What Class Are You?

After three years of poverty, we have happily rejoined the ranks of the illustrious lower-middle class.  

harmonium.ro wrote: I was last option all my life, but recently upgraded one option above.

Congratulations on gaining some ground in this economy. My family was relatively lower middle class when I was growing up. Since the recession began, its kept us on the edge of being impoverished, i.e. losing everything. Like they say, it really is "living paycheck to paycheck." I think the only difference between the lower middle class, a term I disagree with (but that's another story), and the so called "impoverished" 20% of the population, is that one is in the process of becoming more impoverished and the other has hit rock bottom.

These categories are vague and play into how nearly everyone in America sees themselves a "middle class".

According to wiki, upper middle class
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States

That's for the overall US though.
I live in a f**king expensive county...well everything in NJ is f**king expensive
So for my area I am pretty much middle middle.


Edited by JJLehto - March 27 2012 at 19:40

Henry Plainview wrote: These categories are vague and play into how nearly everyone in America sees themselves a "middle class".

Yes they are vague, so I tried to double up on the two main lines of terminology, the American one (middle class is most of population), and the old one (working class, middle class, upper class).

I favor the old method of recognizing class by ownership of productive property, which makes society look like a pyramid with a very small cap. But that would be slightly confusing given current conventions. In fact It is more popular today among serious people to do something like divide the population's income levels by 5.

Top 20%
Second To Top 20%
Middle 20%
Second to Last 20%
Last 20%

"Quintiles" I believe, it got a funny mention on the Simpsons in 2008.

I find this last method is really indefinite, and lacks descriptive, common sense character. So what results here is an unholy compromise with the common parlance favored and is very vague indeed.

You could be a small business owner and still be lower class.

Middle class (currently looking for a job as archivist) - with a complex background: my mother had been a social worker until her retirement last year, while my father had been working in construction as both a professional trainer and a foreman for the last 15 years.
But I have some difficulties to remember his whole career: he even had been a waiter in London in the early 70's!

Born working class, but now, owning my own home, plus the fact my wife & I both have cars, I guess that makes me upper working/lower middle class, I guess.

Arbitrary differences in any case - I know people considerably better off than me who I still manage to look down on ... begs the question, is class a matter of possessions/status or outlook?

I'm on salary, making decent figures, capable of keeping the bills paid, not starving.  I guess that makes me middle class.  That might change if I had a family to support.....

I'm a 4th edition Rogue.