To ask what social class you would say I am?

[flowersandcake]

Hello!

So my friends and I were discussing class issues and one friend told me that I would have 'no idea about anything as I'm upper class' and another strangly interupted and mentioned that I'm working not upper class? I personally thought I was middle?

My situation is:
5 bed house worth 900K, no mortgage
2 Teenagers
Lucky enough to pay for their uni fees and sixth form fees, both at private sixth form, one went to a grammar and the other a state secondary school
DD owns a pony and DS used to
DD plays the violin and DS the drums
2 holidays a year (one longer one and either a week in cornwall/scotland or a couple of weekend city breaks)
Household income of 110-140K depending on the year as DH is self employed and can earn up to 90K.

I promise I'm not boasting or anything, we give 10K a year to charity and DS is in the process of persuading his dad to give his uni fees to a charity.

So what class would I be in your opinion?

So if someone comes from a very wealthy background and is gifted a beautiful house and a decent lifestyle, without working for it, does that make them upper class?

Not necessarily. It would depend how 'old' their money was.

Same circumstance as above, but the individual worked extremely hard to earn everything they own. Does that make them working class?

Again, not necessarily. It would depend what their job was, and to an extent, how they chose to identify (see again, Lord Sugar, who is rapidly becoming the most cited person on the thread).

Well never have I been quite so pleased to be working class, and to know it without having to fanny about asking the great and good of MN

Depends. Do you have a white, slim line telephone with last number redial facility?

Does your sister have a Mercedes, a swimming pool and room for a pony?

I do not believe that the true ‘ upper class’ aristocracy etc are all terribly polite and never look down their noses at the plebs etc etc. I don’t know any personally , but I bet a lot of them are terrible snobs and are keen to show off their wealth and privilege to each other and secretly wished the other classes didn’t exist.
The younger ones are - I’d put money on it!

die I didn't particularly mean that spelling came into the essays of the degree or whatever, just that you would think somebody who worked at that level would be able to spell.
Spell check on a computer at university was after my days there 😊

I read a fair bit - I’m not educated beyond 0 levels but I can discuss politics with others and I enjoy a discussion on it all. Being WC doesn’t mean you don’t engage with important things and have the ability to learn / educate yourself.

@ScreamingValenta thank you.
It becomes so apparent in threads like this just how uneducated (working class?) I am with regards to topics like this.

class threads on MN are fascinating - especially if you are not from the UK. So many posters falling over themselves to point out how utterly awful it is to be middle class and aspiring or, god forbid, "nouveau" and aspiring (unless you are a traveller family and noveau which is A Good Thing for some reason). And of course the best classes are the jolly old aristos who don't care what anyone thinks of them, bless them as they rock up in their ancient wax jackets and muddy wellies, and the decent working class who are salt of the earth. And if you have to ask about class you deserve to be publically shamed (although the people saying this have clearly thought a lot about class themselves)

It is cliche bingo every time.

OP what do you do for a living? (And what does your DP do?) Did you do A levels/ a degree/ etc

She's unemployed/house wife, I guess though choice, but has a history degree. She hasn't said what she did for work when she did work.

Kids are adults pretty much. Her husband is apparantly a self employed banker, (I really don't know what that is) whose salary goes from 70k to max 90 k and she has a random 40k extra coming in somehow. ( got the maths wrong before). Maybe a pension?

I don't think this is real or she's made up some stuff, I don't really understand her lifestyle compared to her income. They give 10 grand a year to charity apparantly.

I honestly don't know what this is all about or why she's upset. It's odd. Very.

Do you own fish knives?

I'm afraid the fact you are asking would eliminate upper class. Most likely middle class but it depends on lots of things. You are talking about how you spend your money but it's more about where you went to school, your interests an DC behaviors etc.

Another vote for this being fiction.

The final giveaway (one of many) was the way the OP ended a message with two kisses. Nobody with a good private education would do that.

Middle class

If it's real it's someone who desperately wants to be validated as a specific class, by randoms on the Internet.

You've got to ask why?🤷‍♀️

@HarshingMyMellow It's a mistake to think that a high level of education is synonymous with being upper class. Education is really only relevant in the sense of having attended the 'right' schools.

Historically, UC women were often packed off to finishing schools, rather than university, to fill in the time before they were eligible for marriage. UC people don't need an extensive higher education because they don't have to find jobs. Their school education will be solid, however, and include a classical grounding. Of course, some will have intelligence and a love of learning which leads to an illustrious academic career; and for those who want them, educational opportunities will be made easy through wealth and connections.

I find class a really interesting subject, and at the same time, quite repellent . I don't think Britain will ever be rid of it unless we can abolish the monarchy.

The dreadful spelling, plus the creepy little ‘xx’ kisses at the end of your flouncing post... kind of give you away OP.

Solid middle

Here have my first

IM rather afraid it’s ‘rather common’. Talking about your income can never be smart unless it’s with your accountant and then it’s usually through pieces of paper.

Not sure if this has been posted already, but a class survey of 160,000 people was carried out in 2013
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_British_Class_Survey

The top class was actually called Elite

I feel a bit sorry for the OP. She hasn't done herself any favours throughout the thread but it is an interesting question.

DH insists we are working class. I'm not so sure (although I was certainly born working class). The DC are middle class. Can they be middle class if we are working class?

Its a bit of shame the thread went this way (but Im also astonished at how she gives 10k a year to charity and manages everything else she's listed from a total household income of between 110 and 140 a year).

The DC are middle class. Can they be middle class if we are working class?

Yes - that's how middle class comes into being. Middle class people are the descendants of successful working class people.

Do you have sofas or settees? Are they in your sitting room or your lounge? Who is sitting on them - grandma or nana?

Banana au contraire my friend; us commoners rarely discuss income and certainly never class.
Why ever would we? What is there to say?

I think you'll find its resolutely the middles who occupy themselves with such musings.