To wonder what really is the majority social demographic on Mumsnet?

[CestNoel]

I see soooo many threads along the lines of:

• should I sack my au-pair?

• anybody know any good cleaners?

• my career is too important for me to go to my child's concert...

• can I get free transport to a private school?!?!?!?

• my dd has been given a non-organic fruit drink at nursery

• drats. My new Boden trousers are too short.

And then, everyone is up in arms at the idea of spending £10 on a present to take to a child's birthday party and we have all sorts of suggestions as to how to buy something suitably non-tack like for about £1.49

Is the beauty of Mumsnet I suppose.......

...

From your list, I reckon that the majority want to spend money on themselves (au pairs, cleaners etc) and spend fuck all on everybody else

I find it all hilarious tbh

ahh now you see I could never imagine spending £10 on a birthday present for a child my DS's hardly know (actually didn't spend more than that on DS2's present this year either ) BUT once I've moved the first thing I'm going to budget into my monthly budget is a cleaner

You'd have to do graphs about which parents post on which threads.

Age 32-44

Votes Labour or Lib Dem

Lives in South East

Either passionately supports local sink school or sends to private (no run of mill average comps here)

Atheist and millitant about it

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Some of those questions are valid though - working parents do need child care, and they do agonise about it. And people do employ cleaners, especially when both parents work (its a simple time/money equation - if you can earn more in an hour than a cleaner would, it makes sense to pay a cleaner and work instead, unless you really really love cleaning)

And since when has it been a crime to moan about trousers?

As to the rest - please tell me you made up at least a couple of those!

I love the fact that we can spend one day by the (virtual) side of someone struggling to get council accomodation and the next advising someone what to do with their Nanny-Housekeeper. I think the demographic is very varied but I would love to see some stats on it as I think it would make interesting reading!

Also don't assume someone with a nanny is rich, more people are realsiing that they can get a Nanny with tax credit money and the increase in shift work etc mean so more and and more people are looking at this regadless of their monetary situation.

By definition it is people with good internet access, and computer facilities at home - so quite possibly 2 computers given the amount of time some people spend on here.

So virtually all middle class, or social class C and above.

Maybe your eye is drawn more to the "should I sack the au pair" threads?

It is of course very middle class to save, make do and mend, etc. It is seen as virtue, when it is in fact often stingy. Profligate overspending, particularly at Christmas, is viewed by the middle class as very lower class.

That is the mix though. Some of us have more money than sense, others have very little.

I think what's interesting is how good the written English is compared to most forums.

Taliac those others, about non organic dairy, Boden trousers and free transport to private school have all been actual threads, within the last month.

That is one of the main reasons I'm here not there, milkroll!

rempy - or people who have cushty office jobs with good internet access and get paid very well for doing very little!!!!!

('tis still a similar demographic though, I suppose)

Is the written English thing the power of peer pressure though?

Because there is always a thread along the lines of "AIBU to think that TXT SPK it totally innappropriate in the context of the PTA meeting?" Not to mention Pedants Corner. And yes I am aware that there is probably an apostrophe missing. I don't know where to put it, but at least I can spell it!

Definitely rempy, my grammar is not perfect but some glaring errors really wind me up.

I must admit I do like the better quality English that we get on here.

rempy, I think recent stats showed that people living in council accomodation were more likely to have a computer and intenet access than anyone else. They were raised as the gov. wanted to do the whole "give a comp to the poor so they can educated the children" patronising bit until someone pointed out that it does not quite follow that living in council property does not mean you have no computer!

The grammar and spelling is pretty good, so I'd hazard a guess at a large proportion of graduates (I know that's not a given especially now the golden age is gone).

Probably quite a few with more qualifications than money.

The threads where the husband's salary was £100K and they couldn't live on it produced a fair bit more outrage than you would expect if everyone was earning that sort of money.

I earn £30K and have a cleaner. I'd probably spend about £5 on a kid's present. Is that tight? I'd be embarrassed if folk spent more than that on DS.

Ah, work time MN! Not for me, as there are Big Hard Firewalls at my work.

But yes, you are not going to get those facilities at the carrot packing factory, so same demographic divide.

In fact, there has been something about in the media, about how the technological divide is what will drive social division in the future, more than traditional factors such as mobility etc.

very astute rempy
Also a big factor is vehemently anti racist (as it should be)
but openly classist (obviously more acceptable to hate white working class amongst chattering classes)

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Thats interesting NCR, so is it a question of what people choose to do with the hardware, rather than possession of it that dictates involvment in Boden discussions?

Very sharp, well educated and extremely funny women on here too