To ask what the social classes are?

[nicea]

Never understood it.

Have only heard of working class, middle class etc and wouldn't know how to identify someone as one.

What are the classes and the stereotypes/generalisations linked to them?

We too have a toilet brush. I am wc dh is mc. So you can't always tell as he insisted on buying it. It is the work of the devil. I have hidden it behind the bin.

flori I do think snobbery is definitely a thing here, as I suppose it is anywhere. And I definitely have experienced it myself (beaten up at primary school for being 'rich' and 'teachers pet', then ostracised at secondary school for being 'poor' because I had gone to an undersirable primary school ). But in my experience I've never heard of people analysing what class they fall into, or what class within a class they fall into. It's just been plain old snobbery without the very rigid classification.

Oh, and I have a Joesph and Joesph toilet brush - what a conundrum

This is really interesting. I always thought I was (lower) middle class but according to several posts here I'm actually working class - father a paramedic, mother a (very successful) saleswoman, I went to a state school and grew up in a semi. That does sound working class, now I think about it! I do talk with something approaching Received Pronunciation which is probably why I have been put in the middle class box most of my life and these days am reasonably well off, which means I can blend in, but actually this makes a lot of sense.

But to be honest none of it really matters.

We all need to eat, we all need the loo, most of us need to work to pay the bills.

Can’t appear to do bbc quiz on my phone so did another couple & I came out UC which I’m definitely not!

Going to try them for dh

I don't think people who claim benefits are "underclass" and I think that's a really horrible term. What about people with disabilities who can't work? Are they "underclass" because of something that they can't help?

There are a lot of people I'd describe as "underclass" purely from their behaviour, not how much money they have or what jobs they do.

Does it work for native British people only?
I have an inherited title (well, technically, I have to reclaim it, and quite honestly cannot be bothered with the paperwork). Three out of four grandparents were not university educated and worked manual jobs, as their parents were awarded a state-sponsored cruise to Siberia by the Soviet government. My own parents were highly educated, but very poor.
I find the British concept of "class" as something that is set in stone and is a sort of a natural law truly fascinating. I have friends - brilliant, smart, funny people, but I assume who identify with the working class cohort - who for some reason lose all confidence when it comes to mingling with "rungs" they perceive as superior. It does not matter that my friend went to Oxbridge and is in top 1% of earners now, she is forever defined by the fact that her parents worked factory jobs, and by her quirky accent. Her MIL was married to a dentist and is a lawyer's daughter (no achievements of her own), therefore is socially superior and her son "married down". Mind boggling.

Upper class - Aristocracy, those holding titles/estates and societies elite.

Middle class - old money, if you have to work to fund your lifestyle you are not middle classs.
Working class - most people
Twat - a special breed of person, best described in one word expletives.

Note social classes are not the same as values.

Not my experience really silvercuckoo and my roots aren't wholly English although one grandparent had inherited wealth. I was always accepted as upper class and had no issues at all probably because I knew the basics around dining, ordering, inviting and being a guest although except for some etiquette issues it's all basic good manners.

DH otoh brought up by two lower middle class parents with working class roots had to learn it all and was not confident until his late 20s/early 30s when I taught him the basics. His mother should have taught him and given him the confidence to mix with anyone. I think the wc and lmc care the most and then strangle themselves with their own inferiority complexes. It is not hard to learn the basics and teach your dc to hold their heads high and smile.

DH is not defined by his parents. He is defined by himself and his professional reputation but probably because he learnt the simple stuff when he met me.

I do think there's something about being "refugee stock" though that transcends this crap because if your forbears have the courage and chutzpah to flee and settle they have the courage to learn new ways and not give a flying fuck and mostly once they have the money the English upper classes don't care providing there's something in it for them, either fortunes for their daughter or the very best advice re their affairs.

Its the wc who perpetuate it in my opinion by refusing to adopt an attitude of anything you can do.

Another "class" thread.....is someone trying to start a class war?

@treaclesoda I do think class is a thing here (NI). There's not as many old titles though (lots of new knighthoods though). And religion played a part too.

Plus the grammar school system plays a part too - potentially levelling it it a bit as private (public / fee paying) schools are thin on the ground.

Underclass- goes on Jeremy Kyle
Working Class - watches Jeremy Kyle
Middle Class - is horrified at the thought of Jeremy Kyle
Upper Class - never heard of Jeremy Kyle

It’s a complex subject but IMO has little to do with professions. I know a Rt Hon who is a painter / decorator, and another who is a carpenter. I know a couple of adults from wealthy backgrounds who are essentially unemployed but still living off Daddy. My dh went to university but chose a skilled job (his parents were upper-middle and middle). I think there’s less social expectation these days to fit the class mold.

