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The 'middle class' label

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lawl. Thats upperclass.

House I can understand. We only have two cars because Mum needs one for work, and Dad needs one to get to the horses.
How is having horses middle class?

Original post by Old_Simon

You still can not spell though.

Aww, man I know! Clearly, I cannot have any problems being "middle class". Dyslexia obviously doesn't affect people as well off in the world as I am.

Reply 21

Chicken.M.

Original post by PsychadelicScarf

House I can understand. We only have two cars because Mum needs one for work, and Dad needs one to get to the horses.
How is having horses middle class?

Aww, man I know! Clearly, I cannot have any problems being "middle class". Dyslexia obviously doesn't affect people as well off in the world as I am.

cus 3 story house. 2 cars. horses. lol

Reply 22

PsychadelicScarf

Original post by ChickenMadness

cus 3 story house. 2 cars. horses. lol

How is that explaining how it makes me middle classes?

Reply 23

Chicken.M.

Original post by PsychadelicScarf

How is that explaining how it makes me middle classes?

cus you got so much expensive stuff lmao.

Three story house. Two cars. Horses lol

Reply 24

bertstare

What is the cut off point (salary or net worth or whatever) between middle and upper?

Reply 25

treasureBelle

Original post by ChickenMadness

cus you got so much expensive stuff lmao.

Three story house. Two cars. Horses lol

Minus the horses, and I know a "poor" family on benefits who have all of that.

Reply 26

PsychadelicScarf

Original post by ChickenMadness

cus you got so much expensive stuff lmao.

Three story house. Two cars. Horses lol

Do you really not get just how many people own horses?
Both cars are old and used, and one of them is a KA.
But yeah I understand the house. Its a period house as well :

Reply 27

Comus

When used as an insult it seems to refer mostly to the middle/upper class borderline, but rather more confusingly when used as a general descriptive it seems to be an incredibly broad term encompassing everyone who lives in a moderately sized semi and goes to a fairly good state comp to the ultra-wealthy and privately educated. Quite why both are, in general usage, considered to be middle class is beyond me.

Reply 28

Old_Simon

Middle class ? And dyslexic too. Oh my aren't you the lucky one.

Reply 29

the bear

Original post by Joinedup

Didn't the tories get a batch of this exact confectionery made when they had a conference in Blackpool?

hehehe Blackpool.... :rofl:

woohooohooooooo :rave:

Reply 30

clareeey

Original post by ILovePancakes

I've only ever been to comprehensive schools.. up till year 11 there were 30 people in each of my classes.

comprehensive =/= unruly
middle class =/= private school

I now go to a grammar school and my classes are tiny, but that's because I do the IB. I'm actually inclined to think that the teaching itself at the comprehensive school was better.

Also, surely Eton and such is upper class? We're comfortably middle class, but if my dad had to fork out £11,090 each half term (Eton's current going-rate) for both my sister and I, we'd be bankrupt.

I go to a comprehensive but there are no grammars where I live, in my triple science class I have 36 while my history only has 6 :cool:

I still class myself as middle class, my parents, both being doctors could have afforded private school fees for my brothers and I, but decided there was no point...

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 31

Lansaaaa

Original post by PsychadelicScarf

See, why is it upper class? You'd be surprised by the amount of people own horses.

We don't all walk around in jodphurs, talking about a spiffing day at the races. It's hard work, daily. So why is it a middle class thing?

It's not exclusively horse-riding, I won't pretend to know anything about that, but I just think it's silly when people like David Cameron and such from £15,000/yr private schools claim to be middle class. If that's considered middle class then I don't know what that makes the average person in the UK.

Reply 32

treasureBelle

Original post by Lansaaaa

Not everyone who goes to private school is rich, you know.
My mum has taught in private schools before. Yes, of course there are the parents to whom the fees are a mere trifle. But there are also a lot of parents who make huge sacrifices, and scrimp and save to send their child(ren) to private school. That's not to mention the pupils there on scholarships, too.

When my family lived abroad when I was a kid, my sister and I went to a private, English-speaking primary school. My parents were most definitely not wealthy at that time - although they hid the fact from us, my parents often went without simply so my sister and I could eat. As a secondary school teacher, my mum learnt another language and did a lot of odd jobs, tutoring, and any other favours she could scrape, to pay the fees for the school we went to.

So yes, while a lot of people who send their kids to private school can afford it OK, there are a whole lot of others who make huge sacrifices to do so.

