Middle class identifiers 2022

[Pullandpush]

I read a similar thread a few years ago & the main middle class markers were hummus, organic food, private education, boden, ski trips etc, farrow & ball..
Are these unchanged for 2022 or have the identifiers shifted?
Since the pandemic I've seen a rise in the "hipster" style MC especially the men, maybe the working from home has allowed them to relax into the unshaven, casual look which wasn't there a few years ago...
Private education seems to be on the wane but that may be due to the cost of living..
Any other main MC identifiers I missed?

Ocado were heroes during covid! I'm loyal to them BECAUSE they were so amazing to their customers during lockdown. Their tech and systems were under such pressure with unprecedented demand, and yet they really rose to it built new stuff so quickly (they had to build a queuing system virtually overnight), recruited so many new staff etc etc. Must have been so difficult to run their business during that time and I am so grateful they prioritised existing customers like us I felt a bit bad about it at the time tbh, we weren't the most needy

Not sure why the formatting crossed out half my above post...

and in case you wonder why I am randomly talking about Ocado, it's in answer to @CompoundV a couple of posts up

Volvos

Nothing too flash. Merc, BMW and Audi out

Or Teslas as many other posters have said

@getupstandupsitdown

Agree. Audi drivers are the new BMW drivers

So confusing.
One thing that baffles me, these stereotyps tend to rely on stuff, things, material goods. What are you if you just don't care much about staff, things, material goods, status, prestige, what the neighbours think?

i was thinking I might be technical middle class, except I googled cultural capital and we don't seem at all low on that.

Confusing.

The vehicle you need is undoubtedly a VW Transporter. Can’t move for them round here.

Glad you got good service - I got a phone call recently offering me all sorts to start spending again. Not. Ever. They pissed off so many people I know - they went from hero to zero. They made lots of money - I wouldn’t get too emotional about it!

I had an email this week offering 30% off Ocado. I deleted the app and will never go back. I was a smart pass holder for 7 years and got zero service during covid as they were so keen to capitalise by taking on new customers.

For me, many people have aspects of one class or another in different parts of their lives but competition separates those who are firmly of a particular class.
Working class and upper class folk love competition, whereas the long-term middle-class loathe it and will often go to great lengths to seek or retain an historic advantage.
For those suggesting that nepotism and patronage are now dead, I would ask if jargon, acronyms and other industry shorthand is common. These are things picked up at the supper table and which separate the insiders from the hoi polloi.

Oh @Refrosty, surely you see claiming to be salt of the earth but high earning working class is precisely the sort of humble brag UMCs would engage in?😂

Seriously though I think lots of cultures around the world have their list of things that are tasteful, hipster-ish and count as mainstream higher morality (caring about the planet, being woke etc). It does tend to feel like a way more powerful force in the UK for some reason, more of an immutable characteristic that still defines who gets to be in charge or who gets to be important. Maybe it’s that hereditary titles are still a thing? who knows

@lljkk - classless? Occupationally middle class? Academically middle class? Culturally middle class? Or economically middle class? Depends where your interests lie, how you judge others, and how (if at all) you want to categorise yourself and be perceived, but in most people’s heads, class seems to be a combination of occupation, wealth, cultural interests, academic qualifications and interests, socially advantageous or disadvantageous connections, and upbringing (then lazily stereotyped to the point of being rendered meaningless by making snap judgements about people based on where they shop, what car they drive, etc).

I found it quite an entertaining coincidence that the Radio Four (by reputation, a bastion of the middle classes…) 6.30 comedy slot this evening was - “Jeff Norcott: Well Classy.” Maybe listening to that that will help you decide where you fit, classwise, and whether you even care!

@goodcall101 Who is claiming to be salt of the earth? I'm stating that I'm WC and we're high earners on a thread that states, multiple times, that money cannot buy your way into a 'higher' social class. A thread where WC people read the Sun not Guardian, don't prioritise education, don't do arts and culture much, use eco deodorant etc. So even if I was aspirational, I have a lane to stay in according to many.

... And I'm really not taking this thread too seriously so shameless bragging? I'm not ashamed at all.

It was meant to be a small joke, not at your expense, i’m sorry it didn’t come across that way

Ah my bad, sorry! (I am ashamed this time 🤣)

So many confused people on this thread conflating social class with a sort of moral hierarchy. Relax! So what, you're working class. It doesn't make you a less decent/intelligent/hard working person versus someone who is middle class. I'm in the "elite" class according to that big 2013 survey and, while it does mean I'm more privileged, it doesn't make me a better person than my cleaner, who is a thoroughly decent, kind and hard working human being. Similarly, no one is pigeon holing anyone. Class labels are just broad brushstroke terms that can be helpful when performing social analysis. Of course there will be people who don't "fit" in that model and that's ok. Can't we all just have a bit of fun trying to characterize the 2022 trends/preferences of the middle classes? Cortado, anyone?

I'm fascinated by class so I have no problem with threads like this.

My parents were born into working class families. Both of my grandfathers were in trades. One set of grandparents lived in a council house for decades until they managed to buy a house. Then my Dad got a professional job, sent me to private school and I was the first in the family to go to university.

As a result I have a confused sense of identity as whichever group of people I was in growing up, either extended family or classmates, I never felt like I fitted. I was sneered at both for being too posh and too poor!

I instinctively recoil from being perceived as middle class so it's useful to know what I need to avoid in 2022

The one thing I hate about the UK is the obsession with the class system such an outdated concept in 2022.

Well, if you are in the elite, then of course you are too out of touch with reality to see the harm in what you are doing.

Orthorexia.
Children eat expensive (or home grown) berries all day.
Parents scared rigid of DCs having too much screen time.

In our area it's having a house and being able to spend money on it. So extensions, garden designer, important plants.

🤣🤣🤣 is that what you call work?

I feel like because lots of working class people actually earn quite a lot it's now stuff that requires effort rather than money.

Sea swimming, couch25k, parkrun, junior parkrun, scouting/guiding, baking bread, growing veg/herbs, reading widely and going to the library and a book club.... looking down on designer labels, luxury badge cars and expensive beauty treatments as vulgar and tacky!

Interesting, tradesmen around here are minted! Can't get one, electricians, plumbers, carpenters are in huge supply... The ones I know are wealthier than the traditional mc I know & the kids of the tradesmen DH knows are in most of the activities locally & private education

Posting on MN class threads
Tesla's
Vegbox
Music lessons assumed
Can ski/ ride/golf/ belong to clubs etc
DC's apply to Oxbridge
Live in pre ww2 house
Multiple full bookcases
Cross breed dog
Pilates
Eco cleaning products used by the cleaner
Kayaking
Hunter wellies in the boot room
Cornwall/ camping
Olives
Wild swimming
Refill shop
Vegan
Dark chocolate
No tan/burn lines or fake tan/beds
3 DC's
Eggs from the farm
Always vote
Having a lawyer, accountant and IFA
Own shares
Reading the booker/ women's prize lists
Radio 3/4
Cricket not football
Opera/ballet
Shakespeare at the theatre not just because the DC's are doing it at school
Reading poetry
Reading niche/ political magazines
Some community involvement/ campaigning
Side business for the SAHM
Hillwalking
Under size 16
Choose school whether private or good state
Full set of own teeth in good condition
Fitbit
Airpods
More than one degree
Grow own veg/herbs
Make own ice cream/ice lollies
Eat 5 a day min