Is ‘shunter for British Rail’ a working class job?

That's not working class, that's poor/deprived/in relative poverty.

Class really is pretty meaningless these days as no-one can agree on a definition and it isn't related to income, job, interests or any other factor that people say is a class marker.

DP and I earn over £100k pa between us. I have multiple professional qualifications and am recognised internationally as an expert in my field. DP is a skilled manual worker in a very niche industry. No-one would consider us middle class if they met us and our older relatives were all miners, factory workers, barmaids, shop workers etc so have what would be defined as a very working class background but, despite what people seem to think, that doesn't mean our parents didn't value education or cultural interests, both our childhoods prioritised these - DP progressed well with music lessons as a child. My miner dad took me to museums regularly.

Just that for people born from around the 1960s onwards, they were no longer forced to leave school at 14/15 to earn money. That's when I feel defined classes in the UK started to break down.

There would have undoubtedly been many more in the past.

@Correction
What's your job?
What's bf's job?

Of course your social class can be changed. My dad was a binman. I went to Oxford and lead a comfortably middle-class-looking life. I still identify as 'educated working class', but my son is essentially middle-class on the grounds of parents' occupations, household interests, education, holidays and pastimes etc.

This

MN is obsessed with ‘working class’

Who cares?

I am not better than anyone else, no-one is better than me.

I work in and office and am middle manager, OH is a graphic designer. If I were to define our family, we are working class.

It's not unusual at all. Women went on having babies for as long as they were able to conceive. They started young and finished late. Reliable contraception wasn't available, or any contraception at all for most women. Men regarded sex with their wife as their right and women regarded it as their duty. The phrase was conjugal rights. My great grandmother had thirteen babies, 11 of whom survived. She didn't marry until her mid 20s and must have had her last child in the 2nd half of her 40s. This wasn't unusual at all.

Class and money are completely separate and your class cannot be changed

I am born middle class and will die middle class it dies not matter if I use a food bank or win the lottery I will still be middle class that is why the class system no longer works in today’s society as it makes no sense

your class is based on your parents profession and modern professions don’t fit fir example I.T jobs or marketing

‘Working class’ and ‘well paid’ are not necessarily mutually exclusive … not that it matters.

I agree with pp about the decline of well-paid working class jobs. Though we should remember that back then these were seen as 'men's jobs'. I can't think of any traditional wc 'women's' jobs that were well paid.

Oh, and another one here whose gran had her first baby at 17 but was considerably older when she had her 11th. I know that baby was def hers because my mum was pregnant with me st the same time. I'm in my 60s and that gran is still alive and kicking!

I always thought that you were middle class if your Dad went to work in a suit

Class in the UK isn't about money. I'm very middle class, and the child in my class whose Dad is a builder is certainly working class. He earns a lot more than I do! And good for him too- he doesn't need to take his work home with him!

The fact that you specify cardio and weight training leads me to think you may be confusing "a working class job" with "heavy manual labour".
What have you done in the past?

Yeah that isn't what working class means, I don't know where you got these ideas from .

This is utter rubbish. I know plenty of self-employed tradesmen who earn considerably above the average salary who are all absolutely working class.

The things you list as essential to be defined as working class simply are not the case in the UK class system.

If you are talking about a more Marxist definition of the international working class then maybe, but that's an entirely different thing.

Spot on.

Yes, that's me! My 'sister' turned out to be my mother.

I never met another person at school with a 'mum' as old as mine. Based on my experience it was rare for a woman to have a child in her 40's.

So, why are you a) asking b) so ignorant about the social structures of the UK? Of course 'shunter for British Rail' is a working class job, your BF's father probably voted Labour, too (also traditionally working class, not so much now). A shunter was a high-end upper working-class position, well-paid (relatively) and having responsibility. Had he been a train driver he would have been top of the working-class trees, btw.

That isn’t what working class means.

You are confusing money and class

two completely different things

you can be a upper class duchess in a castle but be penniless and you can be a working class shunter and be well paid

builder =working class = millionaire
posh Hugh grant owns a book shop = bankrupt

So does your previous work experience lead you to believe you are in any way suitable to do this, considering you are hoping to come to it at a very late stage of your career?

I would say that back then it would be described as a Blue Collar job rather than working class.

White Collar jobs were office based and Blue Collar jobs were manual work. Working class people did both.