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.......

Georgiemama - I agree with you I think, There is no such thing as class any more. The lines are so blurred as to be pointless.

I am probably like you - I am working class by background (but not typically so) but middle class by education and current lifestyle. So where does that leave me? John Prescott's programme would have me firmly working class because it is your roots that count. But I wouldn't feel comfortable with that label but then I don't feel middle class either.

I think you can single out an underclass and the upper classes by virtue of their heritage but middle and working classes are almost impossible to differentiate between.

That said MN is the only place I have come across that ever considers class. It also means that no matter what you think and believe you stand a pretty good chance of offending somebody!

VirginBoffinMum - you have proved my point. I am classless - I only have 50% of the things on your list.

Shops in Sainsbury and Waitrose (albeit not exclusively)- nope. Tesco's and Morrisons cos its closer

Wears M and S pants- no

Has a car that is clean on the inside and comparatively recent- have a car from motability and its shamefully filthy inside and out.

Children give in their homework- yup. they are girly swots.

Keeps her domestic appliances clean- You're meant to clean them? I thought they did the cleaning.

Eats fruit and vegetables- when I can

Expects her house to have hot water- it happens.

No peeling paint on the outside of the house- its a bit peely.

Got a degree but no career and we're on benefits. No idea what that makes us as DH went to private school and grew up in a posh part of Lodnon and I grew up ona council estate to a single mum on benefits.
I reckons we're our own category.

keep reading M and S as S&M. Need more sleep I reckon.

otoh, what makes you working class? Yr lifestyle, arguably, could be said to be middle-class now, couldn't it? Organic food, newish car, interest in education. Who is now deciding what's mc, what's wc etc? The definitions, such as they are, are so out-of-date, i mean, having hot water, i think we've all gone beyond that in this country and, relative to the developing world, are all advantaged in this way.
It's all up for debate, now, isn't it? Numerous documentaries (most weirdly John Prescott on his poor disadvantaged life being from a wc background not being persuaded that he had actually been successful!)

So the upperclass list would read;

Has holes in their clothes
House was inherited along with most of the furniture
House freezing most of the time.
Children at either the local village school or an old red brick type private school
Battered old car that scraps through it's MOT each year
Never ever been to Alton Towers or the like.
And holidays to France.

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what are wc values and middle class values? Surely they are roughly the same?

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cory you are definitely upper class, practically royal with that profile.
georgimama, I am tempted to say the same about you too. I would recommend getting a smelly old dog to really complete the effect.

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I'm not upper class, definitely not, but I fulfill more of Katie's list than the other one. House wasn't inherited though, it's rented (although it was inherited by current landlord, along with rest of village and about 50,000 acres of Gloucestershire).

I'd say the fundamentals of mumsnet and mumsnetters are:

You get pregnant
You start to panic about being pregnant
You do an internet search on 'pregnancy'
You find mumsnet
You spend the preg supported/scared by MN
You give birth - supported/scared by MN
You feed - supported/scared by MN
You wean - supported/scared by MN
You come to your senses when the hormones go
You look around MN
You convert to AIBU

It entirely depends on your personality if you find MN helpful/useless/sarcastic/welcoming/interesting/twaddle. I like to think I'm not influenced into any social demographic

x posted VBM!
I have two smelly dogs actually....

In response to Virginboffinmum

Shops in Sainsbury and Waitrose (albeit not exclusively) - mainly Waitrose

Wears M and S pants - yes - but they are knickers not pants!

Has a car that is clean on the inside and comparatively recent - not that clean inside or out..disagree with this ...many upper class types have old cars and they're not that clean - surely it is nouveau riche/aspiring class to have a new clean car?!

Children give in their homework - yes

Keeps her domestic appliances clean - ish

Eats fruit and vegetables - yes

Expects her house to have hot water - yes doesn't everyone?!

No peeling paint on the outside of the house - no - needs painting

bucksfizz you is well posh. You have middle class pretensions though because your car is clean.

NMC - I think you are right - they are roughly the same and that is why I think we live in a classless society.

That doesn't mean that we are all the same but that there are no subsets of class with clear boundaries.

georgimama, I knew it. You too is well posh.

ACORN classifications are based on neighbourhoods and 'typical' residents. They are theoretically flawed but nevertheless often horribly accurate.

The government and social scientists use what is now called the NSSEC (Socio-Economic classification). It is broadly based on occupation, whether in that occupation you manage other people, and what level of control you have over your work. It gives a numeric category: so Class 1 is Senior Business Managers and Owners, Class 2 is Professionals and Managers, Class 3 is Administrators etc...

Despite people's argument that class is unimportant these days, while I agree that lifestyle is a huge factor, class is still a pretty good determinant of outcomes.

So, for example, people in certain classes (manual and caring jobs) have much lower health outcomes than those in professional occupations.

It is difficult - always - though to classify the super-rich, the non-employed etc..

Is there anyone from a working class background married to someone from a middle class background who has relatives who feel uncomfortable at joint gatherings?

i think we're kind of in agreement here, aren't we? imho opinion, class is most meaningful now as a state of mind, choosing to describe ourselves as whatever class we wish to be. values fairly transferable imo.
I think it's access to life -chances (a la weber) which still really counts - books in the house, good food on the table, supportive, engaged parents, a good enough school, health, enough £ to keep the show on the road, supportive community, hope!

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what class are you?

grumble - we dint have the internet when I had my first 3. Had to figure it all out by myself (well, did buy Miriam Stoppards book)

Only one of my houses was inherited, I should point out. And I do not have dogs or M and S undergarments. So I am officially classless but aspiring to have a class.

this is betteR