we're UMC, my mom hovers around poverty level (sometimes below, sometimes above depending on which job and how many hours she has at the time), most family on my side fall within working class but most friends are middle to UMC.
I have several contacts in my network (these are people who I stay in regular touch with via text/email, I've visited them outside of work or vice versa) who are former patients ... and they run the full gamut socially and economically as would be expected in NYC. not sure if that type of relationship counts, as I do maintain stricter boundaries than I do with family and friends.
Post by CrazyLucky on May 22, 2018 13:12:52 GMT -5
My friends are mostly the same as me. I don't think that's too strange. Most of the friends I have here in MC are either from work of from my neighborhood, so it's likely that they're the same SE class as I am. But I grew up fairly poor. My parents and two siblings still struggle, as do several friends from when I was a kid. I definitely have more willingness to help people living in poverty and give up tax money to help them. I know there are poeple in my life who are better off than I am, but I can't think of anyone who's in the 1%.
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.
This is me too. My wife and I are both from lower class backgrounds, hers more working class, mine just basically poor. Both families still in those respective classes. We are middle class now, and our friend group skews pretty heavily educated and upper middle class urbanites but we chose to live in an area with quite a bit of economic diversity.
Post by EllieArroway on May 22, 2018 13:14:39 GMT -5
I grew up splitting time between my poor/working class mom and my UMC dad. (He was a shit dad for a lot of reasons but the fact that he had more than enough and yet refused to pay child support is among the worst). I married into an UMC family. Now DH and I are probably UMC. Most of my friends that I hang out with now are our coworkers and thus are in our same range. My friends from my childhood are mostly working or middle class.
So I don't get irritated at some people, what income are we considering UC?
I think its more about how you feel ;-)
But I remember a thread a few months/years ago on here about how "upper middle class" was kind of not a thing, but just something people used so they didn't have to say they were upper class, or because they didn't think their lifestyles fit the stereotype of upper class (i.e. very wealthy.)
but then I'm still not sure where middle class falls, soo.....not helpful.
Of course there are some variations, but we are mostly in the same UMC-MC range as most friends and family. I can't think of anybody I see regularly who is either very poor or very rich.
I have a few friends who are "low income," but none that hover on the poverty line. I have many friends and family who are 1% or close... and we are not. We are solidly middle class.
Post by walterismydog on May 22, 2018 13:21:44 GMT -5
Yes. I’m smack dab middle class and most of my friends are either far above me or below me. I don’t seem to have many close friends who are in exactly the same boat as me. Im just recently in this position myself. Up until two years ago I was on the lower end of middle class or higher end of lower class, depending on where you look to classify.
My family is all over the place, from extreme poverty to millionaires. No extreme wealth, though.
Not really. We are considered upper class according to that link. I don't know the income cut off, so I would say most people I associate with are middle to upper class.
It's not that we haven't all had our moments of lower class, but with the economy doing well and our age most people are doing well at this point in time.
I do have some relatives that are lower class (I kind of don't like the naming system for the classes). They have been helped out a lot by their relatives. But had some injuries and also unprofessional working environments and unprofessionalism on their part has led to firings, and their salaries were not a livable wage when they did have a job.
Friends are mostly the same as us (middle class), some extended family is lower SES. I don't know that we really have friends in a higher class than us other than acquaintances.
Post by meshaliuknits on May 22, 2018 13:27:59 GMT -5
I'd say yes.
My sister is below our SES, though she maintains a similar lifestyle due to my cheapness and her living in the valley. My youngest sister is probably below the poverty line. My stepmama a few years ago I would have put at the poverty line since she was living on her SS, but her SIL now lives with her and has a thriving marijuana business, so she might have moved up some by association.
My friends are mostly professionals in the same industry, so I assume they're about where we are, though there is some flux depending on what their spouse does. I am friends with a handful of broke grad students and a few people who still live with their parents (for a variety of reasons) as well.
Not really. Most of our family and friends fall within the MC range which is where we are. I can think of one relative who is wealthy and a friend who is UMC. Both H and I grew up at poverty or below. I don't know what my parent's made but we received government aide my entire childhood.
Post by CheeringCharm on May 22, 2018 13:29:56 GMT -5
A little. We both come from lower middle class families that rose over time to the middle class (when I was born, for example, my parents dropped out of college to have me and worked as a waitress and car mechanic for a long period of my childhood). Many of DH’s extended family are still lower middle or working class or whatever you call it.
We live in a middle to upper middle class neighborhood. But because of what DH does, we hang out with a lot of fairly rich to very rich people.
We are middle class as well as most of our friends and family. Some of my friends are single with no kids and they would fall into the Upper class category according to the link posted above.
With some variation (like, teachers vs. engineers) our local friends and my high school friends are similar to us. My college friends are higher. (we're "we're middle class we swear, you have to remember this is a really HCOL area.")
My family is all over the place. Nobody currently below the poverty line. My brother and a few cousins dip down there occasionally depending on employment situation. One family member is fairly wealthy and hobnobs with folks with real money. Everybody else falls somewhere between.
MH's family is all firmly MC to UMC. During his childhood his parents worked their way along from MC to the "oh sure, we're MC" UMC (UC??) area. They don't talk much about money, but they have a lovely home are generous gifters and recently retired and take nice trips so...*shrug* I assume things.
Yes. My immediate family is well below the poverty line currently and has always been on the low end of middle class/lower class and income. I wouldn't even classify myself as in the middle class anymore, really, at least based on income. We are probably about the same level as my in-laws though.
My friends vary. I have friends who make very little and have few assets, friends who are somewhere in between that and me, and then I have friends who are a lot better off than I am.
Yes, but only through my church which is big on social justice and because of that I’ve made friends across the spectrum. Charleston is so segregated by class and race, there really wouldn’t be another opportunity.
My friends and family range from MC to UMC. A cousin I'm not close to is for sure under the poverty line, but I don't think I'm friends/family with anyone else who is.
Post by katieinthecity on May 22, 2018 13:42:41 GMT -5
Yes. We are UMC. A significant portion of our extended families (DH's in particular) are in a lower SES than we are - definitely LMC/BC workers, though I don't think any are below poverty. We cross in the other direction, as well, by virtue of a number of family friends through my parents who are borderline 1%-ers.
That calculator says we are middle class for our metro area. I think we are probably more UMC just because of what I know of the area as well as the surrounding area.
Most of our close friends are the same SES. I think even more than income, all the people I’m close to have advanced degrees. My immediate family is more solidly middle class (though my aunts/uncles/grandparents skew UC) and MH’s is more UC.
My kids’ schools have income diversity and they have friends from diverse SES backgrounds but I think because a lot of their activities require both $$$ and a parent with a flexible schedule or one who is a SAHP it’s kind of self selecting who we see the most. Scarlett dances and it’s $250 per month plus I have to get her there and home at times that aren’t convenient for a work schedule. I’m sure some parents make it work with working but between that and the cost, it’s probably not a super diverse sample of kids. In turn, that means a lot of the parents I see on a daily basis are pretty similar in situation to us.
Mostly my friends are artists and business owners, and our households fall in the 100-200K HHI range. I have a few lower income friends and a few higher income friends. But mostly I chose friends based on shared interests; luckily most of us have done very well pursuing our passions.
My parents and brother are in the 9.9% category of the article posted below, but I opted out. I wanted more freedom to do whatever I wanted, and I got that. Getting older, though, I question whether not falling in line was wise. I get jealous of their nice houses and fancy vacations, lol.