Poll: The Great British class calculator

What class are you?

  • Total voters
    651
Hatter The Mad said:
I really think you (and others in the thread) are missing the point of the new research and this estimator - built on the back of that research and best-fit analysis within a model informed by 160,000 candidates.

The old way of teling ones class was based on things like parents, profession, capital.

This is a supposed new, more refined classification system updated for modern times; times where social mobility is vastly greater than old times, and that new cultural pursuits and arrangements mean that it is not so simple as upper, middle and working anymore.

The researchers believe that your social circle and activities are (for example) more accurate and realistic indicators of your class than the old notions of what your parents did or did not do. That's why it does not ask you what your parents did. That's why it does not ask you what you do.

I'm not saying the calculator is right or wrong or if the research is flawed or not, but I am saying that responses like 'well coming from parents Y and from location X this seems like a pretty inaccurate calculator' is not appropriate.
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I'd say the researchers are flawed, they are skewing too much towards socialising. Those of us that choose not to be social get penalised on their class rankings.
 
Hatter The Mad said:
Umm yeah tere was - it asked how much you had in property and savings.
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What has that got to do with future inheritance? Once you have inherited, it just becomes "savings".

I could put down the combined value of my in-laws and my parents properties as my current savings and catapult myself into the Elite stratosphere - also my wife and I would appear to be millionaires :p
 
I answered as follows: £10k-£25k, own property, under £125k, £0-£10k in savings, I personally know teachers and call centre worker, selected video games, theatre, gym, socialise at home, and got traditional working class.
 
JBod said:
What has that got to do with future inheritance? Once you have inherited, it just becomes "savings".
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Who said anything about future inheritance? bcjames just said he 'has some ... inheritance'.


JBod said:
I'd say the researchers are flawed, they are skewing too much towards socialising. Those of us that choose not to be social get penalised on their class rankings.
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lol @ dismissing such a long and detailed sociological study so easily, and I presume with zero background in it. But I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. (FYI: it is hardly skewed towards socialising as a component of the entire model).


Housey said:
Simplistic twaddle.
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I'm amazed at the number of people attacking it. I guess not many people are able to academically appreciate the idea of a deduced model, whether we're talking about statistical modelling or sociology.
 
I get Elite , but can get it to say Established middle class seemingly depending on how much I value my property at. I am not sure property changes your class, I know working class people with valuable property portfolios.

Bit flawed, that :p
 
Morba said:
Renting is renting, the value of the property is not needed as you do not own it.
If i change renting to owning the property I live in, it doesn't change my class.
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Well renting an expensive place shows you can afford it, might move around or work away a lot earning excellent money.

Some of my friends have bought houses in ****y towns that cost less than my nice 1 bed flat.

It's all variable depending on location.

Flawed survey but I'm technical middle class and actually not established (even though my parents did establish that ;))
 
Jez said:
I get Elite or Established middle class seemingly depending on how much I value my property at. I am not sure property changes your class, I know working class people with valuable property portfolios.
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That's absurd. Even by the old Victorian class scale of working, middle and upper, if you have a property portfolio you are not working class..

With regards to why you are borderline elite or established middle class... it is, well, because you are borderline. It's a model painted with a big brush, it is accurate for the majority of people and in the majority of cases - it isn't trying to be something it isn't.

If you're interested in a more refined test and to see how the data set was captured to train this model, check out: https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/class/
 
Hatter The Mad said:
Who said anything about future inheritance? bcjames just said he 'has some ... inheritance'.
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That means he has inherited and therefore it is just savings. If he has the money then fair enough, referring to ones inheritance suggests money still tied up by those pesky living people.


Hatter The Mad said:
lol @ dismissing such a long and detailed sociological study so easily, and I presume with zero background in it. But I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. (FYI: it is hardly skewed towards socialising as a component of the entire model).
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I am by no means an expert but I have studies some relevant areas. Using a social aspect at all means your personality has a bearing on your class standing rather than your wealth, career and upbringing.



Hatter The Mad said:
I'm amazed at the number of people attacking it. I guess not many people are able to academically appreciate the idea of a deduced model, whether we're talking about statistical modelling or sociology.
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They will when they can experiment with the poll to see what changes their results, it easily shows the flaws.
 
Hatter The Mad said:
That's absurd. Even by the old Victorian class scale of working, middle and upper, if you have a property portfolio you are not working class..

With regards to why you are borderline elite or established middle class... it is, well, because you are borderline. It's a model painted with a big brush, it is accurate for the majority of people and in the majority of cases - it isn't trying to be something it isn't.

If you're interested in a more refined test and to see how the data set was captured to train this model, check out: https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/class/
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What do you think to the example of a friend of mine, a bricklayer by trade, also skilled in electrics. Has bought a few houses which he has done up and now rents out covering the mortgages, a couple of them paid off outright.

Portfolio equity value exceeding £500k
Likely savings value and savings held in (for example) a classic car >£100k

Day to day the guy works on building sites, manual labour, will drink cheap lager in a wetherspoons(!), shops in Tesco.

Nothing wrong with any aspect of his personality, he is perfectly comfortable with his roots, but he would never call himself anything more than working class....
 
lol over 50% of people on OCUk are new middle class or higher at the moment... Yet its still one of the biggest, racist, moron crowdz on the interwebz :)
 
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