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?

And you are right about the Beckhams and their children having a very different lifestyle (with an enormous amount of cultural capital) from say the Rooney children (although the latter do all go to prep school don't they?), although in terms of 'outcomes' the Beckham boys haven't gone down the academic route either? I know they're still quite young but there's no evidence that any of them intend to go to university?

There's a phrase 'rags to riches in three generations' for a reason.

No they haven’t. One was a ‘photographer’ now a ‘chef’. The other was to be next big thing in tennis and now seems to be a model. The youngest boy I think is embarking on a music career. The daughter, well she’s still at school. This is only possible because of all the connections their mother and father have, the social circle they have. It’s how the eldest boy married the daughter of a billionaire.

The Rooney boys do go to prep school. But so do Kerry Katonas kids.

Agree with this completely... The families on the "up" & rising fast are trades families.. Of the tradesmen we know all but 1 have kids in private schools, have multiple holidays & look to enjoy an enviable lifestyle... They can name their price as they are in such high demand, builders, plumbers, electricians are raking it in & their dc are benefitting

I understand what your saying especially with the trust issues which is understandable... However I think the Rooney kids go to a top private school which has to count for something.. Didn't realise the Gerrard girls were so old

Read an article with Alaia Forte once about parenting & she pushed both daughters very hard academically driving Irene 3 hours round trip to St Mary's Ascot each day instead of board... The other sister sent to St Pauls, very interesting article, manners & acedemics were all she cared about... She made Carole Middleton sound like a kitten!

*Very rarely do you see the kids of footballers excel at school and move on to a professional career. These kids will have had the very best of educations but still end up on love island (Gemma Owen), becoming influencers (one of the Gerrard girls). Does anyone believe the Rooney kids are going to be lawyers, doctors etc? No, probably jobs connected to the footballing world, that they’ve got because of their name.

They have vast wealth with a working class culture. How is that any different to certain lottery winners.*

Hmm bit of a sweeping generalisation I think and yet to be really played out.

And tbh other MC kids 'end up ' on Love Island and become influencers just the same as these ones.

@Pullandpush maybe she wanted her girls to be successful in their own right and have their own careers? If her own father was a neurologist I'm sure she'll have been brought up to real value education and academic achievement. She got married very young so probably missed out on the opportunity to forge her own career and maybe has wanted something different (going back to her roots) for her girls.

really not 'real'

@sunglassesonthetable

Sweeping statement, maybe yes.

Yet to be played out? Not really. There has been big money in football over the last 40 years. Stratospheric in the last 25 years. It’s partly why these kids don’t need an education, they are set for life.

There will be some examples I’m sure of kids that used that expensive private education to their advantage but I can’t think of any big names whose offspring went down the academic route

Mrs Hinch (on Instagram) is a good example. I would say she's WC to MC?

Made in Chelsea kids all made their names from reality TV & social media influencers no different from the footballer kids

I’d say WC. Her decor and obsession with cleaning are not MC traits.

Was an interesting article & both girls have degrees from Oxford so really didn't rely on the family wealth even though both worked for the company for a while I think... Both married very successful men also who aren't in the limelight

WC

Who celebrates and monetises WC ideals, which is to present an extremely clean and tidy home. Doing the cleaning yourself, as it brings a sense of pride.

But she is now millionaire

@Blaggertyjibbet @Dahlly that's true. I suppose she's an example of making loads of money but potentially not moving classes? She does come across as proud working class though - in the way PP have described

But they were already established UMC or even UC. The UC never have a ‘trade’…..which they mean anything you need to be qualified for!
Makes no difference if they appeared on reality tv

The footballers are WC, so the kids aren’t established MC. If the kids havent established connections or acquired an education that would place them in the MC bracket, then they remain WC but with money.

I see other examples of WC pride with Christine McGuinness and Coleen Rooney. Who shun childcare and do it all themselves. Even though they could easily afford help with the kids, their WC parenting ideals prevent them.

Private/independent schools are not all the same. Some will take just about anyone whose parents can afford the fees - which rules out many of the children of parents who were themselves privately educated, since fees are now relatively so much more expensive.

Others select pupils by exam/interview, maybe both, and competition for places at the more academic schools is fierce. Money alone will not get your child a place.

Might add that an independent school attended by a niece and nephew, which used to come fairly high in the academic league tables 30/40 years old ago, has now dropped significantly. According to my relative, that’s because far fewer of the sort of people who used to send their children there can now afford to do so. A lot of highly paid footballers apparently live in the area, and their children form a good part of the intake.

That whole thing about family / school chums opening doors is so true. My daughter’s boyfriend is from a very wealthy family ( part of a social set in a certain area, but not inherited money) and he has chosen to make his own way. He’s working independently and doing well - but one day if he goes into business on his own he will know many likely investors and have those connections for life. Good on him for making a stand though - I have a lot of respect for him not taking the easy way out. But not sure that’s MC as it seems to be more privately educated people and that’s after all, what - only ten percent of the general population or something?

When I was a kid being middle class meant drinking wine and having a ‘proper’ bookcase not full of Readers Digest. Holidaying in France. Simple!

It’s so different now.

I would say Doggy daycare ( pre Pandemic)
Wine deliveries.

It reminds me of a friend from uni days who when I asked what the number of her new house was said ‘ The houses don’t have numbers round here’ and told me she was having a break from working part time in admin ( university educated - husband a high flying Tax Consultant type) to ‘supervise the new extension to the house.’
I just remembered her chain smoking B&H and getting drunk dancing to Erasure 😆

Agree with this completely... The families on the "up" & rising fast are trades families.. Of the tradesmen we know all but 1 have kids in private schools, have multiple holidays & look to enjoy an enviable lifestyle... They can name their price as they are in such high demand, builders, plumbers, electricians are raking it in & their dc are benefitting

Sorry, but I strongly don't believe your standard plumber can afford private school. Plumbing business employing others, perhaps. I've met one of those at my DC school in the past.

We know of, and use, a couple of sole trader type plumbers, both claim in work benefits. There isn't enough work, and there are times they are idle (I don't mean that in a negative way that they're at fault) and need to take sub contract type work and travel the country for work. They're badly off.

I’d say WC. Her decor and obsession with cleaning are not MC traits.

Definitely! The lack of concern for environmental impact, too.

But they were already established UMC or even UC. The UC never have a ‘trade’…..which they mean anything you need to be qualified for!
Makes no difference if they appeared on reality tv

No I think the point is that all classes can end up on reality tv. Not that it changes your class.

Gabby Logan is good example of a footballers daughter moving into MC.

The beckham kids all attended top private schools including the ones with tough entrance requirements

I think we hear about what the 'out there' footballers kids do but not the ones that just do ordinary MC stuff ( even if it's not 'academic' )

Look at the kids of the famous bands - got sent to private schools ( not all ) and would all be now MC.

The Rolling Stones, Beatles, Oasis, U2 etc