Page 26 | Middle class identifiers 2022

Pullandpush · 2022-06-14T07:06:20+00:00

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?

WitchWithoutChips · 15/06/2022 21:44

CompoundV · 15/06/2022 21:37

It's not just obsessed with education, it's education to ensure a good middle class jobs because that is the end goal. If your kids drop out of uni - that's the death nail, it all goes quiet after that!

Show quote history

Death knell.

Cherryblossoms85 · 15/06/2022 21:46

@Tompariswasmyfavorite oh dear, woopsie!

sunglassesonthetable · 15/06/2022 21:47

I've often seen class defined by your father's occupation at the age of 12, which is sexist but certainly works in my case. Certainly more reliable than a recent predilection for avocados or whatever, I suspect?

Only if you see it as a fixed and static thing.

ThanksItHasPockets · 15/06/2022 21:49

AmongstTheCosmos · 15/06/2022 21:23

I'm middle class. As someone said upthread, I don't buy the stereotypical mc things in order to try to be mc, I buy them thinking that I want them for my own individual reasons. But then you realise that you're part of a tribe and many of your friends and colleagues have very similar things in their homes too.

Fundamentally I think class comes down to how you view education. I think the middle classes are absolutely obsessed with it (and I include myself in that statement!) and go to great lengths to ensure that their children get the best and broadest education available to them. So this looks like moving to catchment areas for the excellent schools, doing lots of extra curricular clubs, music lessons, educational holidays and days out, paying for private education or tutoring if you can afford it, etc etc etc. I'm not saying that other classes don't care about their children's education, but I don't think it is as neurotically focussed on if you expect to enter a trade or if you have substantial family wealth behind you.

You could say exactly the same, word-for-word, about many first and second generation immigrant groups, most of whom would not meet the ‘mc’ criteria described on this thread.

Quackpot · 15/06/2022 21:50

Furia · 14/06/2022 11:17

Haha.
I'm definitely working class, or even lower class. I am disabled on benefits which have been cut and frozen by the current govt for years and live on a council estate, don't even have floors in one of my rooms. Live on less than 10k a year including housing!!

I think middle class isn't necessarily made up of what people consume, it's in some people's attitude towards others - "give / donate charity" rather than preserving autonomy, and the undeserving vs deserving poor, and 'we worked ourselves out of poverty why can't everyone' mentality. You can't see you are being played.

I eat lots of hummus, but only because its often reduced yellow sticker for 25p at my local supermarket. Its preferable to me to be able to choose from heavily reduced items than be at the mercy of food bank. Bodies need fresh veg.

I do grow some food as a hobby, but can't afford for it to be really successful.

I have been known to try buy Boden second hand when I can, simply because the cut hides my mummy tummy and it lasts longer.

The saddest thing is how people usually stick to their own 'class' for friendships, I feel left out of a lot of things because there's no way I could even afford a coffee at a coffee shop most months, without missing a bill or not eating for days.

Are you sure you are getting everything you are entitled to? That seems awfully low. I would advise you to do a benefit calculator, you might be surprised. Obviously it depends on your needs, but quite often people miss out on claiming all of what they are entitled to.
At the least your disability benefit should trigger an uplift in universal credit.

Xenia · 15/06/2022 21:50

My parents always had lurkpak non spreadable at home, kept out so it was soft (we were and are middle class).

People just relax and enjoy how they are or what they want to be and just do it. This is all a bit of fun. It doesn't matter what class you are or think you are. However I can see back to the 1890s when my grandfather's brother got his LLB that professions were a thing, an admirable thing, at least in part of this family, When his mother died in about 1906 the newspaper funeral notice lists what most of the children did and proudly proclaimed that the son attended and was a solicitor.

I don't think I haev ever consciously done anything to prove I am in a particular class or otherwise. I couldn't care less what people think. If they turn up here and think I am the gardener as some probably do as I do all the garden, that's fine by me.

faffadoodledo · 15/06/2022 21:53

@WeHadItTough your dad sounds great. The narrative these days is that it's harder than ever to make it as an actor with working class roots.
But you sound incredibly proud of your parents. Have a lovely outing on Father's Day x

fetchacloth · 15/06/2022 21:54

qpmz · 14/06/2022 09:12

The need to be differentiated from other groups in society.

Clinging on to class stereotypes that were invented many decades ago and aren't relevant now.

Probably still partial to a MacDonalds

I think this just about sums it up 😁
Upper classes just wouldn't care what other people thought of them and that is basically the difference between MC and UC.

Mummadeze · 15/06/2022 21:55

There are other middle class people like me who like a bargain and shop accordingly. Who also have individual taste and style and don’t want to look like people typical of their class. I really don’t want to buy anything over priced apart from maybe Crosstown donuts, which are extortionate but delicious. To be honest I am cringing a bit even calling myself middle class in this post but I am contributing to point out that some of us want to rebel against the stereotypes as much as possible!

CompoundV · 15/06/2022 21:55

WitchWithoutChips · 15/06/2022 21:44

Death knell.

Show quote history

Thanks xx

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 15/06/2022 21:56

Lois345 · 15/06/2022 19:39

That is not correct. Terms working class, middle class and upper class are dependant on income

That is completely inaccurate and it's why class is so complex in the UK. If you met a chartered accountant living in a house in London called Murray Beauclerk you would think reasonably well off probably MC maybe with a name like that UMC. However, he is the 14th Duke of St Albans and so is very firmly UC despite having no estate and working in a profession.

