To be irritated when people confuse 'middle class' with 'super rich'

[Echobelly]

Obviously, this is not an issue that will cause anyone to man the barricades, but I do get annoyed when people talk about 'middle class Arabellas riding their ponies' (that's not middle class, that's posh! though I know in rural areas having a pony might be more ordinary) or the Mail yesterday had a piece claiming that having a second home in the UK and a third abroad was 'the ultimate middle class hat-trick'. Uhm, middle class people are often struggling to afford one house, let alone 3. You're thinking of people of 6-figure City salaries who get million quid bonuses!

I suppose there is a slightly more serious side to this in that posh politicians like the Osborns and Camerons of this world always liked to claim they are 'middle class' - presumably in their terms this means 'not everyone in our family has a title'. And if they think middle class = multiple homes and kids in private schools, they won't understand actual issues for large swathes of the population. They won't understand that middle class people can't just sell one of their homes if they're in a spot of bother, or don't have a trust fund and might be finding it hard to save for good pensions or savings in general on top of living and childcare costs.

But I don't get the point of this media misrepresentation - just to sow more envy amongst people by making them thinking everyone else must be doing better than them, and that sells papers?

[Stillwishihadabs]

I don't think you can move class in one generation, so Wayne Rooney will always be working class, but his privately educated children will be middle class. Similarly The duchess of Cambridge is still a middle class girl, but George, Charlotte and Louis are aristocracy.

[Stillwishihadabs]

Other way round my FIL was brought up very upper middle/ upper (vaguely titled, nannies, public school) married MIL (who is pure middle class) and had Dh (who is/was very MC) . They then divorced he lost the house lived alone for many years and then remarried new bride is UWC they have no money (or property) and their child is undoubtedly WC

[FASH84]

According to the BBC test we're established middle class. Much to DHs horror I think we are somewhere around there, we own our home in a naice area, both RG University educated, in professional careers, me at senior national level, we enjoy a range of cultural activities, travel fairly often and mix with a wide range of people. However we are both from firmly working class backgrounds, with parents who don't have a higher education other than FIL who did his degree late in life through OU, our parents often had multiple jobs with long hours and relatively low pay when we were growing up and we attended state schools. They all however now own homes in nice areas have saved well, and are living comfortable retirements or are very close to that stage in life. Oh and MIL has a pony! 😂

[dailymailsucksbigtime]

They then divorced he lost the house lived alone for many years and then remarried new bride is UWC they have no money (or property) and their child is undoubtedly WC

Really, with an upper middle class public (rather than private) educated father it would be hard to see that he wouldn't be middle class. Class isn't about money- you don't forget your education when you lose money

[Stillwishihadabs]

It's a she actually and without

[Stillwishihadabs]

Sorry FIL is still definitely MC but his dd is most defnately lower class, in tastes, accent everything.

[margotsdevil]

According to the BBC I'm elite that's as a teacher... If I had to identify as anything I'd say we were middle class but if I'm meant to be elite I want to know why I don't fly first class!

[Gwenhwyfar]

"we attended state schools"

Like 90% of the population then. That hardly makes you working class in itself and is a good example of what OP is talking about.

[lljkk]

The BBC quiz thinks I'm "elite".

Says that I went to private school and elite university (both untrue) and that I go to museums (untrue), that I socialise with a wide variety of people (I barely socialise at all; I couldn't figure out how to fill in that part of the quiz). Only part it got right was listening to classical music (which I told the quiz I do). I also listen to hiphop & rock.

I don't understand why "watching sport" on the quiz makes you elite... is watching FA cup final an elite pastime? I think the quiz came down to deciding we were elite because we have a lot of ££ savings. So being frugal makes you elite. Who knew?

[puffyisgood]

It's a fairly harmless quirk of British English that e.g. a city banker earning six or even seven figures would use the same ''middle class" term to describe themselves as say a primary school teacher or whatever. The term can be useful if you're looking for a way to say that you can afford to shop in Waitrose or similar (since everyone who would call themselves MC is in this position). Where it becomes less useful obviously is where someone's using it to refer to things restricted to say the top 5-10% or whatever, such as private schooling or whatever. It smacks of false modesty or, worse, looking for underserved camaraderie or whatever. I might occasionally call someone out for using it in this context, but, honestly, wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

[Fatted]

There's people who live round my way who have ponies but don't even own a house. They live in a caravan. Owning ponies does not make you posh, or rich, or middle class.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"The term can be useful if you're looking for a way to say that you can afford to shop in Waitrose or similar (since everyone who would call themselves MC is in this position)"

Not sure I agree completely. You can be on a low income and middle class. I wonder how many primary school teachers shop there or the school librarian.

On the other hand people of any class can shop in Lidl.

[happypoobum]

I also came up as Elite.

We aren't doing much to bust the "myth" that Mumsnet is MC are we?

[happypoobum]

Oh, and I do not shop at Waitrose, I shop at M&S Food Halls.

[RoseWhiteTips]

I am Elite according to that BBC quiz.

[Whatthefoxgoingon]

I think the elite status has more to do with having a diverse group of friends. Just tried it with a really low income, still coming up as elite!

[lljkk]

I got elite even though I put no friends at all.

[Ankorna]

I am "Emergent Service Worker" on the BBC test.

[flowercrow]

I was brought up by a working class father who moved into middle class and a middle class mother. According to that quiz I am now in the precariat, most socially deprived class.
I always thought class was more about cultural values than income.

[Eolian]

YABU. Firstly, the middle class is a very broad swathe of the population. Secondly it's not entirely about money. Having a pony or a second home might make you fairly wealthy, but it doesn't make you upper class.

[Metoodear]

We
Are
Middle class
Have no money and we’re only middle class because we moved out of London we own our own 4 bed house with play room
However we both have cars my husband he 2 degrees and his father is a silk

However before that we lived in a council home because in London most people even professionals can’t afford a house to me the like of Jeremy Corbyn are upper class most middle class people were I live couldn’t afford to live in Islington and not just because of the house prices the shops surrounding are very pricey also I could never afford to put my kids tiffin like
JC aids are

[lljkk]

ha! I just got the BBC quiz to say I'm "Traditional Working Class".
The only difference between me being sorted into TWC and not "Elite" is savings,

[BeesAndMist]

My dh works in the city earning a 6 figure salary and gets a 6 figure bonus. I’m unsure if we’re middle class. He went to uni (first in his family) but I didn’t and both of our families are definitely working class. The people around us that I consider middle class very clearly don’t put us in the same bracket as them.

So maybe I’m working class (although I don’t work), he’s middle class and our kids are what? They don’t go to private school, but have ponies, piano lessons, lots of holidays etc. We’re nouveau riche I suppose. Although I don’t drive a Range Rover or live in a McMansion or anything.

[littlegreyhare]

I am snorting at the idea of JC being upper class

[lastnightidreamtofpotatoes]

lljk I put I had £100k+ in savings but still came out as the most deprived group! I was playing around with the quiz and home owner seems to be a key determiner.