I am working class - ask me anything!

[workingclassgal123]

So I've been lurking on mumsnet discussion forums for quite a while now (not posting, just reading) and I've noticed there seems to be a lot of class cluelesness in many of the threads. People either are completely unaware of what life is like for the average wc person in Britain today, or even worse people actively hate/fear wc people or being perceived as wc. Since I am ever the optimist about human nature, I shall assume this hatred/fear comes out of genuine ignorance on what it is like to wc/not socialising with many wc people rather than sheer maliciousness, so I thought I would open up this thread so that we can have a more fruitful discussion about what it is really like to be wc in Britain today.

A few caveats before we begin. Although I am wc I obviously cannot speak for the experiences of all. I still had a number of privileges in my life including but not limited to:

• Having two loving parents who were supportive of my education
• An encouraging teacher
• Not growing up in care/qualifying for school meals
• Not having to deal with racism (I'm white)

Also worth noting a few stats to highlight where we are in Britain today:

• Median household income is £28,000 (ONS, 2018)
• The majority of people living in poverty are in working households
• 4.1 million children are living in relative poverty (60% below the median household income)

Without further ado, ask away!

I am not doing a PhD. Also I agree that some middle class people don't care about working class people in a similar way to the way race operates, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't. Think about how much better our society would be if peoples' potential were not restricted by their background, we could have more doctors and scientific researchers etc working for the collective good of society. Also I think there is still a class system in the U.S but you're right it is easier to understand.

@topcat2014 Maybe not officially but I've heard the term used in many books and academic papers to refer to those who (many through no fault of their own) are long term unemployed.

Also I think there is still a class system in the U.S but you're right it is easier to understand.

There is absolutely a class system here, but in addition to it being easier to understand I think people are less conscious of it. People in the UK (or at least on MN) seem to give it more space in their heads than we do, if you see what I mean.

I don't have a question but sometimes you get an insight as to how middle class it is on here. Yesterday there was a thread where someone was saying she couldn't get the essentials in supermarkets near her and she was advised to order Hello fresh boxes, place an order from Cook and phone in artisanal pasta from a deli in London 🤦🏻‍♀️

I think MN is a bit funny about class as you've obviously picked up on Working, it's demographic is certainly much wider than it was 14 years ago when I joined. Class threads only ever go one way though, which is loads of posters piling on to tell you they don't give a thought to class, only the aspirant middle-classes with their unseemly ways care about such things and class markers are utter bunkum as anyone with anything about them is too busy heartily striding around in battered cords through their dusty, dog-shit covered, book-stuffed house to care about such trivial things.

Make of that what you will!

I'm making a brew, what you having?

Well I’m working class and your life is nothing like mine so I’m not really sure what the point of this thread is as you can’t speak for all of us?

She said that in her opening post.

Op, do you think it's possible to change class? Or if you 'level up', you don't change but your kids would (as according to some on here, you are what you are born into, for life).

OP - if you finish your degree and get a high-paying job, do you think you would become middle-class or would that only happen to your children? Or not?

I find class a fascinating concept - I'm as middle-class as anything, had a UMC education, but my parents were certainly working class at birth though no-one apart from my dad would think of him as such now.

Do you think class is defined more usefully by the person themselves or the beholder?

I think the dinner question was a red herring. From what you described - leek pie - I’d say that was your tea. Dinner is your lunch if you’re working class.

I was first in my family to go to Uni
I own a whipper
My mum and dad failed their 11+ exams and left school at 15 with below o-level qualifications (there was a lower level called CSE).
Mum worked in unskilled jobs until she left and had kids and then became an auxiliary as HCAs we’re called then.
Dad was a joiner until he was late 40s when he started doing all the pricing up work at the building firm he worked for. So moved into a more managerial position.

Am I working class?

Honestly? Why do you care what class you are to the extent you want people to ask you anything about it?

Does it define you that much?

(Hmm, that comes across pretty stroppy - it honestly isn't meant that way but I often wonder why MNers are so obsessed with labelling themselves working class. Who cares?)

@OlaEliza No, it doesn’t explain why it’s an AMA post. They are usually to give a insight into a life most people don’t have experience of or to share knowledge.

Dinner is your lunch if you’re working class

No it isn't. It's
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Supper

Tea is a drink.