General Chat

In 100 years time? It would depend how technology has developed.

At the moment, ‘working classes’ in my mind are those who actually provide the service rather than give the instructions be it office clerks, sales people, refuse collectors or plumbers

Not so long ago people who could programme computers were rare and might be considered technically elite. Now there are more people capable of doing that than you can shake a stick at. Perhaps in 100 years children will be taught how to do it from the cradle – the more common a skill is, the more likely that it will be considered a ‘working class’ occupation.

A lot of people are proud to be working class. But what they usually mean is their families have been solidly working class since the start of the Industrial Revolution and massive population explosion.

Before 1750, population of UK was very small and most people were very important in rural communities and had good jobs. And back even further, they lived quite well.

An article in October Family Tree entitled "So were your ancestors wealthy?" by Ed Dutton explains this properly. We go from 19th century ag labs and factory labs to 18th C tenant farmers and yeomen. To 16th C gentry. To 15th C peers and even 14th C monarchs. I suspect most of us could trace back to Edward III if we had the time and skill.

I feel working class because I sweat most of the day at work and earn very little. Whereas someone who works in an office or drives round and earns quite a bit more than the minimum wage would be middle class. And someone who has quite a good life and doesn't do any work for it seems a member of the upper classes to my way of looking at it.

If technology continues to advance, it should give us all an easy life, a long life and plenty of money by 2113. I therefore hope my descendents and yours will all be upper class. ;-)

my maternal line - all ag labs; my paternal line all tinplate workers;

therefore I am working class through and through and proud of it

I don't think there will be a census as we know it then. Aren't they saying they are doing away with it?

Sorry peeps I think you all missed the point!!

In 2113 ....when we are on the census what will be deemed as working class and why!?

I to have a family full of farmers and other manuel jobs these are the people whom kept the country on the move forwerd

But my children are trained two uni two not into jobs like computers psycologists and sercurity guards and paramedics..........

I,m a cleaner but I do the shopping look after the children while parents work in very large family biusness and as they tell me they couldnt do it without me

are the bin men of today in 100 years time going to be the working class ........coz I cant do without them either

sales man!?
shop assistant??

strange developing class stucture we are having to develope

Oh I had a bad'un too, Maggie. A minister who posed as a member of a group collecting money for a seamen's charity, left his wife and then claimed she tried to poison him. He knew this because he suspected she had done this so fed his food to his little son and the poor little mite became ill :-0

Most of my lot were ag labs, and artistes - of the inebriated kind, according to 'petty sessions' of the time :-D

The way wages have been, and are going (rapidly down), it'll probably be just the same - the majority of jobs predominantly done by women will be poorly paid.
Time was, when men did the admin, or it was split evenly (even within my lifetime) the wage was enough to live on, now it's mainly women in 'admin' - men doing much the same thing under another title, the pay for 'admin' has plummeted.

Most of my ancestors were the backbone of the country - labourers, road builders, soldiers, mariners, coal miners. I'm proud of them all.

IT HAS NEVER WORRIED ME THAT MY ANCESTORS WERE POOR I ADMIRE
THEM MORE THAN THE RICH ANCESTORS AND THE FACT THAT SO MANY SURVIVED IN POVERTY IT AMAZES ME

Here in Wales, if you are descended from a coal miner who could sing a bit and wore a No 8 shirt, you are royalty. You look up to nobody :-)

A sociology study of a village in Ceredigion in 1920's (Aberporth) showed that there were only two classes - pobl y capel a phobl y tafarn (people who frequented the chapels and those who frequented the pubs).

If you have a job, you're working!

Is it a snobby thing? Depending on how "posh" your job may be?

We all do our family trees and hope we are a better class by thinking we might be related to someone famous........

In 2113 who will be working class as jobs and status has changed so much!!???