What social class would you say I am?

[tententwenty]

Curious.

I come from a bit of a 'mixed' background I guess.
Both my parents were professionals, one a teacher and the other an architect.

My mum went to a pretty posh ladies boarding school, and her family were solidly middle class. Red chino, signet ring type, home counties tory. Mum hated this and hid it very very well.

My dad grew up in poverty in Glasgow, worked hard, and got himself a good job.

I went to a very poor state comp. We lived in a poor area and didn't have much spare cash due to debt issues. Most of my friends had never been on holiday. Their parents were dinnerladies and the like. I worked pretty hard at school, but was fortunate to have supportive parents. Went to Cambridge for univeristy, now a SAHM. Dh is a lawyer.

Some people see me as working class because of how I was raised, but I never really fitted in at school. (Geek perhaps)

Other people think I am quite posh because of my accent for the area I'm from.

What do you think ?

I actually think working class because experience of a person’s childhood is so formative - it influences how they bring up their kids (choosing to give your children good holidays because you never had them, making sure they never see a red bill etc), and influences so many other every day decisions. I really think people are a product of their upbringing more than they realise - of course you can consciously step away from it (as your mum did from her MC/UMC upbringing) but even if you’re stepping away from it, by definition it’s continuing to define you.

Middle. It's not about what your parents did, that dictates their class, not yours as an adult. It's about your life today.

I'd say you're middle class because nobody in the upper or lower 'classes' really cares about such an outdated system.

Sorry, hope this isn't insensitive but how did a teacher and an architect have a poor livelihood in I assume the 80s. I know nowadays with rising housing and childcare costs all professions can be caught in a poverty trap but 20/30 years ago a teacher would have been seen as a good solid income? I know you say debt issues so whilst you may have been poor you were definately middle class. Poor money management doesn't turn professional middle class earners into working class, just poor middle class.

I find it curious that several posts have said class isn’t to do with what your parents did. For many this is exactly what defines class, ie background is everything. I think it’s very interesting that modern views of class seem to think you can change class depending on what you do - so even if you’re born working class by family background you can “become” middle or upper class by changing yourself. That’s quite a new idea isn’t it, and something that seems to be relatively unique to the UK. In most parts of the world it’s your family background that defines your class.

I think it’s all a bit confusing and I don’t even know what defines the classes anymore. I do think it’s a lot more than how much money someone has, which is how many people seem to want to define it nowadays.

Middle. People change classes as their situation changes eg someone from poor background who becomes a lawyer and raises their kids in middle class environment would be middle class?

I’d probably also say that working class footballers who make it big probably become middle class too.

I've heard it said that if you are asking what class you are (or care) then you are middle class. The working classes don't care, the upper classes know. Only the middle classes ask the question.

Middle class.

Child of a teacher and an architect.
Now a Cambridge graduate married to a lawyer.
Middle class.
Albeit raised in a working class area.

Why would you be curious? It's not a tick box exercise to find an answer.

In my real world I've have never had a single conversation with anyone about their class, maybe get some new people in your life who have more to think about than this nonsense.

Your parents were a teacher and an architect and you went to Cambridge. It's pretty obvious you're middle class. What on earth else would you think?

I'm also massively confused about the debt issues considering your parents jobs.

I'd say solid middle middle class.

With two professionally qualified parents, solid middle, regardless of how broke they might have been.

It’s not, and never has been, all about money. If it were, David Beckham would be upper class. Someone with barely a pot to piss in can still be UC.

Not that most people give a toss about such things nowadays, but if anyone really wants to know, then it’s as well to understand the (nowadays fairly loose) UK criteria.

Ofgs of course you're middle class. Regardless of how mind-bogglingly unusual it would be for a teacher and architect to end up living in a v. poor working class area, do not underestimate the benefits of having supportive parents. It all sounds a bit 'Railway Children playing at being poor for a bit' anyway.

My DH grew up working class and his background looks like this:

No indoor toilet until he was 7 (mid 1980s)
No family car until he was 14
Parents left school at 15 with no qualifications
Both worked in retail (when in work)
No family holiday EVER
No family days out EVER
He didn't know anyone in their family or wider social circle who'd ever been to university, much less had a professional job.

So, no I don't think you are or ever were working class.

What a very British question!(and how sad that class/perceived status is considered important)

Somewhere in the middle. If you give a list of hobbies, words you use, places you go on holiday etc someone will be able to come along to tell you whether you’re C1 or C2.

that working class footballers who make it big probably become middle class too.

No. It’s about things like academic achievement to university level, aspirations, being cultured and so on. Money is barely a factor. Having lots of books is!

If you give a list of hobbies, words you use, places you go on holiday etc someone will be able to come along to tell you

Who gets to decide what these are? Because financially (work, home, etc) I'd be regarded as middle class (if I gave a shit) and socially I'd be regarded as working class (given that I use phrases like 'if I gave a shit' ) because I grew up in a working class area with working class parents and friends. You don't need to be uppity to be more financially comfortable than somebody else. And whether you say barth or bath or go hunting on the weekends is irrelevant.

Your voting paper has your class there in black and white. Have a look next time.

How do a teacher and an architect have money problems? Same way anyone else does- cost of living too high, house is a money pit, have too many children for the salary coming in, disabled child, disabled parent, poor at money management, gambling, drinking, drugs, having to support other family members with money issues, etc .

Class doesn't isolate one from difficulties in life!

@MrsDoubtTried your voting paper has your class there in black and white

What on earth does that mean?

How do a teacher and an architect have money problems? Same way anyone else does- cost of living too high,

I'm going to guess the op grew up in the 1980s, in which case two parents working in these jobs shouldn't have been struggling. I was at private school in London in the eighties...it was stuffed full of kids whose parents were in similar type jobs. Lots of my friends had dads in middle management and mums in teaching or even admin. Standards of living were much higher for people generally.

And I was speaking from my personal experience, of growing up in poverty with parents of similar backgrounds (teacher and university professor). Costs of living at end of 70s, start of 80s were v high- inflation was very high, mortgage payments just climbed and climbed.
School fees hadn't yet shot up the way they have now as a proportion of income.