Wayne Rooney is almost certainly richer than him. Wayne Rooney will never be UC or UMC.

felicmargo · 15/06/2022 21:59

Having a Ukranian family in situ, doing voluntary work for the local community even though you can't afford to, having a rewilded garden, expressing concern that covid etc has meant your French holiday home has been empty for two years, Land Rover defenders, wooden toys only for babies/toddlers, kids who love sushi, deliberately mismatched crockery, shopping at lidl/aldi because the quality is good, they do European stuff and we're all feeling the pinch, food waste and recycling groups, gardening especially for produce/allotments, absolutely no pink or glitter anywhere unless you have a particularly girly child under 7 and then only sparingly, pizza ovens, especially ones you have built yourself, a workspace/room/outbuilding in the garden but absolutely not one which has been turned into a pub. Being able to work from home still. Longer hair for boys. Not cleaning for pleasure à la Mrs Hinch. Buying school shoes at the start rite remainder factory. No crop tops for young girls. Someone in the family Is An Artist.

Hutchy16 · 15/06/2022 21:59

Mushroo · 14/06/2022 08:30

Oh yes, pizza ovens are a massive thing.
also pedigree cats

Pedigree cats are cheaper than mutts though…couple of thousand for a random dog from a puppy mill, but less than 1000 for each of my pedigree Maine Coons from registered breeders

sunglassesonthetable · 15/06/2022 21:59

You could say exactly the same, word-for-word, about many first and second generation immigrant groups, most of whom would not meet the ‘mc’ criteria described on this thread

They are NOT criteria , they are observations of different MC 'types' that exist. No one has to do that stuff.

And for sure those first and second generation immigrant groups will have their own class markers even if they're not on these lists. Though In my experience they're often broadly similar.

CompoundV · 15/06/2022 22:06

Xenia · 15/06/2022 21:50

My parents always had lurkpak non spreadable at home, kept out so it was soft (we were and are middle class).

People just relax and enjoy how they are or what they want to be and just do it. This is all a bit of fun. It doesn't matter what class you are or think you are. However I can see back to the 1890s when my grandfather's brother got his LLB that professions were a thing, an admirable thing, at least in part of this family, When his mother died in about 1906 the newspaper funeral notice lists what most of the children did and proudly proclaimed that the son attended and was a solicitor.

I don't think I haev ever consciously done anything to prove I am in a particular class or otherwise. I couldn't care less what people think. If they turn up here and think I am the gardener as some probably do as I do all the garden, that's fine by me.

I love how you think you have gently moved things on. Arrives at house and assumes you are a gardener - that is the oddest, funniest, not really self put down ever! I'm sure I shouldn't have to explain but most people would assume it's your house...unless you are living in an exceptionally large stately home and then you are truly shameless and utterly lacking in self-awareness.

RenegadeMatron · 15/06/2022 22:14

Well, given how much we all know about Xenia and her ‘exceptionally large’ salary - she probably does live in an ‘exceptionally large’ stately home.

This line is amusing:

I don't think I haev ever consciously done anything to prove I am in a particular class or otherwise.

I think most of us know more about you, your lifestyle and income than pretty much any other MNer!

anya172 · 15/06/2022 22:17

National trust family membership is one, and organic food

sunja · 15/06/2022 22:21

@Xenia from what I understand, you sound more UC? Or UMC at the very least

sunglassesonthetable · 15/06/2022 22:25

I don't think I haev ever consciously done anything to prove I am in a particular class or otherwise. I couldn't care less what people think. If they turn up here and think I am the gardener as some probably do as I do all the garden, that's fine by me.

Where do we start.

VioletLemon · 15/06/2022 22:30

Haha! This is it...

ThanksItHasPockets · 15/06/2022 22:32

sunglassesonthetable · 15/06/2022 21:59

You could say exactly the same, word-for-word, about many first and second generation immigrant groups, most of whom would not meet the ‘mc’ criteria described on this thread

They are NOT criteria , they are observations of different MC 'types' that exist. No one has to do that stuff.

And for sure those first and second generation immigrant groups will have their own class markers even if they're not on these lists. Though In my experience they're often broadly similar.

A criterion is a principle against which something is judged, assessed, or identified. Criteria can be descriptive as well as prescriptive. This thread is full of criteria - OP asked for 'identifiers'.

I'm just pointing out that this thread is very WBRI-centric. The politics of class in some British immigrant communities make MNers and their quaint lists seem like total amateurs!

WhackusBonkus · 15/06/2022 22:33

Historically, MN taught me that to have a university degree would instantly propel one from WC to MC. I haven’t stop smiling at that since altho I don’t know if it is still a commonly held MN belief

WitchWithoutChips · 15/06/2022 22:33

Xenia · 15/06/2022 21:50

My parents always had lurkpak non spreadable at home, kept out so it was soft (we were and are middle class).

People just relax and enjoy how they are or what they want to be and just do it. This is all a bit of fun. It doesn't matter what class you are or think you are. However I can see back to the 1890s when my grandfather's brother got his LLB that professions were a thing, an admirable thing, at least in part of this family, When his mother died in about 1906 the newspaper funeral notice lists what most of the children did and proudly proclaimed that the son attended and was a solicitor.

I don't think I haev ever consciously done anything to prove I am in a particular class or otherwise. I couldn't care less what people think. If they turn up here and think I am the gardener as some probably do as I do all the garden, that's fine by me.

Never change, Xenia.

User2145738790 · 15/06/2022 22:37

sunja · 15/06/2022 22:21

@Xenia from what I understand, you sound more UC? Or UMC at the very least

I'll never forget the time Xenia had a name change fail. She was pretending to be poor.
I can't be the only one who remembers that thread..

Jzp · 15/06/2022 22:39

Agree with all of this. Can I add….
veganism (actually I’m a vegan but it is becoming very MC to have any dietary requirements)
dressing your toddlers in whatever they want from the dressing up box before taking them out anywhere.
Home deliveries from Ocado and Waitrose
owning a Labrador/Golden Retriever…actually any gun dog