What makes you middle class?

Nah, I’d argue it makes you aspirational middle class. True middle class know they are middle class and don’t need to be told.

Cultural Capital is a big part of class markers.

I am WC but now MC, husband is established MC so I have effectively married up. I’m a professional, I am well read/travelled and like all the cultural class markers and engage in them all as do the children. Social
mobility has been evident in my story through a good education and parents who were chippy and driven.

However my “values” I think are still very WC. I don’t like it when then kids say what instead of pardon for example.

I’ve been a teacher for 15 years, mainly in deprived areas. All but a handful of parents want their kids to do well. Some of them lack the ability to make that happen, usually due to their own negative experiences of school, health issues/addiction, and so on. But fundamentally they would all choose for their children to be happy and successful over struggling.
Not everyone’s “trying their best” is equal, sadly.

That's just a north/south thing surely. No one in the north would say loo!

Middle class =

• Sharp elbows especially in regard to their dc's opportunities
• Looking at others (in a competitive way) to see what they have and what they do and how you and your dh, and kids compare next to them
• Comparing your dc with other people's dc with a competitive view
• Looking down your nose at those you deem lower in social class than what you are aspiring to
• Seeking to associate with the right kind of people
• Reading the right books, doing the right activities going on the right kind of holidays (based on what's deemed MC or higher, not based on what they actually enjoy)
• The fishwife veneer is thin

There you are.

Starting a thread on MN to let everyone know how MC you are makes you MC.

That is sadly untrue. I did my teacher training in a school with very poor exam outcomes. By far the greatest challenge was trying to engage the parents in their kids education. It might be hard to imagine if you don't live in an area like this, but there are huge numbers of parents who have absolutely no interest at all in their children's education, and who never set foot in their children's school.

It was me who made that comment. It was in reference to home decor, if you read.

Id say one thing that does often set the classes apart is the longevity of things. I’ve found that regardless of income, people who are middle class tend to buy well and buy to last, whereas those who are working class are more interested in trends/fashion, tend to replace things regularly to “keep up with the Joneses” and be more interested in materially appearing to be doing well (by being on trend) whereas those with a higher social status tend to go for more timeless pieces which last. Part of it is obviously down to initial purchase power, but I do think it goes deeper than that.

Even in Victorian times it didn’t mean that. It was largely down to your occupation. So barristers vs chimney sweeps, to quote two extreme examples.

Do batteries and bleach work differently if bought at waitrose instead of B&M?

It would depend on what items you are using them for as to whether they work differently, you'll get less of a hum with a rabbit from F&M

This. Historically I expect working class was home help, trades, services etc, and middle class were clerks and admin, some kept ladies. Upper class was landed gentry.

It's all a complete load of nonsense designed to crush aspiration and keep people in "their place" and maintain the rotten status quo.
It encorages the masses to continue to vote against their own interests based mainly on wishful thinking and snobbery.

I've never heard B&M as a class indicator before.

Do batteries and bleach work differently if bought at waitrose instead of B&M?

The kardashians are upper middle class. If you are allowed to base your class on education level, then so are they. They were wealthy before they were famous. They own businesses, have a background in law, and so on. You may dislike their “aesthetic” but it is still one of wealth and high status.
It sounds to me like you are a snob, not middle class.

That BBC quiz definitely includes income. If I put my current income (£0) I'm emergent service class. If I put my salary before I was made redundant, I'm elite.

Someone told me yesterday I'm a bit posh, which puzzled me - I have a strong Dorset accent (especially having been home for the weekend) which doesn't sound at all posh. I am middle class I think - I have some inherited furniture and paintings, I go to museums and galleries and was brought up like this, and without a TV, so I can be rubbish at knowing about popular culture. Perhaps it's the silk pyjamas. But equally, I currently have no income, I rent. I don't know what I am.

If you took away money from an old Etonian, it wouldn't make him change his class to become middle or working class, it just doesn't operate in that manner. Your view of class is based on a crude operating system based upon money or wealth. Rightly or wrongly that isn't what happens in reality

@Notmyuser , I really wish ‘class’ wasn’t a thing. I do think the great majority of people are middle class, I certainty don’t think how wealthy you are plays any part in it. Therefore the immigrants (anyone) who value education are displaying a middle class attribute.

Also, you seem to be associating class with money to a larger degree than I do. By your definition, the Kardashians are upper class (I know they are American) but I do not consider them to be so and their aesthetic is to me very vulgar and naff.

This class thing, its like people are always ‘gauging’ where they are and where everyone else is.

What’s the point, things can change over night.

Skiing and horses. Also education and aspiration, but mostly skiing and ponies.

Whats even more curious to me is the fact the the upper classes and the working class have far more in common with each other than the middles class - I always assumed this was why people didn't want to be middles class as they are the odd one out

When I say I don't have a high income, I mean I'm not wealthy wealthy. I don't mean I shop at B&M. I can afford the things that I like, I own my own home and am saving for a second one, etc. I don't have so much money that I can afford to not work, but the work that I do do makes me more than comfortable, plus I have some family money and will inherit another home eventually.

@LovelyTheresa at best lower middle. And therefore desperate to be upper middle. How often do you host candle light suppers?

polloi not polo - fraudilan autocorrect

Not even close. You have no idea what you are talking about.