What makes you working class?

[Bdueb]

Was listening to an interview with oa well known actor talking about their childhood and growing up working class. For them a key part was lack of travel and having not left their local area much etc. That was 20 years ago. What about now - what do you think distinguishes working and middle class childhoods of today?

I would think that people not leaving their local area was probably more than 20 years ago.

Not really. I was a youth worker 10-15 years ago, this attitude was pretty rife. You grew up, got pregnant, loved at home, got a council house nearby, possibly married, more kids, cycle repeated. Total lack of aspiration for more.

Whether you say loo or toilet, what or pardon, napkin or serviette. That's all you need to know.

I work full time for my living.

living in social housing, knowing that the social or dole is if you're over 40, being really aware of money and how much things cost, kids young, holidays in Spain, Kent or Essex coast, caravan holidays not camping or city breaks, nails and hair and teeth whitening being aspirational, calling nan not gran, leather sofas, matching three piece suites, conservatories, these are south east/London specific. Born and brought up cockney here.

Absolutely nothing to do with being working class or not 🙄

My dad grew up in a northern slum. His family home knocked down in 1960’s slum clearance. He got out of dodge though taking all the opportunities available to him.

I did ok and met an equally successful woman who was equally WC first of her family to go to university.

I desperately hope we will make a good job raising our kids to be good humans because the rest is bull shit xx

DH and I both have degrees, us and our kids are unequivocally working class

That’s different, they don’t really need uni degrees as having a job is not a necessity for most of them

That's true actually @SleepingStandingUp and I am very aware of people like that.

Equally I know people from working class families who have been away to university, moved area for work or even just people who holiday to places like Mexico.

Being born into a working class family . I suppose I’m middle class now income wise etc but still feel working class .

Living in a council house or your family scrapping money together for an ex council house.

Free school dinners.

Having an electric and gas meter.

Thats nonsense and completely outdated

I was born in the 1960s, both my parents were manual labourers and we lived in a house that was tied to my Dads job

Yes. Still working class. You can fake it but old money will know.

Yes, granted 🤣

I always thought of it as working class - those who grew up with parents who had blue collar jobs. Middle class were those who had a professional occupation or higher education eg degree or above and upper class were those that were born into wealthy families. Those that had long lines of wealth and lots of land.

I’m not massively bothered where I “fit” though as I think opinions on class have changed. Essentially was born into a working class family. Dad wore overalls to work as was an engineer working in a factory. Mum worked in an office doing payroll. Neither had completed education post high school. They owned their own property but would definitely describe themselves as working class

But like I said - it's about experiences, not just your job or your current position. Somebody who grows up poor does not have access to the same resources as someone who grows up wealthy. I've never done manual labour, either. But I do know what it's like to live in social housing, have rent arrears, have those arrears passed to a debt collection agency, have the phone cut off, have no money for basics etc, etc. I got out of that situation but it doesn't change the reality that happened.

The middle classes have shrunk so a lot aren’t too different from the working classes but I think some still take comfort from the fact that they can still feel superior by using certain words, it perhaps takes the sting out of their declining living standards. The majority of the old school mc signifiers only apply to the upper mc today.

But I'm very comfortable in my social circle - far more so than in that which I grew up in - so I don't feel I'm faking it. Honestly, I feel it's preposterous to call myself working class if I live in a 6-bed detached house, have a PhD, a professional career, good salary and two kids in private school. We spent a month on honeymoon in Hawaii for goodness sake. I may not have had the same upbringing as my husband and most of my friends, but I am part of their 'world' and I'm the most highly educated of my entire social group. Your definition of class doesn't allow for the concept of social mobility.

I still think this is fairly common today. If people don't go to university, and get a job straight out of school instead, there's little incentive to move away.

Multiple children (when cannot afford them)
Lack of books
Blue collar jobs/wage not salary
Excess spending unnecessarily
Over-reliance on UPF
lack of interest in learning and education

Gosh, neither would I.

SIL insists she is middle class because she doesn't work (on benefits).

Working class go on holiday for a rest, hence the all inclusive, sun, sea and sangria.

Middle classes like to pack in more of an adventure, sightseeing etc because they have the bloody energy to do so.