Reply 33

I love shopping

Yes, I do find people on this forum calling each other "middle class" as an insult. I think believing that middle class people have always had an easy life is a very ignorant view to hold. For example, on paper I appear to come from a middle class family. I went to a fairly expensive private school, my parents are well educated and both hold master's degrees in their fields, we live in a very nice area and my dad owns an expensive car. It seems all well and good and most of you would think I'm very privileged. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate everything I have, but if you scratch below the surface it's a whole different story.

My dad basically spent all his life savings to send me to a private school. My mum has been out of work for over a decade due to long-term illness. My parents don't actually own the house or the car. In fact, ever since I was little there was always numerous arguments between my parents over not having saved up enough money for next month's rent. My dad is a very controlling and unreasonable person. He never let me go out at all when I lived at home, other than to go to school or the supermarket. At the age of 17, I wasn't even allowed to go the cinema down the road with my friends. I'm 23 now, and even today he would be furious if he found out I've had a boyfriend. So basically, eventhough I am middle class, I spent most of my teenage years worrying about money, dealing with an emotionally abusive father and caring for a sick mother because my dad wouldn't.

My best friend at uni on the other hand comes from a fairly working class family. Her mum is a hair dresser and her father is a cashier at sainsbury's. Her family live in a very rough area and she woent to a very underprivileged state school, with an awful reputation for violence and poor grades. Her parents are, however, happily married and they have always been very good with budgeting and saving up money, unlike my dad. She gets along very well with both her parents and even goes home every Sunday for a big family get together for Sunday roast. She herself has said that she's had a very happy and comfortable life and wouldn't change it for the world. She got a very big student loan and bursary, and on top of that her parents had about £6K saved up for her.

I, on the other hand, got the basic loan because of my dad's good salary, but because he's not good at saving up, he couldn't afford to support me at uni at all. So I ended having to work a lot of part-time jobs and temporary work, just to be able to pay my rent and buy food, while my friend has a lot of money ans has never worked to pay for herself.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that although most people would think I'm middle class, I've had to struggle a lot to get good grades at school so I could go to a good uni, get a good job, and ultimately break away from my father. I know I'm speaking purely from anecdotal evidence, but I honestly don't believe that being middle class means you have an easier life and being working class means you've had to work harder for everything.

Reply 34

JamesGibson

The very existence of the middle class is disgusting - it's a group of people that start life with more opportunities, better education and a better chance to earn more money.

Reply 35

ChaoticButterfly

The upper class is the portion of society that has the ability to influence and partake in major decision making that effects wider society. Since we live in a very pyramidal hierarchical society this class is obviously going to be relatively small. The middle class covers a very wide range of people and it is possible to be very well of financially and be scrapped for cash and still be part of the middle class.

Reply 36

sociologystudent

why are people bitter towards those who have more? the mere fact that someone would use the term 'middle class' to insult somebody is very indicative of their jealousy. there is always someone who is going to have more than you. in a capitalist society, such as the UK, it is very stupid to expect everybody to have the same opportunities and to be socio-economically equal. my family didn't have a lot of money growing up but i never had any anger towards those who had more. their parents simply worked hard to provide their children with the best. what is so wrong with that?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 37

Octohedral

Original post by JamesGibson

The very existence of the middle class is disgusting - it's a group of people that start life with more opportunities, better education and a better chance to earn more money.

In economic terms there is a strong correlation between the development of a country and the development of its middle class. It provides a group of people willing to spend money on 'luxury' items (TVs, books, nice food), stimulating the economy and taking an academic interest in the political system. This in turn raises standards of living for everyone. Things like benefits, free education, the NHS, affordable electronics etc would simply not exist without either a communist state or a large middle class.

I'm aware of how obnoxious and tenuous this probably sounds, but it's still true - the middle class is economically necessary if we want some kind of a free market (unless you're a communist). That is not, of course, to give middle class people the credit. They just have to exist, earn money and buy stuff - they don't deserve any of it. However, it's difficult to find a system that both provides equal opportunities and leads to a strong economy.

Reply 38

natninja

Original post by bertstare

What is the cut off point (salary or net worth or whatever) between middle and upper?

There isn't really one, it comes more down to asset wealth, mannerisms, and behaviour when distinguishing between the two.

Reply 39

Fullofsurprises

Original post by the bear

i am middle class through and through. i was going to say that i would have Home Counties stamped through me like a stick of rock, but then i realised that sticks of rock are not really U. except perhaps in an ironical way ?