Is ‘shunter for British Rail’ a working class job?

[Correction]

Been dating a man for 7 months. He was born 1970 just FYI. His parents were both born in 1927 just for context and both long gone from this world.

I know his mum worked in a care home - but I really don’t know her level of seniority- could’ve bern a manager - could’ve had a more routine job - I haven’t asked.

Anyway - I know he was close to his Dad and seemed to be a happy family but had no clue what his Dad did for a living so asked him over the weekend and he said

‘Shunter for British Rail.

AIBU to ask if you’d class it as a working class job?

Class and money are completely separate and your class cannot be changed

I am born middle class and will die middle class it dies not matter if I use a food bank or win the lottery I will still be middle class that is why the class system no longer works in today’s society as it makes no sense

your class is based on your parents profession and modern professions don’t fit fir example I.T jobs or marketing

It's not unusual at all. Women went on having babies for as long as they were able to conceive. They started young and finished late. Reliable contraception wasn't available, or any contraception at all for most women. Men regarded sex with their wife as their right and women regarded it as their duty. The phrase was conjugal rights. My great grandmother had thirteen babies, 11 of whom survived. She didn't marry until her mid 20s and must have had her last child in the 2nd half of her 40s. This wasn't unusual at all.

Who cares?

I am not better than anyone else, no-one is better than me.

I work in and office and am middle manager, OH is a graphic designer. If I were to define our family, we are working class.

This

MN is obsessed with ‘working class’

Of course your social class can be changed. My dad was a binman. I went to Oxford and lead a comfortably middle-class-looking life. I still identify as 'educated working class', but my son is essentially middle-class on the grounds of parents' occupations, household interests, education, holidays and pastimes etc.

@Correction
What's your job?
What's bf's job?

There would have undoubtedly been many more in the past.

That's not working class, that's poor/deprived/in relative poverty.

Class really is pretty meaningless these days as no-one can agree on a definition and it isn't related to income, job, interests or any other factor that people say is a class marker.

DP and I earn over £100k pa between us. I have multiple professional qualifications and am recognised internationally as an expert in my field. DP is a skilled manual worker in a very niche industry. No-one would consider us middle class if they met us and our older relatives were all miners, factory workers, barmaids, shop workers etc so have what would be defined as a very working class background but, despite what people seem to think, that doesn't mean our parents didn't value education or cultural interests, both our childhoods prioritised these - DP progressed well with music lessons as a child. My miner dad took me to museums regularly.

Just that for people born from around the 1960s onwards, they were no longer forced to leave school at 14/15 to earn money. That's when I feel defined classes in the UK started to break down.

I don’t work
bf works in a night club

Conflating "class" with income is very American, OP.

I've just come over to say thank you for the nostalgia, OP! My lovely dad was a shunter for British Rail for almost all of his working life, and it's not a job I see mentioned very often. I've now got lovely memories of his diesel-smelling overall hanging in our hallway and his massive gloves in the pockets.

He was working class to his fingertips, if it matters, but my mum was born middle class in reduced circumstances between the wars. She was upwardly mobile and I'm now considered middle class, but I never cared about what my dad did, because I loved him.

Working class is an arbitrary term that means nothing.
It's also what his Dad did and has no relevance to what his son is like.
Nuts to even wonder about it.
I respect anyone who earns their money honestly and pays their way.

Wow I've just seen your update. You yourself don't work and yet you are worried about the status of your potential boyfriend's long deceased dad's very respectable job? What about the status of your own economic inactivity?

aw I’m so glad I’ve brought these memories back for you ❤️❤️

Fair comment but I intend to work asap

Seeing as that looks like it's from about 1910, you're about 60 years too early. However, it was (still is) a high risk, skilled job and the pay was good as a result.

Yeah this is one of the oddest threads I’ve read in a while

Maybe we should all go around asking our new boyfriends what their dead parents did for a living, and then go on the internet to check out the job for its class credentials? I mean, maybe we've all been doing dating all wrong.

If you want to work 'on the railways' but don't fancy being a shunter, you could look at signalling, train driver/guard or announcer, which I think is all recorded these days, but they still have someone pressing buttons, a relative does this.

Look at your local train companies and stations. If you get in, you'll have a better idea of who does what and could progress pr try different jobs.

God you’re right, my boyfriends dads still alive, so shall I research the grandads job instead?

Thank you - I’d like to be a shunter but those jobs you’ve mentioned sound good too

You might be, as class is really determined by your background. Your children probably won't be.
A lot of people really don't understand that the lower middle class is huge, and has never been in any way posh (except to people below it). You don't have to privately educate your kids in order to be lower middle class.

I’d not heard, up until now, of any fatalities in this role

Yep, I had a relative who was a shifter and they were squished dead between two trains.

Still, seems such an odd thread.

Yeah, just go down the local railway station and say you'd like to try out a few different jobs before settling on one. You might have to wait until Monday to start now though.

Sorry to hear this ❤️