What social class am i

[Sabrinasummersamples]

Inspired by another chat in AIBU I wondered what clas you'd put me as? I always thought I was middle but maybe I'm WC?
Dad was a delivery driver, mum was a barmaid. Went to a private primary, paid for by grandparents (which is why I thought middle?) then a grammar secondary. Left with GCSE's only. Worked in banking for a while, fairly well paid at the time. Left when I had kids and now work for a charity, earn less than 30k. Live in a mortgaged 3 bed semi, but BC it's in London it's worth about £600k. So what am I?

To me you sound like from a mixed background as it sounds like your grandparents had money but everything else is working class so more working class than middle class, lower middle class at the most. Not that it has any baring on your value as a person.

The numbers in that calculator are 12 years old so the property prices are a long way off.

It's still puts us as technical middle class, which is pretty accurate, though.

I'd not heard the descriptor 'technical middle class' before but that's us exactly.

That's interesting. Was it your maternal or paternal grandpatents who paid for your education? And what did they do to have access to that money? Were either of your parents privately educated?

It tells me I'm young and from a working class background. Errr, no.

Did the calculator as if I was my dad - apparently he’s the elite.
he’s one of 14 kids, grew up in a 3bed council flat on the roughest London estate (in the 1960s)
left school at 14 because his dad was in & out of prison and his mum couldn’t afford a school blazer.
Got a job as a wall washer & then moved in to painting & decorating.
When his parents died the only thing he inherited was the bill for the funeral.
He’s worth a lot of money now due to years of hard work & that must be what the test bases it’s outcome on because he’s definitely WC

That test is pretty useless because it heavily weights financial capital and doesn’t factor in age.

Dad was a delivery driver, mum was a barmaid.

Working class. Even those who have 'made good' or now have money will be asked about their background. Your accent will be assessed first.

Not saying I agree, but that's what often happens (used to discuss this sort of thing on the class threads). GP acquaintance describes herself frequently as middle class (some people do this!) but has been put out by others describing her as working class because of working class/council house background.

Has someone dredged up that quiz again? Every time!

Money isn't an indicator of actual class. That test is rubbish.

Agree

Apparently I’m elite - presumably because I own a house in London, like visiting museums and stately homes with my kids, like the theatre and go to the gym

totally silly!

I'd say WC unless your partners income pulls you up significantly

I would have assumed upper working class.

That quiz is useless. It said I’m elite. I come from a very high income household (> £500,000) and relatively high net asset. It automatically puts you in elite. My parents were working class (low-middle). My husband came from sub low working class (solo mum with not much education and on benefits ). Husband and I were not educated privately but went to uni. Husband at post graduate level, myself at graduate. He is in executive managenent , I had a profession in allied health (requires degree and accreditation) but now I am a housewife. We are not outwardly flashy with money but have extensive portfolio of investments. Any purchases now, big or small are with cash. Purchase brand new cars infrequently but they are not luxury cars. Husband is finally considering turning in his 13yo Mitsubishi for a BMW or Mercedes.

I consider our household middle class now (we are late 40’s) . We socialise with people deemed working or middle class.

Isn’t the class system more about your background / upbringing (not just education ) and less about income ? I feel working class 😊

The middle care about class more than most.

The WC and UC do what they like with the money that they have.

You can be MC and win the lottery and still be MC. You can move your grandchildren up a class by privately educating your dc and then dgc. Your dc won't be the next class as you won't know their parents.

Visiting stately homes is most definitely MC (and I have my NT pass 😂) and the confidence is fake. It's a bid to be the next class up, to fit in that shows the lack of confidence.

The middle care so much more than the working class what other people think about them. The UC look down at the middle more than the WC.

*friends parents

Why do you care? It's all a load of rubbish.

I'm another one that the BBC test puts as elite, probably because of factors like socialising with a wide range of people because of the sports clubs I'm part of and also due to my significant assets by way of a modest mortgage free house and a public sector pension.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I think for a lot of people, you can't objectively say because a lot of the criteria are so subjective, and are often based on the incorrect stereotype that the WC aren't interested in their DCs education or 'worthy' leisure activities like visiting country parks and NT sites. How many times do people say that 'these places are full of the middle classes' when in reality, they've made this assessment based on nothing more than the fact that the other families didn't get out of a white Range Rover, wearing track suits and yelling at their DC, as they know nothing at all about them.

None of the MNs who say they're middle class would meet me and decide I'm 'one of them', but I have multiple professional qualifications, a first in a STEM subject, for hobbies I read, go hiking, visit NT sites etc, but none of that changes the fact that all my older male relatives were miners, the women were SAHMs, cleaners, barmaids etc, I have a regional accent, but we went to the library, country parks etc as children, mostly because that sort of thing was free or very cheap.

Visiting stately homes is most definitely MC (and I have my NT pass 😂) and the confidence is fake. It's a bid to be the next class up, to fit in that shows the lack of confidence

See, this is where I disagree, as per my previous post. Families generally 'visit stately homes' yet often don't go in 'the house' but go mainly because (with a pass or because some places are free) it's a cheap day out where DC can run around, have a picnic, climb on the ruins, play on the swings etc, see the nice gardens, views, possibly learn about history (round here a lot of the 'big houses' were owned by prominent industrialists, scientists, engineers, mill owners etc so are interesting if you're in the industry that they spawned, also because you can show them things like 'if you were 8 YO in 1880 then you'd be working in the mill for tuppence a week so remember that next time you're moaning that it's sooooo unfair because you can't have X'.

Established middle except I'm not. I'm working class. I'll be working class until I'm in my box regardless of how much I earn, how much my house is worth, who my friends are and how I like to spend my time. It's all bollocks!

Yeah this is silly – don’t people go just because they are interested in history and heritage and are looking for a day out?! (I agree with you BoS!)

I suppose some of the people that test is classifying as 'elite' would be what was once condescendingly called 'nouveau riche'.

The test put me as below middle class. Meh, probably agree. Don't come from money and don't have money now 😁

Me too so I think it’s quite broad..

I suppose LMC OP

Nah, I think it’s just screamingly broad - I am coming out as elite, but I am boring typical middle middle class by any sane definition.