonged periods of times, dependent fully on welfare
Working class = Blue-collar workers, unskilled, no university, some college, financial instability, renting.
Middle class = White-collar workers, semi-skilled or skilled, some university, financial stability, owning a house and vehicles
Upper class = Upper managerial/technical jobs, skilled, owning multiple houses or inherited and has enough assets to not work.
By household income working class would be around 20 - 50k, middle class 50 - ~120k and upper class onwards, with higher figures for London.
Really depends, varies by source. Might want to look at the BBC Class Survey 2011 or something
Working class = Blue-collar workers, unskilled, no university, some college, financial instability, renting.
Middle class = White-collar workers, semi-skilled or skilled, some university, financial stability, owning a house and vehicles
Upper class = Upper managerial/technical jobs, skilled, owning multiple houses or inherited and has enough assets to not work.
By household income working class would be around 20 - 50k, middle class 50 - ~120k and upper class onwards, with higher figures for London.
Really depends, varies by source. Might want to look at the BBC Class Survey 2011 or something
I wasn't the one who was confused.
Original post by SotonianOne
Well 50k is below the average, although I may have overestimated that indeed. I wrote 40k the first time, but then deleted it for no reason. Would that be better? :P
Is it? I thought it was much lower e.g.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom
while average net household income (after tax) stood at £38,547
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11447587/Average-incomes-return-to-pre-recession-levels.html
The report showed that a family with two children is now earning on average £31,000 after tax
So that's about £41k or something. I would still say that's high for typical working class. This recent survey had "traditional working class" at a mean household income of £13k. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_British_Class_Survey#Traditional_working_class
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by SotonianOne
Middle / Upper middle class.
B - C1 / Group 2 - 4
"Working class" is far below middle, not sure how you can consider anyone working class if they went to a university.
B - C1 / Group 2 - 4
"Working class" is far below middle, not sure how you can consider anyone working class if they went to a university.
I'm working class and currently at university....
My mum is a single parent on minimum wage and I live in a council estate. I can't not be working class considering that. Until I actually use my degree to earn a decent wage after I graduate (teaching) then I'll continue to be working class.
Original post by karl pilkington
how can a doctor be working class, A teacher isn't really middle class but probably still is as you need a degree. Working class is like hairdresser mechanic plumber shelf stacker office admin
Teachers are definitely in the middle class:
- all graduates and many postgraduates (PGCE or above)
- hold a professional qualification/there is a professional qualification for the profession (eg QTS)
- overall decent salary, and a high entry salary
- decent academic background
- as a profession has professional associations and learned societies
- has a professional code of conduct and could have license revoked
Compared these to other recognised middle-class professions:
Accountants (auditors):
- not necessarily graduates, and very few postgradutes
- most don't hold the professional qualification/there is a professional qualification for the profession (ie CPA)
- overall decent salary, but lower than teachers', especially at entry level
- decent academic background - as a profession has professional associations and learned societies - has a professional code of conduct and could have license revoked
Bankers: - not necessarily graduates, and very few postgraduates - most don't hold the professional qualification/there are professional qualifications but very uncommon (eg CFA) - overall decent salary, but depends on what kind of banker - varied academic background - as a profession has professional associations and learned societies - in some lines of work there is a professional code of conduct and in certain lines of work could have license revoked
Doctors: - all graduates but not many postgraduates - hold a professional qualification/there is a professional qualification for the profession - overall decent salary, and a high entry salary - decent academic background - as a profession has professional associations and learned societies - has a professional code of conduct and could have license revoked
Lawyers: - all graduates but depending on the country may or may not have postgraduate qualifications - hold a professional qualification/there is a professional qualification for the profession (however a law degree doesn't give you that) - overall decent salary, but a low entry salary - decent academic background - as a profession has professional associations and learned societies - has a professional code of conduct and could have license revoked
---
But the nature of your profession is only a part of your class identity. The actual money you earn, the house you rent/purchased, your family background, your ancestry, your accent, your schooling background all through university, your connections, your peers, your other achievements, etc.
It's interesting how many definitions there are.
I don't really look at job titles but rather income and assets.
Underclass - Unemployed
Working class - Rents and earns below £30k
Middle Class - Property owners and earns £30k+
The average person in the UK earns below my threshold but does own property making them upper working/lower middle.
I don't really look at job titles but rather income and assets.
Underclass - Unemployed
Working class - Rents and earns below £30k
Middle Class - Property owners and earns £30k+
The average person in the UK earns below my threshold but does own property making them upper working/lower middle.
Original post by SotonianOne
I don't think working class means what you think it means, you look more of a middle class.
I grew up on a council estate in a council house, often without working parents and claiming a lot. I shared a room with two siblings and went to a state school. I am working class. There is no two ways about it pal.
Original post by AvaAdore
I grew up on a council estate in a council house, often without working parents and claiming a lot. I shared a room with two siblings and went to a state school. I am working class. There is no two ways about it pal.
By the definitions above I will soon be middle class when I buy my house. Doesn't change my roots though
Original post by Drunken Bard
Also I find the term "working class" in itself to be rather ridiculous, what? none of the other classes work for a living?
What do you think sounds better "working class" or "lower class"? I believe it was changed from the latter to sound more politically correct.
Original post by AvaAdore
I grew up on a council estate in a council house, often without working parents and claiming a lot. I shared a room with two siblings and went to a state school. I am working class. There is no two ways about it pal.
When you graduate and find yourself a graduate level job, you won't be working class anymore.
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