Which class am I? | New Statesman

[@NewStatesman]

Most people in our study thought a salary of £40,000 a year means you're rich. Do you agree? Let us know!

[@annaeverette8960]

£40k-£100k is still middle class. It's also worth remembering that being taxed at the highest rate, while you're on the lower end of the corresponding threshold, is not a position of privilege. (I say "highest" because there is only 5% additional tax for £150k and above, whereas the rate increase between the lower bands is 20%). £40k is just a good position to be in, because you benefit from the moderate tax rate while earning enough to rent your own place.

[@dontwatchtv5797]

@@annaeverette8960 40k is more than enough for a mortgage

[@annaeverette8960]

@@dontwatchtv5797 Remember you still need to pay rent at your current place while saving up for the downpayment, plus there's everyday luxuries like food and bills.

[@coopsnz1]

My Dad earn £ 400000 pounds civil construction he wasn't rich he was upper class with huge debts a mortgage on business & homes in the millions . Net worth is what you have other debts pay off

[@coopsnz1]

@@annaeverette8960 middle class is assets class like upper class , the government shrinks the classes pushing up taxes

[@nre0]

People think 40k makes you rich? I've been in London too long

[@zaveeramini9712]

Shopping at LIDL and ALDI just means you have financial intelligence.

[@Biozene]

£40,000 a year is not even close to being rich. It's a fair bit less than £40,000 after tax is taken into account too. And I'm nowhere near wealthy (yet), so this isn't a blinkered view from privilege.

[@coopsnz1]

This left politics garbage , my Dad earn $400000 nzd he wasn't rich

[@islandpersuasion4690]

Anybody who HAS to go to work every Monday morning is working class.

[@TheL184]

Theoretically nobody has to work Monday morning. I think you're confusing how you may be exploited vs not. A black cab driver does not have to work Monday but you cannot consider said driver to be upper middle class.

[@MegakillerFortnight]

@@TheL184true true

[@usefulrandom1855]

@@TheL184 If you have work you are working class. If you do not have to work you are middle class, if you are upper class you are aristocracy or very close to it. That's one way to look at it. Thats not to say middle class people do not work, its just they choose too. That's how I view things anyway.

[@leeoreilly6797]

The British public would probably vote to reinstate the death penalty for benefits cheats, if the question was posed in a referendum. There is no point asking for the British public's opinion on any matter. Also, lol at the idea different jobs put people in different classes. What a bizarre notion. If your income is solely based on PAYE income, you're working class, you work to survive.

[@rEAI1ty]

So someone earning £200k a year is working class?

[@Zoe-dr5ps]

Affording what you want to eat for dinner every night. More than one pair of shoes. To have the heat on all the time when it's cold. Affording the doctor /dentist/opticians whenever you need. Veterinary care. Savings. Fixing things around the house without a big panic about how to pay for it. Having a nice car and a home. That's what I think would be living comfortable to me.

[@Nekhil-uf4rz]

Completely missed the mark on this one. Class has more to do with speech and accent, behaviour, educational background, family background, profession, buying habits, hobbies and interests. Read Watching the English

[@stephenkiely9244]

40k is rich? All results are null after that. Useless

[@coopsnz1]

It left wing garbage a million salary rich , under that upper class don't own private Jets

[@chubbyBunny94]

I'm 29. After 3 redundancies in a row, I finally earn £35K. My wife earns ~£30k but works term time. We've been together 13 years, never been on holiday abroad together. We've got a house and one car (old corsa). We shop at aldi and sometimes asda to treat ourselves (always regret after we see the receipt). I fear that my life will be this mundane until I stumble and cannot get back up... but I don't know how to break out of this cycle and 'live' a little. We don't even have kids yet.. how the flip do people do it? Am i missing something or am I naive and this is what life is like?

[@zaveeramini9712]

You're definitely doing something wrong my dude. You're probably living somewhere expensive and/or don't know how to save enough money to buy a cheap house with a cheap mortgage. You have to take small steps to get on property ladder.

[@fionan7311]

Maybe your bills are too high? With combined salary of 65k it definitely seems enough to be able to afford a holiday abroad (even though outside term time prices are high). Consider doing a budgeting spreadsheet and study all the outgoings.

[@adriantostevin5776]

I bought my first property for £30k with a £25k mortgage at the age of 20. Within a couple of years it had doubled in value so I sold and moved up the ladder. A few years later I put everything I had into a large property and a number of years later sold again. This is the key. Now living in a £1.8m beachside property with less than £50k left on the mortgage, plus another £1m in investments and other property. And my salary was never that big.

