Which of These Social Classes Do You Consider Yourself a Part Of?

[H. Ross Peron]

Choose all the apply.

[Cranberry]

I'd say middle to upper-middle class... That is, my parents.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

The hard working class. I'll never have a break until this bar nightmare is over.

[Potus]

Before my parents' divorce, I would say we were upper middle class. Today, I'd solidly middle class.

[morgieb]

I'd say Upper Middle, but Middle could also apply. That is my parents though.

[BaconBacon96]

Middle Class probably.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Upper middle class, but yeah... only because of my parents. I anticipate ending up square in the middle class if things go well, but I could see myself being lazy enough to end up on welfare in the projects, too.

[Phony Moderate]

Working-class, although the term "middle-class" has very different connotations here.

[SWE]

Middle Class or Lower Middle Class

[Franzl]

Born into the upper middle class. (like most people on Atlas)

[dead0man]

Born middle class (in the real sense, both parents worked, neither made a lot, certainly didn't spend a lot), have lived a lower middle class most of my adult life, but now that I'm starting to get rid of children I'm creeping back into the middle.

[Franzl]

Born middle class (in the real sense, both parents worked, neither made a lot, certainly didn't spend a lot), have lived a lower middle class most of my adult life, but now that I'm starting to get rid of children I'm creeping back into the middle.

Getting rid of your children, are you? Sure you should be discussing this in public?

[dead0man]

Oh, I'm not killing them off, just selling them to Gypsies.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Middle and working class.

[angus]

Choose all the apply.

I voted for working class, middle class, and upper middle class. 

I'm not sure how all these are defined though.  I know that my wife and I both work, so working class fits.  Also, we're not rich and we're not poor, so middle class fits.  I also selected upper middle based on income.  Our combined household income is in the upper quintile, so some might want to modify the "middle class" label with "upper."  I'm okay with either one, as long as the word "middle" is in there somewhere.

How does one define these terms?  Wikipedia has an extremely long article on "American Middle Class" and it deals with value systems, educational levels, and income.  By its description, my guess is that about 99% of those who post on this forum can find a way to fit into it.  Money magazine has a nine-question quiz designed to let you know if you're in the middle class.  President Obama used the term "middle class" seven times in his most recent SOTU address.  John Boehner uses the phrase at least that many times every day.  USAToday writes that although "no one can really agree exactly" on what it means, it's a matter of income and attitude.  In fact, apparently it is mostly attitude that defines the middle class.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Intelligentsia.

[Cassius]

Lower-Upper Middle Class.

[Franzl]

Oh, I'm not killing them off, just selling them to Gypsies.

Surely you could have found higher paying buyers?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I voted like angus did for many of the same reasons.

[angus]

I've been reading about this.  (yeah, all of the sudden I'm a goddamned expert)

Apparently class is a very vague construct in the United States, and everybody wants to identify with the amorphous middle.  In this poll, 38 have voted, and there are 47 votes for terms with the word middle in there somewhere.  Apparently by the year 1913, there were more Americans identifying as "middle class" than as "lower class" and more than "upper class" as well. 

It's not just an American phenom either.  Apparently in the UK, 75% of the people now self-identify as "middle class."  Tony Blair repurposed his party as "New Labour" in order to better capture the votes of these new "middle class" voters.  In Germany, where once even well-paid, white-collar workers were proud to call themselves proletarian and eschew the Mittlestandes label, about 60% of the population now considers itself middle class.  However, that number is down from the nearly 70% who considered themselves middle class in the 1990s.  A sign of the times, I suppose.

Even in Mexico, where perhaps the term encompasses a broader income range than in the United States because it emphasizes urbanity over a pastoral existence, the middle class label is borne with pride.  According to Luis Rubio, president of the Center of Research for Development of Mexico, the middle class in Mexico consists of people whose incomes range from several deciles below the median to the top decile.  The matter is further complicated by household sizes, which have a much broader range in Mexico than in the United States.  Nevertheless, a whopping 75% of all Mexicans describe themselves as a part of la clase media. 

This is not true in France, however.  A report published last year in Paris showed that only 48% of people consider themselves middle class, compared with 52% in 2010.  Bourgeois, moi?  Non!  This is particularly surprising to me since the middle class in France dominates the culture more so even than in the UK, where movies and television more often portrays the lower classes and their values.  Maybe it's cultural.  Maybe the bourgeoisie who drove Le Terreur of the 1790s still haunt the collective French memory. 

[Maxwell]

Middle Class, not upper or lower.

[TDAS04]

Middle or Upper Middle Class.

[PPT Spiral]

Lower middle class/working class

[Antonio the Sixth]

Middle or Upper Middle Class.

^

Closer to the latter, I guess. Though I'll probably slide back into the former when I no longer live off my parents.

[Redalgo]

I am lower class, following a childhood in the upper-middle class, though some degree of upward mobility is almost certain in the future on account of privileges earlier conveyed by relatives.