Page 5 | What makes you middle class?

Singlemum90 · 2024-03-25T23:39:34+00:00

So a comment from my mother a few years ago has stuck with me ever since then really. When I was no longer a single mum, and found myself a little less skint, she said 'oh it's so good now you're just a nice middle class mum, I'm so proud of you' Aside from her clearly looking down at me before this, and deciding class was what defined how she felt about me- I have often wondered what made her decide I was middle class at this point. How do you define it? (I feel it's very subjective) Is it what family you are born into? Your income?(And what income makes the 'classes'? Is it a specific job type? The way you stick your finger out when you drink tea? Or is it just a shitty way to divide people and how they feel about themselves?

Oldie2 · 04/04/2024 02:08

I think you'd need a pretty big trust fund these days to not have to work, larger than most upper middles could stump up. However, enough parents can potentially rustle up a family property they can put a troublesome child in, & get the social to stump up the rent. While trust funds are commonly employed in wealthy families, often their offspring can't get free access to funds till they are much older & hopefully wiser. A trust will sometimes skip a generation, to prevent feckless offspring making a claim on the grounds of needing support for their kids, & also so their kids don't suffer, with the trust paying for boarding school, followed by Oxford, followed by a US masters .This can also be handy for avoiding death duty, & protecting family wealth from outside marriage partners who seek divorce.

Somepeoplearesnippy · 04/04/2024 01:55

PrinceLouisWeirdFinger · 26/03/2024 07:01

Working class = whippets and flat caps
Middle class = champagne and avocado on toast
Upper class = anorexia and buggery.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😂

My FIL was deffo WC by that definition. (Even worse he was a builder and had a fried breakfast in a caff every day)

as a family we are MC with the champagne and avocado.

Its further muddled by us both having a gay brother and our much loved daughter suffering from anorexia whilst being teased at an Oxbridge uni for going to a 'comp'.

Notmyuser · 04/04/2024 01:47

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:20

In southern France, some people will go to Roman ruins and some will go to the Haribo factory. If you were to visit Usez, which is delightful with a castle, for example, the town's tourist literature will give you a choice between a massive Roman bridge across a major river or a trip to a sweet factory.

Edited

Some people - mind blowing as it may be - do both.

And actually, access to a wide range of activities is very middle class. Which means gasp haribo factories.

SpaghettiWithaYeti · 04/04/2024 00:46

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:20

In southern France, some people will go to Roman ruins and some will go to the Haribo factory. If you were to visit Usez, which is delightful with a castle, for example, the town's tourist literature will give you a choice between a massive Roman bridge across a major river or a trip to a sweet factory.

Edited

I'd probably do both

AlcoholSwab · 04/04/2024 00:46

Oldie2 · 04/04/2024 00:18

Upper middle class people sometimes have a low income because they have been disinherited &/or have anger or other issues that hold them up from being a high earning worker in established occupations. Some, having been born into relative weath, value it less than others who have come from poorer backgrounds, & see greater value in other things, like free time to express yourself & develop interests & even help others. Ironically, while this is going on, some end up actually making a sizable amount of money.

Pretty much all upper middle class Penelopes and Pippas have access to trust funds and don't really need to work.

It's the bog standard middle class who need to work and they aren't all that different to the working class oiks they sneer at and condescend.

Oldie2 · 04/04/2024 00:18

Upper middle class people sometimes have a low income because they have been disinherited &/or have anger or other issues that hold them up from being a high earning worker in established occupations. Some, having been born into relative weath, value it less than others who have come from poorer backgrounds, & see greater value in other things, like free time to express yourself & develop interests & even help others. Ironically, while this is going on, some end up actually making a sizable amount of money.

Oldie2 · 03/04/2024 23:52

'due to inherit' rebel child with the genetic drive to do it your way ...classless or in a class of your own.

AllPrincessAnneshorses · 03/04/2024 23:41

isitbananatimealready · 03/04/2024 22:27

What class are you if it doesn't occur to you to ask whether to take your shoes off when in someone else's house?

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Bad mannered.

Oldie2 · 03/04/2024 23:33

probably working class

Superlambaanana · 03/04/2024 22:45

Youmusthavebeentoacapulco
The last 2 times we’ve gone out with friends my female friend has driven, I’ve sat next to her and husbands were in the back. What class does that make us?