[@janesmith9024]

What most people use as their first filter - accent and words used was completely lacking in here which surprised me. It is not a matter of income. It is about things like if you say toilet or lavatory, if you are in a profession rather than just a trade and of course private schooling as was already mentioned.

[@auroradyz391]

I earn £58k before tax but still only pick up about £700/week after deductions as an umbrella contractor. I still shop at Aldi and Lidl, own a cheap house in a very working class northern neighbourhood. I very definitely consider myself working class. The people surveyed in this video have a very low estimation of what constitutes ‘rich, middle and upper class’. For me this is how it goes: Working class: manual labour of any type, has no choice but to sell their labour to eat and pay rent, has no ability to save, forced to use social housing either for rental or right to buy. Middle class: office workers in occupations paying at least 4 times the UK average. Almost certainly went to private school, educated to degree level or above, has or will have some inherited wealth and has the ability to save and buy their own property. Upper class: went to top private schools, colleges and finishing schools. Inherited wealth, have no discernible accent, has connections with people in high places, often just lazy and fall into jobs by default but don’t necessarily have to work to support themselves. Sit on their millions and invest to make even more money and very definitely vote Tory. Aka as selfish assholes! Elite: owns a yacht, traffics children, exploits the working class, thinks everyone else was out on the planet to serve them and only them in EVERY way, including sexually and from birth. Finds it pleasurable to see the working class struggle and state things like ‘get another job along side your already existing 60 hour a week and you will better yourself’ but then condemns them for not spending any time at home to instill morality and good behaviour in their children!

[@penguingobrrbrr353]

What you said do make sense but....is the ELITE like a 'owning class' ?? i think it depends on the person because some people like to save a lot others don't save a penny. Here in Eastern Europe "middle income" is 700-800euro even below in some countries. The lower class there earn 200-600euro a month and to my surprise the upper income earns anywhere from 2000-100,000euro a month BUT ! this doesnt say if you own multiple assets such as real state, stocks or anything that produce income without you trading your time. I think even if you earn the "middle" income which is average for most people but you don't trade your time instead your real estate properties give this to you then you are definitely upper middle class :). What % do you think are these people that own lets say 10+ properties ? i believe below 5% :D. Most people make around 10,000-20,000euro a year. Now imagine someone making the same money but doesnt trade the time i feel like this person is definitely on a different level. I also don't think going to private schools or colleges is what makes you upper class because so many people don't have a degree yet they earn a lot of money. All comes down to the persons habits and his spending.

[@KPR888]

Bit harsh

[@auroradyz391]

@@KPR888 it may be harsh but it’s definitely honest!

[@oasis4life014]

I'm a Manual worker... a bricklayer and I own my house it's a 4 bed and I'm working class I've grafted 6 days a week for 20 years....

[@zaveeramini9712]

This is the working class mindset. With this mindset and attitude towards people you will most certainly stay a working class for generations to come.

[@osirisofthesouth2853]

Lool the “ background “ guy struck twice 😂😂😂

[@nlbm]

The truth is that it’s nothing to do with salary and all to do with assets owned.

[@londonspade5896]

If you have a job, you are poor. Upper class people don't work. Middle class are just slightly less poor poor people.

[@Makalon102]

Pretty much, having enough money to have a good salary off investments alone, unfortunately the average Brit knows nothing about stocks

[@Marenqo]

Would have thought academics are more upper class than lawyers

[@evilzzzability]

lawyers (and most others) are smart enough to know how crap the pay is in academia, something that acamedics have yet to realise

[@Marenqo]

@@evilzzzability lol. Truth.

[@tupouakau8983]

Part of my job break the fibre and rebuilt again .

[@tupouakau8983]

Just a medium of Exchange. GDP.

[@Foxingban]

middle class is lives in a house worth more than a mil I'd say you'd be very hard pushed to find anyone with a working class accent in a house worth more than a mil

[@oasis4life014]

I work on a building site as a bricklayer 6 days a week and i earn £2000 a week as a min and i work fucking hard for that money.... i am working class... dont ever call me upper class!!!!!

[@AndrzejLondyn]

Food at Waitrose are not much better than at Tesco.

[@mk4reala965]

✔✔✔ full marks

[@annaeverette8960]

ASDA is genuinely so much better than Waitrose.

[@carltontweedle5724]

Who said there is a class. We are born equal. Does that not mean we are equal, or some more equal then others. Animal Farm.

[@coopsnz1]

Buying power in a country does , more home ownership & business ownership means more middle class. Uk middle class grew since 70s and Denmark middle class shrunk

[@coopsnz1]

That rich class not upper class owning a private jet

[@coopsnz1]

Middle class have there gym in there homes