To think the middle classes drink heavily?

[nannysecrets]

I've been a private nanny for over two decades for some highly educated, middle/upper class families. It's an observation of mine that a lot of them drink quite heavily. I'm talking about every night, a few bottles of wine and usually some G&T's between the parents.
I know this as I take in their grocery shopping so I see the contents. Often, when they get home from work a bottle is opened straight away and I'm offered a tipple. Sometimes I accept so I'm not bashing anyone!
I know some live in nannies who tell me the parents they work for are getting sloshed each night. I've had children tell me, 'mummy was throwing up in the night' and the mum will casually say to me 'oh you know sometimes it's better to just get it out'!
As I said, not a bashing thread. More of an observation. I believe there are quite a few middle class lushes who seem to go unnoticed as they work in high powered jobs as opposed to the average unemployed alcoholic who is more obvious due to their lifestyle.
No offence to anyone. Just an observation I thought about recently.

In fact the UK is trending downwards as well as that figure is almost 10 years old.

It's probably more reasonable to say alcohol consumption is a European thing rather than a British thing.

And Asia in general drinks a lot less than Europe.

She's not gossipping. We dont know know who she is or who her employers are.

Same. I worked in a very working class pub at college and the amount of old boys that would walk the dog at 730 in the evening and pop in for a couple of pints and a whiskey chaser was unbelievable.
equally work in a high end gastro pub/restaurant and the middle classes were quaffing expensive wine and port.
All the same really, same shit different shovel.

My middle class parents were share a bottle wine, then a nightcap every night people. Numerous occasions of not being us to take/collect us because they were already 2 glasses in at 6pm.
I can believe it.
Dh and i are more of a share a bottle wine over a weekend drinkers.

I don't drink at all really. I would definitely not think it normal for my friends to drink as much as you mention much every night, and if I heard a friend drank to the point of throwing up at home on a weeknight I would be really concerned about alcoholism.

Yes I agree. I come from a mix of working class/middle class, and have a mix of friends.

There is a big cultural difference. Whilst there are alcohol problems in working class households, it’s more drinking in the pub, men drinking beer at home etc.
It would not be the norm to have wine every evening for dinner.

Whereas in middle class homes there is a wine with dinner, maybe a G&T after work, meet in pub after working in the finance sector (see how many suits are drinking at 5pm on a Friday in the city!), with both men and women. And it’s not just normalised, it seems ‘de riguer’!

I live in an affluent part of London and it pretty much runs on white wine.

Interesting observation. I would say with you working with high-earners you have generalised slightly. People in the UK do drink an awful lot.

On the odd occasion when I have a drink at home, I can easily have 1 glass. If it's red, I can make a bottle last a whole week as I just don't enjoy it if I drink too much. This is not directly about money, but responsibility - I am not taking a moral high ground here, but I think we do have a duty as parents to be sensible with things like drinking, smoking, and even eating excessively (although I think the last one will cause an uproar, sorry.)

Now, on the flipside of that, if my life didn't include my children, I would be saying something else. 🍷🍸🍾

I work with quite a few middle class women in their 40s and 50s and all they talk about is wine followed by gin and cocktails. Well obviously they do talk about other things but honestly it’s a massive deal to them. If they are dieting then it’s all about saving the calories so they can have that bottle of wine. Anecdotally I hear far more alcohol conversation from middle class women than I do from men. I guess being able to afford it is a factor as well.

Yes, the middle class do generally drink more. They can afford to have a couple of G&T's when they get home, then open a bottle of wine or two to have with their dinner and a nightcap before bed.

I live on a council estate I can assure you that the average working class family doesn't drink like that. Their drinking habits are very different and are confined mostly to social events. We have a local working men's club which most people go to on a Saturday night. The blokes will sink maybe 4 or 5 pints and the women will sit there hugging one drink all evening. They're too busy chatting.

They can't afford to drink like the middle classes and they prioritise their money for a fortnight's holiday abroad. Also, a lot of the men do shift work in factories or drive for a living and start at stupid o'clock in the morning.

There is also quite a social stigma around drinking constantly at home amongst the working classes. Letting your hair down on holiday, or at the social club once a week is OK but looking hungover at the school gate would be very, very bad.

I see that more among my higher-earning friends than my lower-earning friends.
And the data seem to support you, OP.

I know quite a lot of people in stressful jobs and all of them drink! My job is pretty stressful and at times I definitely drank too much.

Mumsnet police have arrived.
Or has this thread hit a nerve 😳🍷🥂🍸Hic

Great advertising by mumsnet 😅 algorithm recognises it’s about booze. Push some gin at them…

Definitely, but the more money you have the more you can afford! Especially if you’re in a UK country with alcohol tax.

I think it is more the middle class over 40s. Most of my friends drink less than our parents.

I can't afford to drink gin a tonic every night and a bottle or two of wine with dinner. Even if money was no object, I probably wouldn't want to, either. I enjoy having a drink now and again, but it's a treat rather than a regular event.

Yes, Brits are big drinkers and parents seem to drink a lot these days.

I agree op. Alcohol consumption is way out of control and many middle class people are on the road to permanently damaging their health as a result. Alcohol does you no favours physically or mentally. Using it as a way to relax is an easy slide into alcoholism and ruining your health.

the decline is longer than that I think - I’m 39
and I drink less than my parents (both less than they drank when they were my age, and than they drink now), and I think in general today’s 20somethings drink less than me.

If thats your idea of thinking, then fuck knows what comes out of you on autopilot.

People can and do fire nannies they aren't satisfied with.

I’m not sure middle class is the thing here, or even that they are middle class. They are wealthy, it’s not necessarily the same thing. In fact it’s less and less the same thing ( signing off, squeezed middle here- a nanny and a devil may care attitude to buying alcohol isn’t something I could ever afford).

Would they drink so much if they didn't have nannies? Being pissed in charge of a child is an offence and I think ordinary ie poorer people are aware of this and also wary of being reported to SS. A swanky detached house conceals a lot; an affluent family in a home with no-one to hear behind the wall gets away with extremes of behaviour that a family in a council flat just wouldn't.

Possibly easier for middle class people to get away with the following day's hangover - more likely to be able to WFH and have autonomy in what they do. Less close supervision so breath smelling of booze can pass unnoticed. Not true for all middle class people, of course, just something that's more likely.