Criminal underclass

How did I miss this earlier?!! This is the most progressive thing I've heard ever! I'll see @Queenofcarrotflour's criminal underclass and raise you 'progressive future class'. Love it.

isitbananatimealready · 03/04/2024 22:27

BigFluffyHoodie · 26/03/2024 07:03

If you insist that people take their shoes off in your home, you're lower middle class.

What class are you if it doesn't occur to you to ask whether to take your shoes off when in someone else's house?

MadraUisce · 03/04/2024 22:22

PrinceLouisWeirdFinger · 26/03/2024 07:01

Working class = whippets and flat caps
Middle class = champagne and avocado on toast
Upper class = anorexia and buggery.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😂

😂

EveryoneJapan · 03/04/2024 22:21

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 22:18

To display? Open shelves are very on trend @EveryoneJapan .

Yes, if it’s orzo or organic granola.

In the cupboard if it’s penne or coco pops.

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 22:18

To display? Open shelves are very on trend @EveryoneJapan .

Queenofcarrotflour · 03/04/2024 22:18

Youmusthavebeentoacapulco · 26/03/2024 07:31

The last 2 times we’ve gone out with friends my female friend has driven, I’ve sat next to her and husbands were in the back. What class does that make us?

Show quote history

Criminal underclass

EveryoneJapan · 03/04/2024 22:16

Decanting my pasta and cereals into glass jars.

cherish123 · 03/04/2024 22:12

I would say it's about educational status, aspirations and type of job (lawyer/doctor/teacher etc - mc; manual jobs - wc). However, within these you can have exceptions. There are other subtle differences (likes, hobbies, social circles, attitudes, beliefs). Accents can play a part, but not always.

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:57

I'd be there as it opens, or half an hour before it closes.

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:54

Have a great time @Bombastix. Usez is completely lovely. But the Pont du Gard gets busy so pick your time carefully.

bombastix · 03/04/2024 21:44

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:20

In southern France, some people will go to Roman ruins and some will go to the Haribo factory. If you were to visit Usez, which is delightful with a castle, for example, the town's tourist literature will give you a choice between a massive Roman bridge across a major river or a trip to a sweet factory.

Edited

I am going to both!

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:24

If you automatically choose the child-friendly dumbed down option. Not that I think you would.

goldenretrievermum5 · 03/04/2024 21:23

Superlambaanana · 03/04/2024 03:43

@goldenretrievermum5 you're late to the party. She's come off with some absolute whoppers, including stating she is definitely upper MC because she 'had the classics read to her at a young age'.

This, coupled with her claiming to be under 40/ born after 1980 made me laugh so much some pee actually came out.

People who say 'I'm the kind of person who X' are almost always in every case the absolute opposite of people who X and she proved that perfectly by being so transparently a chippy, plummy, low class snob.

She's gone away now because nobody curtsied to her, but she was entertaining!

Only on MN!! 🤣

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:21

For @BrondesburyBelle .

Papyrophile · 03/04/2024 21:20

In southern France, some people will go to Roman ruins and some will go to the Haribo factory. If you were to visit Usez, which is delightful with a castle, for example, the town's tourist literature will give you a choice between a massive Roman bridge across a major river or a trip to a sweet factory.

Blueballoons1 · 03/04/2024 19:45

BrondesburyBelle · 27/03/2024 12:56

Haha yes @Janehasamane I am making it up and just musing on my own experiences and family history really. Of course sociologists and economists will have their own definitions but it's a nuanced subject and one I find interesting when life takes me outside of the middle class bubble I usually inhabit. Because of the catchment of my kids' state primary I'm in an area where all the children have exactly the same type of 3 bed house with a garden and therefore similar income families however the class differences are very clear and friendship groups almost entirely organise themselves in terms of accent and cultural outlook. You might say this is just people finding like minded friends but there is a very obvious divide in those with a mc accent who do particular types of extra curriculars and holidays and those who have a wc accent and do other types of things with their disposable cash and time. There is some overlap of course.

@BrondesburyBelle what type of holidays do the mc crowd & non mc crowd do? Examples please!