I used to live in rural villages in Thailand. The people there are very poor by US standards, but their houses are extremely clean. Of course they don’t have many possessions, so that makes things a little easier.

One of the kindest, and richest, person I know is also one of the messiest.

It can be a sign of depression and/or mental illness, which cuts across class lines.

Anonymous wrote:no, but rich people can afford to hire people to clean up their messes.

This.

If a person’s house or desk is unclean/disorganized, we tend to make a moral judgement about them. However, as previous posters have stated, economic status cannot be accurately judged by level of mess or clean. I would rather think of a messy person as someone who is more creative and doesn’t feel the need to follow arbitrary rules. But you have to draw the line on that somewhere.

A well paid woman was let go at my job and I had to clean out her office. She printed every email she received and put the papers in various plastic folders. The folders were then filed in drawers - when she ran out of drawers they went into piles on every surface, then the floor. It amounted to organized hoarding. Her work suffered because she spent so much time doing this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, but rich people can afford to hire people to clean up their messes.

This.

I know a woman who cleans for millionaires. They are complete slobs. If something gets spilled they leave it for her to clean up. Clogged toilet? The housekeeper will deal with it tomorrow.

I get this thinking. I don't think that millionaires are inherently slobs, but if you can pay to have someone do everything why wouldn't you?

Why? Because it's slovenly. Or maybe just lazy. The housekeeper isn't live in. These messes are left overnight- at least.

I don’t think a messy house is a signifier of class. However, I do think a trashed car is a sign of a low class person. There’s just no excuse for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up UC. I had maids and cook. I am very messy as I genuinely did not learn how to tidy up. Now that I live on my own it is a struggle.

I grew up UMC. My mom was a neat freak. She was always cleaning. She always cleaned herself. I did not inherit that gene. I am messy/disorganized and my older son is exactly like me. I married a neat freak and my younger son is just like him. I have cleaners come once per week and I’m always running around picking up before she arrives.

I love minimalist/clean lines, but I can’t keep it that way (or things are shoved in over-flowing closets and drawers).

I often wonder if there is some genetic component to it.

I think it is genetic. In our family, we have hoarders and neat freaks, and not really much in between (I also have the theory that they are different sides of the same coin).

Anonymous wrote:Just plain old garden-variety messy? I think anyone can be, irrespective of status.

Hoarder-level messy? With rotting cars & old furniture choking the lawn, goat trails inside, with rodent & cockroach problems that the inhabitants accept as normal? I’ve only ever seen that in low-income areas.

Trust me, there are some quite wealthy hoarders out there. It’s a mental health issue, not a class issue.

Our HHi increased threefold during the last year. I am out of the house 13 hours a day and DH is overseas. We have an au pair but her job is not to clean. Nothing it too terrible but the house has been sliding into clutter. We can afford a cleaning lady but what’s the rush if I still have to sew with the clutter first.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, but rich people can afford to hire people to clean up their messes.

This.

I know a woman who cleans for millionaires. They are complete slobs. If something gets spilled they leave it for her to clean up. Clogged toilet? The housekeeper will deal with it tomorrow.

I get this thinking. I don't think that millionaires are inherently slobs, but if you can pay to have someone do everything why wouldn't you?

Leaving golden nuggets in the toilet for the housekeeper to plunge as the aroma gets thicker is just nasty

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually I noticed people who have had less tend to be more careful with their worldly possessions and less messy.

Yes, the neatest people I know grew up working class or poor and now they made it, they take care of their stuff a lot better than the people who have always had stuff handed to them.

Likewise. The salvi and guatemalan women I know are very neat and tidy but back home they lived in a hut or tiny home with dirt floors and chickens. The messiest people I know grew up with money.

No, my lower SES relatives have super neat houses, they have a lot more time than I do.

Anonymous wrote:Upper class life is a mess.

What do you mean?

Messiness is being the top soccer player.