Inequality is widening even in middle class children

[Ifelttherainsinafrica]

We live in a nice, mc road. Kids all go to the nice state schools nearby & most of the kids went to activities in the evening. Since September those kids have been out playing since 9 even after dark some as old as 4... I asked dd why her friends were no longer coming to karate & soccer, she said their parents can't afford it.. I met one of our neighbours this evening who said they had to cut right back on extras for the kids due to the cost of living.. Feel so sorry for the kids.. The inequality used be between the working class & middle class now many of the middle class can no longer afford what they used be able to.. Aibu to think this or is it just my perception?

Cost of living is affecting everyone. Class is irrelevant. Middle class or not, if you're not rich enough, you're not rich enough; if you're one paycheck away from debt or being broke, then that's your life. Again, class is irrelevant. Of course some people are having to cut back to prioritise essentials. If you aren't, then you're one of the lucky ones - Middle class or not.

I find it odd when people go on about class. It's as if it's a position they need as an identity. No one cares - middle class/working class or not.

This is true
.. the super rich bought all the assets and its much much harder to be rich in a lifetime unless you are born with wealth
. The long term pattern is that the middle earners will see an increasing drop in living standards . Wages are not rising enough. The money that is in the economy is in assets not wages.
Like or loathe him this is what Gary's Economics talks about.

Children engaging in non structured, imaginative play is better for their development than being in unending organised activities.

IMO children do way too many organised activities these days. They are not given time to be bored and amuse themselves. There's always "something" to be going to.

😂

Yes. I grew up on a nice middle class street and my best memories were playing out till 9. Going to music lessons was really mediocre by comparison. Don't get the obsession with structured activity 24/7

Both.
A lot of input from the PTA about what is needed in the wider community, and a proper practical reaponse from the school to facilitate in terms of space, allocated time etc.

Whatever 'nice' means.
How does the cost of living mean 4 year olds playing on the street?
You might want to brush up on your half-baked social analysis - class isn't just about income you know, and 'inequality' encompasses more than class. Just look at all the MNers who love cooing over upper-class taste incl old bangers and threadbare trousers.

"The only difference between working class and middle class these days is priorities/attitudes/culture NOT money.
A bricklayer or plumber will be earning much more than a secondary school teacher. Some as much as a medical consultant."

Is this you presuming that all or most working class children are living in homes where both parents are working in a skilled trade earning well above the median income for tradesmen?

😂

In the UK, the median salary for working-age graduates (16–64 years old) in 2023 was £40,000.

The median salary for non-graduates was £29,500.

sounds like feckless parenting to me....do you think 'nice' mc people are in danger of losing their (always self-sacrificing and putting the children first according to posts on private school discussions here) parenting skills too?

Well what exactly did you think would happen when so many children live in poverty already in the UK?

People always nitpick threads like this for using simple classifiers to describe people’s economic situation. It isn’t a moral judgement to acknowledge that there are socioeconomic classes. It also isn’t a moral judgement to acknowledge that the gap is widening between the have and the have nots.

in fact, I think refusing to acknowledge the shift is what is wrong. Why criticize someone for trying to talk about the changes in the economy and the real impacts those are having on families and children? Children are losing out on opportunities. One child might still be better off than another, but that doesn’t mean it is not a concerning shift.

meanwhile, there are plenty of families who are still able to provide the best of everything for their children. I think a real conversation on what impact that is going to have on this generation as they reach adulthood is warranted.

before, we always had a difference between the ends of the economic spectrum, but we could count on their being plenty of children in the middle to help maintain a sort of balance. If instead what we have is a small group of children who are highly educated and enriched vs
everyone else, what will that mean? How detrimental will it be for society?

Well from the impression I got the children really loved going to their chosen activities & are sad they had to stop, like all children in the UK who have had to discontinue something they really enjoy.

It sounds wonderful & all children can avail.

@Ponderingwindow you have voiced my concerns much more eloquently than me! Thank you. That was the bigger picture I was trying to highlight 😊

Most of the middle classes I know drive Range Rovers but shop at Aldi and are as tight AF. They are probably cutting back on activities so they can still afford AI in Dubai and their skiing holiday. I can’t afford a wet week in Wales so I’m not crying a river over Sebastian and Chloe not being able to go to Hockey club any more…

Yabu.

It's just an example of growing inequality. We saw the educational inequality during covid, having to quit activities due to cutting cloth to measure is not nearly as serious as covid times but it is widening that gap..

Wait did I read that right, 4 year olds are playing out past 9pm? I was going to say seeing kids playing outside seems like a good thing but reading the OP again sounds a bit neglectful. Or did you mean playing out from 4pm until past 9pm? (which also sounds a little problematic if no parental appearance in all that time).

They were not exclusively 'middle class' actibities, 'tho
In this instance, tragically, the children have been obviously used to the finer things in life, now havt to 'slum it' by playing in the street
Let's hore the Faily Dail picks this up

Sofa's in your front garden?
That's proper posh, we only have a plastic chair we nicked from a skip

yet your comment is also weird why comment if your not helping the thread ?

It is such an ignorant view. Even early sociological classification of class was based on occupaation (upper class, your job was to enure your inherited estate ran smoothly, even iif you had no income to maintain it, middle class, you were a doctor/accountant, lower class, you got your hands dirty), not income

The middle class has 'existed' since the industrial revolution. It created the middle class. It is not a media invention.
Altho' the mc's did invent fish-knives; they were not a thing at Dowwnton Abbey

Why swimming lessons?