Lower Middle Class VS Upper Middle Class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, people are constantly bringing socioeconomic class into conversations on DCUM. I simply wanted to start a thread for it. If you don't want to contribute to the conversation, click on a different thread, simple as that.

I don't see how this is actually about socioeconomics. Instead, it comes across as your judgment of people you perceive as a lower class than yourself based on anecdotes from your own experiences.

Yes, OP, this thread is not about socioeconomic class. It's about what people of a certain socioeconomic class believe to be true about socioeconomic class. Very meta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, people are constantly bringing socioeconomic class into conversations on DCUM. I simply wanted to start a thread for it. If you don't want to contribute to the conversation, click on a different thread, simple as that.

There was a thread on differences between classes, and those threads, in my opinion, devolve into stereotypes and anecdotes, neither of which are really useful or interesting or present any new information if you are actually interested in sociology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, I live in upper NW DC and all the children I know call me "Larla's mom," what does that mean?

Trailer park.

(And Larla is a stripper name.)

m

You must be new around here, aren't you? Bless your heart.

Yikes! Somebody's being snarky about somebody who was being snarky about somebody who was being snarky!

[Anonymous]

They were taught better money management skills and consequently have better retirements. They value education more than my family ever did. They were taught healthier eating habits than I was. They seem, overall, healthier emotionally and physically, although it's not a huge difference. But noticeable.

I have noticed this too. I grew up upper middle class, husband grew up lower middle class. There is a huge difference in how my family eats (my mom frequently cooks from scratch with fresh produce, whereas everything in my MIL's house is filled with butter, sugar, or gravy or fried and my in-laws eat a lot of fast food). My family also valued education far more than his did (or knew more about how to guide me through my education)--moved into a top school district, paid for all of my college at a private liberal arts school. For my in-laws schools were not even something they considered when choosing a place to live, they lived near family and my husband attended the nearest school, which was the only option because it was in a rural area where private schools didn't even exist and they did not pay for college-he went to the nearest in state college. I was taught better financial habits with regard to investing, retirement, and taking advantage of the tax code. That said, we're at the same place now, we both know that our respective families love and support us, and my husband is grateful rather than resentful that I internalized some of these things and we are better off for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think that the aticle cited to divide rich vs middle class is the following which basically states the middle class ends at 500k a year in the DC area.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-04-21/local/35451899_1_household-income-income-data-income-inequality
"it takes a household income far above the national average of $387,000. The gateway for the region is $527,000. In the District, the top 1 percent of households bring in at least $617,000; in Montgomery County, more than $606,000; and in Fairfax County, $532,000,"

Also if you read this article about 20-25% of the population in the DC are has an HHI of $195K HHI or higher.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/census-high-income/

PP, this doesn't actually mean that people with a household income of $495,000 in the DC area are middle class. It means that there are a lot of rich people in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I assume that you're referring to how children address adults. We live in NW DC and have noticed that the only parents who want to be addressed as Mr./Mrs. SoandSo are white people from the deep south and those who identify strongly as political conservatives. Also some but certainly not all African American parents, especially if they are from the south. Our friends tend to be politically liberal and either completely secular or Jewish, and I can't think of any of them who ask to be addressed as Mr./Mrs. "

Live in Vienna. Late 40s. Liberal. Insist my children's friends call me Mrs Lastname, raising my kids to call their friends' parents by their last names as well. We're all upper middle class.

We [white] are addressed as Mrs and Mr _. We are from the NE and are liberal dems. Only adults who ever wanted my kids to use first names were an elderly close friend [AA]who chose to have them call her Aunt _ as did a peer[age] of mine who was a Jewish dem. Those friendships of mine predated the kids. All the DC's friend parents are called by title and last name to their face.

Same pattern held in NW DC.

[Anonymous]

Our household income is 105k. I stay home. Husband is home by 5 or 6 pm. We have five kids 12 and under in a 4 bathroom 2 bathroom ranch. Public schools. We don't invest in 529s and plan to encourage skilled trades or entrepreneurship- if college, community college first. We live way out of the way, have a little ranch on 2.5 acres and a 9 pound dog from the humane society.

We have 3 4 wheelers and a vintage moped that the kids and husband play with in our yard. I have birth at at home. We don't eat organic and don't eat processed foods at home. Mostly lean meats/chicken/salmon and veggies. Minimal starches, no pasta, crackers, breads. The kids are in scouts and all do an activity together once a week. They are in some after school academic clubs. Lots of white space on the calendar.

We shop at goodwill and wear very nice secondhand clothes. We & the kids call all adults by first name unless very elderly and sweet folks, whom we call mr or mrs first name.

We both have bachelors degrees.

We paid off our little house ($320k) and have a house ($320k) our old house in the Midwest also paid off, as a rental.

We don't have cable, do have iPhones and a landline, go out to eat at least once a week, get each kid 6-7 gifts at Christmas and birthdays.

What class am I?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, I live in upper NW DC and all the children I know call me "Larla's mom," what does that mean?

It means that all the children you know spend WAYYYY too much time on DCUM and that you need to help them find more child-appropriate activities.

[Anonymous]

Wow - I never realized I was lower class until reading this thread....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, I live in upper NW DC and all the children I know call me "Larla's mom," what does that mean?

