Reply to What does middle class mean to you?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are so many posts about the income or wealth levels associated with being middle class.  Setting aside dollar amount, what does MC mean to you.

For me:
Owning a home by your 30s, not necessarily at detached SFM
Can easily afford food, clothing, and utilities
Can afford a vehicle
Can retire someday

[/quote]

To me I've always felt the best depiction of middle class is the tv show Roseanne. The majority of "middle class" descriptions outlined on this board are all forms of the upper middle class to me. [/quote]

Yea this board is full of people totally out of touch with middle class. Middle class is one car for the entire family where most repair work is done at home using your own hands, middle class is maybe owning a home, but likely renting. Middle class is family vacations that are a drive, never an airplane ride. Middle class is rec sports, not travel. Middle class is dining out only on very special occasions so maybe 6xs a year. Middle class is modest college savings for state schools with kids shouldering half the cost in the form of loans. Middle class is working until full retirement age.

Most people on here think a UMC life is middle class which shows how little they get out. [/quote]

Nope, you are both wrong.

The family on Roseanne was working class. No college degrees, working menial jobs with little job security.

Middle class was a term coined to describe people who used education and professional careers to reach a level of economic security that was out of reach of working class people. It originally mostly described managers, who earned salaries instead of hourly wages and had more reliable work hours and maybe even some benefits. It could also apply to white collar workers like accountants, lawyers, even doctors, but were not talking Big Law partners, Big4 accountants, or surgical attending— more like solo practitioners serving a community. But still, making more money and having more security and stability that people who worked on assembly lines or waiting tables.

So yes, middle class people likely own homes, work salaried jobs, have some savings. Might have two cars under some circumstances (especially if dual income and living in a suburb). Todays middle class includes jobs that used to be considered working class but now require more training and education, and which pay better thanks to unions and demand (and feminism) — nurses, teachers. Most government employees are middle class.

Upper middle class was coined to describe the highest achievers within the middle class grouping. These are people who still must work full time jobs (though a UMC family is more likely to be able to afford a SAHP or part-time spouse), but with far more security and disposable income.

So the family on Roseanne was working class in the 90s and it’s working class now.[/quote]

Roseanne and family were working middle class. I don't get you people. There is poor/poverty, middle class (there is a range), upper middle, and rich.[/quote]

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