When do you become middle class?

I don't believe that you can change your own class. Your children can be a different class but you can't change your own.

Class is ingrained into you through your upbringing.

I am solidly working class, no question about it. I could win the euro millions next week (PLEASE). I won't suddenly become middle class because I have money. I don't have middle class interests, don't have any middle class friends, I couldn't even "look" middle class (I have over 50 tattoos including on my hands and fingers). I'm not well educated, didn't go to college or university and don't fancy doing so now.

Same as Prince William would still be upper class even if he decided to jack it all in tomorrow and go to work at Tesco.

Pray tell me, the difference in attitudes, values and culture of the middle class and the working class?

As an immigrant, my outside observations are that the so-called middle class
have university degrees (may or may not be wealthy),
don’t have many TVs - back in the day would not have had satellite tv(!)
don’t have overt displays of wealth*
more likely to have spent on a house rather than cars
enjoy theatre and concerts as much a box set and sport
have dinner parties
don’t really care what class they are/what others think*

I think the difference is emulated in the Harry Enfield sketch - “I am considerably richer than you”

But it very much depends on what the rest of your life is like- there are I am sure some middle class people who enjoy musicals and have cars on HP- but I definitely wouldn’t say these are strong indicators or being middle class. IYSWIM.

Oh dear. This is what I was referring to.

If you're pre-occupied by the class status of your interests, which class of people share your tastes, whether you're ticking the boxes of social markers, you're not middle class.

Middle class people don't care.

I swear if there was a Being Middle Class for Dummies book, some people would buy it.

You don't change class. You did die in the class you were born into.

Your children can however be born into a different class to you. Depends how you raise them though. If your sat in a £1M house licking knives whilst eating dinner off your lap in front of "I'm a celeb" then they're still working class. Nothing wrong with that though.

I've always found it's only those born into WC families desperate to "better themselves" that actually care about class. If you were born MC you don't really care as your pretty secure- hence MC kids running around in rags.

Try to be an immigrant 😂
The whole hummus, olives, exotic veg and fruit love and homemade sauerkraut puts us into top 5% or something 😂

When you know you will be able to retire

Middle class doesn't exist as a genuine concept, it was a construct so the working class felt they had something to aspire to.

You either have to work to live or you don't. If your family needs to work to make money to live, you are working class.

Yeah I think it’s difficult. Honestly @ForMintUser I would probably agree that having a car on HP and enjoying musicals are probably more working class than middle class. The middle class “versions” would be owning an older car outright, and going to see a concert at the South Bank, Sage etc. Or in fact a local amateur orchestra at a church. Nothing to do with money really, more values/ culture.

But it very much depends on what the rest of your life is like- there are I am sure some middle class people who enjoy musicals and have cars on HP- but I definitely wouldn’t say these are strong indicators or being middle class. IYSWIM.

The labels may be different, but there is still a class system in every country.

Its an attitude not a wealth thing.

DH sums it up as... he's working class, living a middle class lifestyle, raising very middle class children.

No, not the swearing; the knee-jerk aggression

Middle class is what you are when the wealthier working classes look down on you and plot to take away your savings and investments so they can splurge then on bling.

Middle class isn’t something I aspire to, I would say it’s what other people would call me.

So why do you care? What does it matter?

Just like the things you like and do the things you do.

Think you’ve just shown your “class” there

Why does it matter? Just live and let live

Plenty of other near-identical threads for you to read the near-identical comments on, rather than starting yet another.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2013/newsspec_5093/index.stm

Take the quiz to see

Don’t agree about the one person income thing - why would that be relevant? A pair of married academics may well be middle class but not earn a huge amount. Don’t think it has anything to do with income (you could be working class and making a lot of money IMO).

I do agree with your point about culture and hobbies though. I’d say it’s more to do with being educated, having a “professional” type of job, how you spend your free time (eg taking your children to a play vs funfair), the type of area and house you live in, etc etc.

Christ not another tedious, navel-gazing post about class. Wish I could vote YABU 1000 times.

Edited to summarise:

When you start to think you’re richer/better than other people and are a bit anxious to have that acknowledged, you’re middle class.

When you don’t really think about whether you’re better than others or not and take your lifestyle completely for granted, you’re upper middle class.

When you KNOW you’re better than everyone else, even if others disagree with you (ie entitlement), you’re upper class.

When you don’t have much money or pretensions, you’re working class.

No nouveau it’s a class. I mean I’m edging into middle class and it’s likely my children will be middle class.