It means that all the children you know spend WAYYYY too much time on DCUM and that you need to help them find more child-appropriate activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our household income is 105k. I stay home. Husband is home by 5 or 6 pm. We have five kids 12 and under in a 4 bathroom 2 bathroom ranch. Public schools. We don't invest in 529s and plan to encourage skilled trades or entrepreneurship- if college, community college first. We live way out of the way, have a little ranch on 2.5 acres and a 9 pound dog from the humane society.

We have 3 4 wheelers and a vintage moped that the kids and husband play with in our yard. I have birth at at home. We don't eat organic and don't eat processed foods at home. Mostly lean meats/chicken/salmon and veggies. Minimal starches, no pasta, crackers, breads. The kids are in scouts and all do an activity together once a week. They are in some after school academic clubs. Lots of white space on the calendar.

We shop at goodwill and wear very nice secondhand clothes. We & the kids call all adults by first name unless very elderly and sweet folks, whom we call mr or mrs first name.

We both have bachelors degrees.

We paid off our little house ($320k) and have a house ($320k) our old house in the Midwest also paid off, as a rental.

We don't have cable, do have iPhones and a landline, go out to eat at least once a week, get each kid 6-7 gifts at Christmas and birthdays.

What class am I?

Middle middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our household income is 105k. I stay home. Husband is home by 5 or 6 pm. We have five kids 12 and under in a 4 bathroom 2 bathroom ranch. Public schools. We don't invest in 529s and plan to encourage skilled trades or entrepreneurship- if college, community college first. We live way out of the way, have a little ranch on 2.5 acres and a 9 pound dog from the humane society.

We have 3 4 wheelers and a vintage moped that the kids and husband play with in our yard. I have birth at at home. We don't eat organic and don't eat processed foods at home. Mostly lean meats/chicken/salmon and veggies. Minimal starches, no pasta, crackers, breads. The kids are in scouts and all do an activity together once a week. They are in some after school academic clubs. Lots of white space on the calendar.

We shop at goodwill and wear very nice secondhand clothes. We & the kids call all adults by first name unless very elderly and sweet folks, whom we call mr or mrs first name.

We both have bachelors degrees.

We paid off our little house ($320k) and have a house ($320k) our old house in the Midwest also paid off, as a rental.

We don't have cable, do have iPhones and a landline, go out to eat at least once a week, get each kid 6-7 gifts at Christmas and birthdays.

What class am I?

lower middle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest difference I have noticed is that upper middle class people are obsessed with providing what they perceive to be the best for their kids...from organic food to limiting screen time, to Suzuki lessons at age 4, to Montessori preschool, to private and/or the best public schools in high SES locations. They are concerned with their kids going to the best fit/most competitive college than can go to irregardless of cost. They also fret about saving in 529s and what corners they can cut so that they can make private high school an option. They consider international travel to be an important, culturally enriching experience that children should have. They fret over whether or not it is damaging to the psyche for their kid to grow up without a yard, or whether it is justifiable to live in a condo so they can ride the metro to preschool and walk to the farmer's market. They tend to be relentless helicopter parents.

Lower middle class tend to be more laid back about junk food, less concerned about THE BEST schools, and more about living someplace that fits the needs and budget and has the right fit for their families. They tend to not freak out about having the TV on all the time and about too much Dora time. They don't think to scour Greatschools.com to figure out all the options they have and whether nor not the greatschools rating is a 9 or a 10, and just move into a nice, middle class neighborhood and sent their kids to the most convenient neighborhood school. They encourage education, but going in state to get in state tuition, rather than freaking out about getting into ivies or if their kid isn't competitive enough to get into ivies "the best fit school." They frequently don't save in 529s, either because they paid for college and they expect their kids to as well with loans, or because they are just making enough to get by, and there isn't any left over to save for college. Sometimes it is taken as a point of pride that their kids have "skin in the game" and not everything "handed to them." The same is said for weddings and other life expenses that are not within their budget--not helping them financially is a mark of developing self-sufficiency.

You are lower middle class, because you used "irregardless."

[Anonymous]

14:38 here. I have always thought middle middle or sometimes in life (when I worked especially) even upper middle because of how wise we are with money, but I think from reading here that someone upper middle would have to value education more, live a busier more "complicated" life. We do keep things as simple as possible- so low class it is!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think that the aticle cited to divide rich vs middle class is the following which basically states the middle class ends at 500k a year in the DC area.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-04-21/local/35451899_1_household-income-income-data-income-inequality
"it takes a household income far above the national average of $387,000. The gateway for the region is $527,000. In the District, the top 1 percent of households bring in at least $617,000; in Montgomery County, more than $606,000; and in Fairfax County, $532,000,"

Also if you read this article about 20-25% of the population in the DC are has an HHI of $195K HHI or higher.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/census-high-income/

PP, this doesn't actually mean that people with a household income of $495,000 in the DC area are middle class. It means that there are a lot of rich people in the DC area.

This article is saying the entry point for the upper class is much higher here in DC - nationwide you would be in the top 1% at 387K, but in DC the top 1% is 532K and up.

Just to clarify.