British class system

[fandigo]

I've watched enough British telly to get the difference between working, middle and upper class but then i read on here about 'upper middle class'.. what's that? And is there a lower middle class and a medium middle class? Does this then apply to the other classes. So for example an "upper working class" or a "lower upper class"

I know it's a contentious topic on here because the Brits get accused of being obsessed with class (i disagree with that) but it would be interesting to hear what attributes people need to fit into the class within the class.

I could probably Wikipedia this 🤔

I'm working class from Yorkshire 🏆
thread winner

This book, although from decades ago, is a book all about your questions, and is very funny with it! Somewhat dated now! Hope the link works:

www.amazon.co.uk/Class-Jilly-Cooper-OBE/dp/0552146625/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=class+jilly+cooper&sprefix=class+jil&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1609064091&sr=8-1

That's gone over my head. Is that unusual?

So many of these all of sudden - is a journo working on a Sunday insert?

There’s a million threads on this... do an advanced search. You’ll be reading for days about it.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE

Explains class system comprehensively.

And it's not like every country in the world doesn't have its own version ... but some do like to pretend it's just a silly old colonial Brit thing!

So very tiresome!

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ppv97S3ih14

Correct link this time.

@TheQueef, eerr..., no it doesn't. It's a good example of Mumsnet's staple answer to anyone who has a problem, as in, they should feel lucky as others have it far worst.
Doesn't explain the class system, though.
'Watching the English' by Kate Fox does it brilliantly.

Aha, this one does

I was more expecting people to say "upper middle class people don't eat beans on toast whereas lower middle class do". I can't be arsed watching ancient YouTube clips or buying a book from Amazon.

And surely every single question anyone ever has could be found in an advanced search (don't know how to do that) but wouldn't that render Mumsnet obsolete?

@praepondero

Aha, this one does

Absolutely. I got my competitive martyring muddled with my entitledness. Apologies

In that case OP and I say this with a very stiff upper lip
I can't be arsed with your thread.

@TheQueef off you pop so

I was more expecting people to say "upper middle class people don't eat beans on toast whereas lower middle class do". I can't be arsed watching ancient YouTube clips or buying a book from Amazon

Well, you won’t find that, I don’t think. For every one person that says, ‘upper middle class people do this’ you’ll find anther that says they don’t.

It’s a very long and complicated issue that people disagree about all over the shop-you won’t find a simple tick box of who does what-even roughly.

Ah! You also need to start a thread on how the British sense of humour often isn't funny...

As others have said, it is a very complicated issue, that very few people would agree with. When I think of the upper middle classes, I perhaps think of people who have been solidly middle class for several generations, which occupations such as Doctor, lawyer etc. But others may disagree with me.

Even within the same extended family, class can vary. My DH's grandparents came from a rural working class background and worked as farm labourers. One of their children was discovered to have a particular talent in the arts, made a career from it, and they are now living in a £million+ house in London. I'd say that makes them middle class. Whereas the other offspring worked in more "normal" jobs, including plumbing, which would put them as upper working class perhaps.

A lot of the time it isn't even conscious when British people "decide" what class someone fits into.

It isn't a system.

@fandigo take a look at this BBC article which is about a big class survey which took place in 2013.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22007058

@SkepticalCat interesting article, thanks for that. I know it keeps anthropologists and researchers busy but you'd wonder what use the information is or why you'd need to know someone's class in day to day life.

Your plumber example is interesting because where i live (dublin), a self employed plumber can warn about €400 a day. So what might seem like a working class trade actually affords a very middle class lifestyle.

Are you British op?

No, I'm irish.

@fandigo

I was more expecting people to say "upper middle class people don't eat beans on toast whereas lower middle class do". I can't be arsed watching ancient YouTube clips or buying a book from Amazon.

And surely every single question anyone ever has could be found in an advanced search (don't know how to do that) but wouldn't that render Mumsnet obsolete?

sighs

Upper class people drink earl grey, working class people drink PG Tips.

The underclass eat Tesco value baked beans, the working class supermarket own, the upper middle class have Branston beans and the middle class have nothing but Heinz.

The upper class have labradors and the working class have pigeons and ferrets.

The middle class obsess about house prices and school catchment and the working class send their kids to the local comp.

The upper classes eat Fig Rolls, the middle class eat Jammy Dodgers and the working class eat jaffa cakes.

Here's some crude stereotypes to be getting along with.

Mumsnet is far more obsessed with ideas of class than people in real life.

The stupid, irrelevant British class system has bugger all to do with the money that the present generation have.

It has its roots in a sort of caste system I think, used for making sure marriages were "suitable". Then the uppers found themselves on their uppers and had to let in the middles to inject some cash into the crumbling estates.

Meanwhile the lower classes continued with the business of making money for everyone else.

These days you can easily be upper class by an accident of birth and surviving on baked beans, or a working class millionaire.