The Class System - Where do you fall?

During a conversation last week I mentioned that I knew someone who was "very middle-class". The person I was talking to laughed and said that I shouldn't talk as though they were different to me. I was met with further laughs when I said I considered myself working-class.

I have always seen myself as working-class given my position in society and the minimal earning myself and other members of my family receive.
Sure I'm well educated (mainly due to my parents not my schooling), but I went to ordinary public schools & live in a crappy town in greater London which contains mostly chavs and the surrounding places are hardly any better.

I always viewed middle-class people as the big-business types who hold top company positions and earn £40,000+ salaries. They have nice detached houses and usually own two or more cars. Often private school educated. Often pay more for higher-class travel.

I certainly don't fit that picture at all. I don't see why I would be seen to fit into that class either.


Upper class people are not really relevant as they are just relics of a bygone time when titled people ruled the land. Now most of them have figurehead titles and lounge around on big estates (if they haven't sold off their big country houses to pay off debts).

I would like to know where the rest of you see yourselves in the social order.
Do you have different views on what someone of lower or higher-class is?

I don't believe in the "class" system. It's outdated and prejudiced

However...

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Certainly outside of the aristocracy there is little in terms of a true class system these days.
I don't think the gulf between people is as much as it used to be. Certainly there doesn't seem to be the air of superiority over each other that there used to be.

But there are different tiers of society where people lead different lifestyles due to position or income or other factors. There should be a way to distinguish yourself as being part of that group or another.

I'm pretty much middle-middle class since I'm a teacher with an academic background and raised by parents who ran their own small companies.

I think it's possible to argue that from a sociological point of view that the class system still exists, but that the classical categorisation no longer holds. These days the majority belongs to the middle class, which now is divided into upper, middle and lower. Also, there are more opportunities to change class than before, which makes everything very fluid and include more factors than just income (such as aspirations, taste, political views, education etc).

Lower middle class, most likely going to be middle class when I graduate.

I guess I'm stereotypical middle class. Went to private school, dad's a doctor, mum's a dentist. But the catch is that they both came from very poor working class backgrounds, and they've never forgotten it. And we've had it drilled into us. So there's certainly no air of superiority. I agree with what emilsson said- these days it's easier to move from class to class, insofar as they exist.

Certainly is easier for working/lower class people to prgress upwards to middle class jobs/lifestyle than it once was. That is encouraging for many people.

The strength of the class system in the UK was definitely one of the things that really surprised me--there really isn't much of one in the states at all, comparatively. 'Middle class' is pretty all-encompassing over there. Here I'd probably be working class, growing up in a big family, hard to make ends meet...although both parents had advanced degrees. We were brought up to expect that anything we wanted we had to work for, but why not work for the best?

I think as higher education becomes more available, it'll be even harder to differentiate classes. Quality of life really can't be measured by income or occupation anymore, or by material wealth. While I grew up in a low-income situation, I'd say my education gave a me manner and behaviours more middle- to upper-middle class.

I'm the same, I have a decent level of education and I would say I'm a lot more cultured then most of those who live around where I live.

But given my social position, I'm still working class.

I'm in between Working and Middle-class, I'm not common as muck but I'm not a Doctor either

Working class background, now sort of lost. Educated enough to be "over-educated" (and no work experience) to not have a chance at any normal workplace, not highly educated enough to be a graduate placement.

Bloody HNDs...

I consider it these days to depend on what kind of job you have. What can be considered a "Professional" job i.e. Doctor, Lawyer, Scientist, Vet, Teacher and those who actually own their own business, but it isn't a big multi-national, those I see as middle-class - where you are in that, if it's lower or upper middle class depends on how much money you have. Working Class I consider to be a shop worker, factory worker, cleaner, ect who just gets enough money (or so we're told) to just get by. Upper Class - I consider those to have out-dated titles like the Royal Family or those who are so flithy rich they can buy themselves into it, even if otherwise they act like a twit. We mustn't forget that there's an under class of people as well these days (chavs and such...)

Chavs would be a class of their own