Lower, middle, upper class?

[butzie]

I just remembered some of the "class" stuff with my husband's family. His great aunt (mother's side) had pictures of her and Ho Chi Minh, her and Nehru, her and Piccasso, and a Piccasso. One his father's side, his grandmother and great aunts all went to college in the 1920's. Sarah, the eldest, married a barrister and " "lectured" at The London School of Economics. His grandmother had a masters in Social work and worked for NYC. Great Aunt Belle was a lawyer. She invited us to brunch. She had hired a waiter and she rang a little bell when she wanted him to do something. The youngest, Naomi, married an astrophysicist who worked at Mt. Palomar.
Talk about being intimidated! But, they were all ladies and they respected me unlike late MIL.

 

[barnshlick]

Lower class doesn't always mean poor. Where I live in San Francisco with a family of 4 under 70k is lower class, 70k-300k is middle class, and above 300k is upper class. You can be lower class but not below the poverty line. The poverty line is under 25k, while the lower class is from under 25k but expands to 70k. My father was once an artist and my mother was a freelance journalist. Together combined their household income was just under $55k, so we were "upper-lower class" as I call it, but not poor. Also both of my parents were educated, one holding an Associate's degree and the other having multiple Bachelor's In the lower class there are three divisions- the upper-lower class, which is skilled blue-collar workers, craftsmen, and artists, what people these days would call the "working class", the middle-lower/lower class which is were poor begins, they are the working poor, usually unskilled to low-skilled blue-collar workers and service-sector jobs, and the lower-lower class, usually people on welfare or single mothers with very low-paying jobs. Even below the lower-lower class is the underclass, which is lower than the lower class and its own social class, people regarding as scum by the rest of society such as homeless people, criminals, and the very poorest, often which are in a gravy state of poverty called "extreme poverty".  

Upper-Lower Class: Meet the Stone Family. The father is a secretary at a low-rung dental office and the mother is a receptionist working there. They rent a small, slightly crappy two-bedroom apartment where their three kids share a room. Together they pull in around $45,000. The father has an Associate's degree and the mother has her high school diploma/GED and some college education. They are upper-lower class.

Working Poor: Meet the Jones-Montgomery Family. The biological father in living in the housing projects and has been to prison many times and the mother works for her five kids who live in a government-subsidized apartment complex as a McDonald's manager. She has her GED. They are working poor.

Lower-Lower Class/Underclass: Meet the Smith Family. They live in a rundown trailer park in rural Alabama, having two kids. The single mother supports herself and the family with the father's child support payments and welfare checks from the government. They are waiting for an eviction notice anyday. They are underclass.

 

[colts2broncos]

Ah yes, America's caste system.

It's all about money.

Upper class is rich, middle class is just barely getting by to comfortable, and lower class is at or below the poverty line.

I grew up lower-middle class, with the understanding that the American Dream was within my reach. As I grew older and older, though, that dream has remained elusive, forever beyond my outstretched fingers, because inflation and the cost of living has caused me to live paycheck to paycheck, unable to ever "get ahead."

The middle class is shrinking, while the upperclass mostly stays the same and the lower class grows and grows. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class continue to dream while living the daily grind.

It isn't about "having" class, it's about a social hierarchy based upon income - or lack of one.

^^^THIS ^^^

I've never heard it put better in my life.

I also grew up in middle class America... looking forward to having the same life with my family.  It aint happening.  The middle class is G.O.N.E. 20 years ago we'd have been considered middle class, now with todays economic scales we are far below poverty yet we don't qualify for welfare, nor would we take it if we were.  Sadly, I prefer people of the middle or lower class for the most part, they are REAL, while the upper class, at least in my area, look down on the rest of us, not realizing how much we DO contribute to society but are rarely compensated for it.  We are blue collar, my husband drives a truck and wrenches on cars.  Where would these rich people be if the trucks stopped moving or their Benz won't start?  Then we are their best friends until we don't give them a discount....

It's always been about money to divide the classes.  Saddest part is, many of the upper class don't OWN the stuff they claim while we own everything, less our trailer.  We owe no one except the utilities and insurance companies... and guess what.  We still struggle month to month how how well off are we really?  If we didn't own our stuff we COULD get help.  It's an endless, vicious cycle

 

[sugarsandz]

My parents are upper middle class, my husband and I have never made much money so we've always been on the poor side of things. Having said that, it doesn't much bother me as we don't have a lot of debt. I'm going to be starting college soon and if I can get through that then maybe we will have a bit more money after school gets paid off.

Most people stay in debt even when they are rich since they tend to upgrade their material possessions when they earn more money, even the rich live paycheck to paycheck sometimes. I'm happy being rich with love and compassion and poor with money.

 

[dejolane]

Us 4 kids came from the middle class I guess you can say. My mom worked her butt off at the old Westinghouse company and then went to making cabinets for a living.

My dad worked as a security guard and at Rotor Rooter for awhile. We had everything we needed.

 

[andrya]

l really enjoyed reading this thread!

Here, there is not much of a "feeling" of class distinction. People are for the most part treated equally and respectfully whatever their situation. l've been in much worse circumstances than l am today and never thought l was looked down upon by anyone at any time. But maybe that's just here in this local area.

Having grown up in the north of England in a hard little mining town, there was a very strong distinction between the classes. My parents both worked and only had one child, so we could afford a nice house and nice things, but we were working class. We didn't mix with the "money people".

l'm working class here also. l earn a decent amount of money but l'm not married so for a family income it's probably low. l hang with other working class, middle class, and millionaires. We're just a bunch of people.

 

[natalie_ca]

This is a very interesting thread. Lots if intelligent responses and insight.
 

 

[mservant]

This thread makes for really interesting reading, esp because of the apparent differences across continents.  UK seems a bit more complex than the US and I don't think the emphasis on money fits so well here. From the Wiki link it feels more like the Max Weber theory still fits for a lot of people's beliefs in the UK. It is not uncommon for people to think of themselves as upper class even though they have no money because of their family history and social contacts, and it can be pretty difficult for some people who have made their own wealth from a basic starting point to be accepted in many more affluent social circles.  Mostly it seems to me class is used as a defense where people need something to identify with, resent or fear, or something to strive for.

 

[swampwitch]

Social class is about where you spend your time, and who you spend it with. Wealth is a different subject.

And upperclass people don't have to work for anything, though most do something-- you can't be upperclass without inheriting it, really. Even if they have business ventures or whatever, all the capital is money they didn't earn themselves.

I know this is an old post, but I strongly disagree. Many, many people have self-made millions from the internet alone!