Do you cross Socioeconomic Class lines?

[iammalcolmx]

Curious about this on here. Your friends on here do not count unless you have met and keep in contact on a regular basis. For example NitaX , 1234FIF! , @natariru , etc. and I who are indeed in the same socioeconomic class.

For the most part, do you cross class lines?  Family actually counts, because I am interested in seeing how many are of a different class.

Here is my answer : Not really. There are a couple exceptions in both directions.

[pixy0stix]

Yes. A majority of my family is still below poverty line. As are several of my friends from growing up that I still keep in touch regularly with. I'm solid middle class. We (dh and I as a couple) have several UMC and a few upper class friends.

[bex]

Not really. There may be a few friends here and there who make significantly more money than we do (my brother makes a lot more than me and I think in 20 years I would consider his daughters to be in a different class than my boys, but not just yet) and a few who make less but we are all roughly pretty even and all come from similar backgrounds.

I am not personally friends with anyone who comes from significant wealth. I definitely knew people in college like that, but we haven't kept in touch.

I have a few friends who came from poorer backgrounds than mine but currently our socioeconomic status is the same.

[NitaX]

Yes. I have friends across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.

I have friends and family who fall below the poverty line, and a few friends who are upper class. Also, I get along well with almost anyone, so there's that!

[lilypad1126]

Yes. I have both friends and family across the socioeconomic spectrum.

[StrawberryBlondie]

DH and I disagree where we fall... I think we're more upper-middle class, he thinks we're pretty solidly middle class.

With that said, with friends, not really. A couple of exceptions, but my social circle is basically same/similar socioeconomic class.

Family is a different story though. Most of my family (both my own and ILs) are either far wealthier or far poorer than we are.

[simpsongal]

Yes from my side of the family and family friends. Not really on dh’s side or from our neighbors and school friends.

[W.T.Faulkner]

My parents and most of my aunts and uncles are the 1%, but H and I are... not.

[iammalcolmx]

May 22, 2018 12:48:40 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Yes. I have friends across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.

I have friends and family who fall below the poverty line, and a few friends who are upper class. Also, I get along well with almost anyone, so there's that!

Where do most of your friends fall?

[hocus2]

I currently am not close to anyone well below the poverty line but I certain know folks who are lower-middle class (~40K for family of 4) to millionaires. I also know folks who work in a wide range of jobs from hourly like waitress to business owners. Some of the folks I know are from my kids public school or activites, I'm also close to some college friends who work at lower earning jobs. My extended family is very diverse as well. The folks I see the most are very similar to us in terms of SES mostly because I live in a HCOL area which limits who can afford to live here.

[raangoli]

Yes, some family and friends are outside of where I'd place MH and I on the socioeconomic spectrum. But for the most part, I'd say our friends come from the same class, which is upper middle.

[bex]

Oh my gosh, embarrassingly, I forgot about my ILs. whoops. They are in a lower income bracket than we are. I'm not sure their exact financial situation, but they are more blue-collar/middle-class than my family is (my parents are the kind of people who insist they are middle class regardless of income or assets.)

[NitaX]

I'd say at my same status - so, probably UMC.

May 22, 2018 12:52:49 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

May 22, 2018 12:48:40 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Yes. I have friends across a wide socioeconomic spectrum.

I have friends and family who fall below the poverty line, and a few friends who are upper class. Also, I get along well with almost anyone, so there's that!

Where do most of your friends fall?

[twilightmv]

Not really. I’d say most of our circle of friends and family is UMC (although not wealthy). I have friends in academia and in non profits that don’t pull in huge salaries, and probably fall more into middle class. If that counts.

Edited: apparently according to the calculator we are UC. I would say our friends and family fall in UMC or UC.

[mrssandro]

Yes. I grew up in a single parent household where the income was not more thank 45k ever.

[twilightmv]

... I also don’t even have that many friends, period, though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[iammalcolmx]

May 22, 2018 12:58:33 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

Yes. I grew up in a single parent household where the income was not more thank 45k ever.

But what about now?

[hopecounts]

Yes.
ILs are definitely wealthier than my parents, my brothers are lower and middle so different from one not from the other.
We have friends (as in see with regularity) from roughly upper lower class to lower upper class, most however probably fall in middle to upper middle.

