billythekid

From WIKI:

The upper class is the social class composed of those who are wealthy, well-born, or both. They usually wield the greatest political power. In some countries, wealth alone is sufficient to allow entry into the upper class. In others, only people born into certain aristocratic bloodlines are considered members of the upper class, and those who gain great wealth through commercial activity are looked down upon as nouveau riche.

In the United Kingdom, for example, the Upper Classes are the aristocracy and royalty, with wealth playing a less important role in class status. Many Aristocratic Peerages Titles have 'seats' attached to them, with the holder of the title (e.g. Earl of Bristol) and his family being the custodians of the house, but not the owners. Many of these require high expenditures, so wealth is typically needed. Many Aristocratic Peerages and their homes are parts of estates, owned and run by the title holder with moneys generated by the land, rents, or other sources wealth.

In America, however, where there is no aristocracy or royalty, the Upper Class status belongs to the extremely wealthy, the so-called 'super-rich', though there is some tendency even in America for those with old family wealth to look down on those who have earned their money in business, the struggle between New Money and Old Money.

The upper class is generally contained within the wealthiest 1 or 2 percent of the population. Members of the upper class are often born into it, and are distinguished by immense wealth which is passed from generation to generation in the form of estates. Sometimes members of the upper class are called "the one percent".

The middle class is the most contested of the three categorizations, the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the lower and upper classes. One example of the contestation of this term is that in the United States "middle class" is applied very broadly and includes people who would elsewhere be considered lower class. Middle class workers are sometimes called "white-collar workers".

Lower class (occasionally described as working class) are those employed in low-paying wage jobs with very little economic security.

The working class is sometimes separated into those who are employed but lacking financial security, and an underclass—those who are long-term unemployed and/or homeless, especially those receiving welfare from the state. The latter is analogous to the Marxist term "lumpenproletariat". Members of the working class are sometimes called blue-collar workers.

In the United States, the terms working class and blue-collar may refer to employed and hard-working members of the middle-middle and lower-middle class, while the upper-middle class in the United States often refers to employment positions that require a college or graduate degree.

Shaid

Technical middle class.... yaaay

The Pink Ninja

iTrader: (23)

Established middle class.....my ****,

To the people who actually know me... is this correct??

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Established middle class.

Not quite sure how they work that out.

john banks

Based on 10 years ago when I was paying off student debt then technical middle class, but based on now elite. The description of the background of elite really doesn't fit though as I was brought up in a single parent family, had behavioural problems and received free school meals. There isn't a bit of Home Counties or privately educated privilege here.

magepaster

iTrader: (2)

Established Middle Class

mart360

Elite, go figure lol

How do my personal tastes determine my social standing lol.

Just because dont drink, and like to look at stately homes, and like classical music ??


Mart

AndyBaker

+1

dpb

Isn't it fabulously British that this survey even exists.



Quite bizarre

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

What a load of rubbish.


P.s. elite

ScoobyDoo555

Established middle class.....

About right tbh.

Kwik

iTrader: (10)

Emergent service workers

This class group is financially insecure, scoring low for savings and house value, but high for social and cultural factors. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:

Are young
Enjoy a cultured social life
Rent their home - almost 90%

CREWJ

Emergent service workers



I blame it on not owning a house or savings

hodgy0_2

in reality much more nuanced than a mere seven, and I say that as someone approaching the lower reaches of the upper middle class

richie001

iTrader: (3)

Emergent service workers

This class group is financially insecure, scoring low for savings and house value, but high for social and cultural factors. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:

Are young
Enjoy a cultured social life
Rent their home - almost 90%

Steve vRS

Technical Middle Class

Kwik

iTrader: (10)

All the middle classes filled this in and posted while the rest of us were at work

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

I was just thinking the same thing.

Suresh

Well I'm elite apparently. I own a BMW so that certainly feels right. :-o

Steve T

iTrader: (14)

Technical middle class.

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

You missed a bit!

They are an urban group, living in inexpensive locations in large cities like Newcastle.

Ah well, I can cope with being not quite scum.

mrmadcap

Very true, i did two versions, same information except:

Home owner - Established Middle Class
Rented - Emergent Service Worker

So it all depends on whether you own property.

theboy

Technical middle class

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Established middle class........not sure how they worked that out, my dad was a painter and decorator and we had an outside toilet.


Shaun

BULLITT

Technical middle class.... Apparently

Jamie330S

iTrader: (2)

Technical middle class

zip106

First go I was Elite, second go I ticked the 'Listen to rap/hip hop' as my daughter does sometimes, and kept everything else as before, and it downgraded me to traditional working class

zip106

Good God, you're a boring ******.

Flight

Here is my analysis ....


Elite - you own an Impreza, it sits next to the Jag or Range Rover. You don't drive the Impreza often but it's how you remind yourself of your youth when life was much more fun. You always feel compelled do defend your Impreza in front of the wife and kids who thinks its a chav car.

Established middle class - as above but you don't own a Jag or Range Rover. But on the plus side you have a BMW company car.

Technical middle class - you own a recent model Imprexa STi. You don't really care about its heritage. You mainly drive it because you know you can **** off BMW drivers. You get annoyed when some chav Impreza owner think they "part of the gang".

New affluent workers - you drive a newish Impreza WRX even though it's costing way more than you expected. The horror stories of engine rebuilds and repairs are worring you. But you still try to convince the wife it's a sensible 4 door family car. You're pissed off you spent money on a WRX and it doesn't quite match your neighbours BMW. You hanker after an STi

Traditional working class - what's an Impreza? You can't beat a Cortina.

Emergent service workers - More likely to own a Justy or old Legacy than an Impreza. Form and function over performance is the name of the game.

Precariat, or precarious proletariat - Will own an old WRX or T2000 - but think it's an STi because that is what the ebay advert said. The colour of the car is like nothing that left the factory. It's immaterial really as at 150k miles the engine is shagged regardless. However you still think it'll eat Jags for breakfast. You wonder why other Impreza owners do not wave at you - but ****-em, it's just because they're jealous of your car.

Osimabu

iTrader: (2)

The survey is wrong. You're working class, and I know this because if you'd been middle class you'd have had an outside lavatory...!

Sorry, I couldn't resist that.

Apparently, I'm a Newly Affluent Worker, whatever that is. On my desert island, I'd take the complete works of J S Bach in preference to any other music (although Heinrich Schutz would be a close second), and I read the Telegraph and Sunday Times, so I've always assumed I'm middle class.

But I'm also a plumber....

And confused.