To ask , did you grow up rich or poor?

[SteveAs]

I would for me , in between , we weren't over the top wealthy but I still lived quite a good childhood , there was never any problems financially

Extremely poor. Cardboard in our shoes if they got holes in. We didn’t have a new item of clothing until we were in our teens we wore hsnd me downs from neighbours. Lived on broth and offal. Parcels from lovely family friends with goodies when things were particularly bad. And another family friend saved their lose change in a big whiskey bottle which they emptied for us on Christmas Eve every year. No heating , No tv, phone or shower until our teens. Only had central heating in my first married house! No holidays but local church would take us for a day out at seaside once a year. Sit at kitchen table counting out weekly bill payments every Sunday evening and deciding who to miss paying that week.
Passed the 11+ Then saw how others lived!
I felt embarrassed and ashamed but I realise now that there was so much love in my home that I had a very happy childhood 😊 despite being destitute and having nothing.

Complete poverty.
I have discussed this with a friend who grew up poor who when I recounted my upbringing she felt mine was definitely poverty stricken

8 adults and 2 children in a 2 bed 1 box room council house, outside toilet no heating apart from the fire in the living room. Butler sink balanced on bricks and a cold tap. Tin bath, no plaster on the walls
I remember cardboard in my shoes and ice on the inside of the window. My bed was the sofa so I couldn't go to bed till all the adults did.
Getting jeered because we were so poor we had to go on the coach to see the circus that a charity had organised.
In and out of care because dm couldn't cope and no one wanted to look after me when dm was sectioned.
All the adults hated each other so constant arguments.

Constant drama and hiding from the Tally man

Really bizarre childhood, lived in a beautiful huge house in the best road In the town I grew up in. Mother and stepfather had very well paid professional jobs. He was a complete alcoholic and she was sort of as well. It meant they neglected us horribly. So we had nothing spent on us and not always properly fed. As an adult I realise all that suffering was unnecessary and have massive issues with my Mother, stepfather drank himself to death at 49. No heating and they were out drinking, left alone all hours.

I got a job at 13 so I could buy myself clothes and food.

It was all very much hidden behind the walls of that beautiful house.

Quite well off. My parents were/are wonderful and I had a lovely childhood. I was/am very very lucky.

My dad made a six figure salary and my mum worked part time. We didn’t do many holidays but we had a pool (not from the uk) and horses at home so home was pretty much a holiday all on its own.

I think so much was relative and the way I saw things as a young child wasn’t very clear or accurate. I found it hard because all my friends had nicer ponies and equipment than me so I always felt poor. I realize now how privledged I really was. Now I’m glad my parents made me get a job as soon as I could, and that I had to pay for part of everything I wanted because it taught me the value of money but at 12 that felt pretty unfair and like I was being punished.

Poor, but didn't realise it at the time. Only recently have I realised the extent of it to be honest! From the outside we looked middle class as we spoke nicely and went to an all girls grammar school, but we were terribly poor. I didn't invite friends round as I thought we wouldn't have enough to feed them.

Boiler broke and we were without heating and hot water for years. Mum ate very little to give us more i suspect. Leaking roof in front porch which my dad tried to fix with wood and nails himself. Phone line cut off frequently as bill wasn't paid.

Have a very clear memory of getting in from school every day and pulling the plug out the phone so the companies calling about unpaid bills and debts couldn't get through.

Truly didn't realise all of this wasn't usual at the time and left to go to university with the help of huge loans and grants. Met my much better off (now) husband there - he went to boarding school and his dad was on six figures. He has no idea of the state of my childhood and I'm embarrassed to tell him.

Quite comfortably off compared to almost all other people on our area.

Reasonably well off. My father earned a six figure salary and my mother worked part time too.
I lived in a nice area, my parents owned three houses, always went abroad in the summer, but I never really felt ‘rich’. I didn’t go to private school, wasn’t pushed academically, never taken to theatres

My father was from a very poor working class background. My grandparents were immigrants who didn’t speak English and still can’t. My cousins still lived in a rough area, and they all left school early with poor qualifications. One cousin got in and out of trouble with the police, and was an addict. Because of this I was embarrassed about my ‘rough’ family in comparison to the middle class peers from school. I remember thinking how lucky my peers were to have guidance from family, i.e. cousins/siblings who went to top universities and had professional jobs, parents pushing them academically, extra curricular activities, etc. Even though my parents were wealthy, I don’t think I had much ‘cultural capital’

In hindsight, I was very lucky to have had no financial issues

Rich - nice house ,

Middle class suburb of London/Surrey so rich relatively speaking but not Uber wealthy.

Dad worked for a bank, mum stayed home. They both immigrated to uk from South Africa and India respectively. We grew up in 5 bed Home, took yearly holidays and never wanted for anything but parents never allowed us to be spoilt. We had to work for things or we didn't get them.

I live offshore and both DH and I earn 6 figures but we're still trying to install same upbringing with our kids. They don't get shit handed to them. They do chores, they will have part time jobs when older and we don't take exotic vacations!

Dirt poor, but went to a private school with rich kids courtesy of my Great-parents.

Relatively rich, I suppose. Parents both had careers, and worked abroad for just about all of their working lives. They also made shitloads as their properties increased in value.