[mrssandro]

May 22, 2018 12:59:05 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

May 22, 2018 12:58:33 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

Yes. I grew up in a single parent household where the income was not more thank 45k ever.

But what about now?

Now, I would say we are middle class. But our income says upper middle class. 

[penguingrrl]

I would say that there is a wider range of incomes and wealth in my group, but it skews heavily college educated and in white collar type work (if any). I can’t think of anyone who works manual labor or union type jobs. But incomes range from under $30K while working 60+ hours a week to one friend whose family wealth and inheritance such that nobody works and they own a huge estate.

[iammalcolmx]

May 22, 2018 13:00:04 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

May 22, 2018 12:59:05 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

But what about now?

Now, I would say we are middle class. But our income says upper middle class. 

How are you middle class with an UMC income?

[redheadbaker]

My parents are pretty well-off (started out as lower-middle class, but through luck, were able to save a lot). H's dad is extremely well-off, probably close to being a 1%-er. H's mom is barely scraping by. H and I are probably a step above living paycheck to paycheck (the Pew Research Center calculator puts us squarely in the middle class).  

Our friends are mostly at the same level as us or more well-off than us. I don't think we know anyone at the poverty level.

[wawa]

May 22, 2018 13:01:34 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

May 22, 2018 13:00:04 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

Now, I would say we are middle class. But our income says upper middle class. 

How are you middle class with an UMC income?

Oh, god, it's happening already.  WE'RE ONLY ON THE FIRST PAGE.  

[WOT?*]

I'd say yes. I live in a "solid middle/upper middle class" neighborhood with teachers, daycare providers and others of the "solid middle class" label. Half the houses on my street are now rentals since the market crashed. I also volunteer within the homeless community. I used to be one of them but married lucky. My ex is still a disabled veteran with an autistic son whose wife is in school... My mom is fixed income and my family is nurses, accountants, teachers, ranchers...solid "Americana" people (as the Rs would term them.) His mom and step-dad are retired government employees.

My HHI is definitely not solid middle/upper middle class based on discussions here. Sociologically we're solid middle/upper middle class (based on lifestyle and life choices, those around us, etc.) Economically we've moved out of that class to "comfortable" - lol (part of the 9.9% in the other day's article) some time ago. We also have friends and acquaintances in the HHI or HII (High Income Individual)/HNW (High Net Worth) brackets due to his job.

[redheadbaker]

Funny, we were just watching old home movies (from when my dad and his siblings were babies/young children) and there were a few shots of the Christmas tree surrounded by gifts before the kids came downstairs. We were marveling at how many gifts a welder and a secretary were able to give their children.

[runforrest]

I think my friends are mostly in the same socioeconomic class, with the exception of some friends from my hometown. My family skews more towards middle class and lower middle class.

[mrssandro]

May 22, 2018 13:01:34 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

May 22, 2018 13:00:04 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

Now, I would say we are middle class. But our income says upper middle class. 

How are you middle class with an UMC income?

I think it's in my head but I feel like I have to account for my special needs daughter and how much I am paying for medical care. So yeah technically I am in the borderline upper class for my area. But I certainly don't live that if that makes sense. 

[iammalcolmx]

May 22, 2018 13:04:01 GMT -5 wawa said:

May 22, 2018 13:01:34 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

How are you middle class with an UMC income?

Oh, god, it's happening already.  WE'RE ONLY ON THE FIRST PAGE.  

I am being open minded and waiting for a reasonable response.

[TR]

May 22, 2018 13:01:34 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

May 22, 2018 13:00:04 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

Now, I would say we are middle class. But our income says upper middle class. 

How are you middle class with an UMC income?

And this isn’t just about your SES it’s about the SES of those you’re friends with compared to yours.

[andwhat]

Probably not as much as I think I do. I have a lot of family that is a lower SES than I am, but I am closer with the family that is UMC. I do have friends who are single parents or single, but the single parents get lots of help from their families. I have many friends who I don't understand who they live the lives they live, but I try to stay in my lane. I would say most of my friends are UMC, I may have a couple who are UC.