Similarly I know some professionals who hold their knives like pens.

I am probably lower middle class because my dad was unskilled (but owned his own successful service business) and my mum was degree educated, my maternal grandad was a business owner and made a large profit (hundreds of thousands). Parents were both state educated, as was I, parent's owned their own (semi) home, but they only made enough to make ends meet and often a few small luxuries.

*I don't think people who claim benefits are "underclass" and I think that's a really horrible term. What about people with disabilities who can't work? Are they "underclass" because of something that they can't help?

There are a lot of people I'd describe as "underclass" purely from their behaviour, not how much money they have or what jobs they do.*

One thing alone does not make anyone a particular class. Claiming benefits does not make you underclass, there are a load of other things (background, education, social circles, interests etc) that go with it.

It’s a stereotype, as all class ‘defininers’ are. No one person is ever all the things listed for each class, it’s not a science. Watch one of those hideous benefits programs on channel 5 if you want to know what the underclass is supposed to be (or just watch Jeremy Kyle). The underclass are not educated and do not tend to work.

Exactly - don’t forget that our own dear queen has been funded by the state her whole life

It is not hard to learn the basics and teach your dc to hold their heads high and smile.
I am actually interested in this. I have zero manners / knowledge of etiquette myself, and don't have close friends or family in the UK who are well versed in this topic. Had never hosted a "proper" dinner party etc., and in generally live a very relaxed life. What can I do for my children so that they acquire some "social capital" from the point of view of the British class system? I can probably stretch myself to afford two sets of private school fees, but it would mean living a very frugal life for the next 14-15 years (and their father is dead set against private education as he has some vague political ambitions, but I think I could persuade the family court with some effort).

Underclass- goes on Jeremy Kyle
Working Class - watches Jeremy Kyle
Middle Class - is horrified at the thought of Jeremy Kyle
Upper Class - never heard of Jeremy Kyle

This made me laugh

@treaclesoda I grew up in N Ireland and did not encounter the class terms till I went to university in Scotland - I think it was in my first 2 weeks some random man called me a middle class bitch - I had no idea whether he was right or wrong about the class bit, it was not a conversation anyone had - you were rich/poor, council house/owner occupier, Catholic/Protestant. Class was never used as a descriptor.

Although now I am wondering if the other posters who encountered the class system in N. Ireland were of a Protestant background and more embracing of the English class system? And us Catholics were just that Catholics who did not belong -a bit scummy maybe we were the underclass and we just weren't aware of it?

Hi @SmokeGetsInYourEye nope I was born and raised catholic but I did live in a very middle class Protestant area.

Do you think class is more of a thing now in NI?

Silvercuckoo - private education does not necessarily a mannered person make (despite Sherborne’s motto ). I went to private school and there were plenty of oiks there. You’d be better off investing your money on cultural experiences, adventurous holidays, private tuition and clubs such as dance or musical instruments to help your dc become more accomplished. Also get your dc involved in team sports at local clubs.

But simple pleases, thank yous, eye contact, good table manners and courtesy leave the most lasting impressions. It isn’t rocket science. Also teach your dc to ask questions and be interested in other people.

Sorry I meant Winchester, not Sherborne

I always get confused on these threads

According to tribble i am working class and as i dont know what class i am another poster says it makes me middle class

So

Both mums did admin type jobs, no professional grandparents, both dads in the military at 16, neither dh nor i went to uni, i work part time in a shop, dh is upper management i suppose, ds1 is at uni

So would dh and i be working class and ds1 potentially middle class?

@WipsGlitter I don't know, I left at 18 and never really went back for long enough to know. I came from a small village with a mix of incomes, I could apply the same criteria of class to the people I knew and categorise them but for what ends?
In his latter years I learned that my supposedly very egalitarian father judged men by them never having a boss - ie running their own business as he had done - sometimes not very successfully but it is a source of pride for him that he never had an employer.

Friend of mine said they were working class

I said you live in a middle class house, in a midddle class area and have a middle class job...you are so middle class it much hurt

And he said...i live in a two up two down

And i said....mate!! Youve got 3 bedrooms!!!

It made me laugh at any rate...he probably was working class but I'll never be able to tell him he was right

Someone else was trying to tell me and dd that their friend was just the same moneywise as all of us, she said 'they live in a terraced house' yeah one of those 6 bedroom georgian mansions...that happen to be terraced