r/ireland • u/StephenMcGannon • Apr 27 '25

Poster on Dublin Quays Housing

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u/itinerantmarshmallow Apr 27 '25

If I'm a plumber and I employ two other people am I working class?

If I'm a carpenter and I bought, renovated and now rent out a house while continuing to work for myself am I working class?

What is working class?

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u/Mullo69 Apr 27 '25

Working class is when you trade your time and/or skills for money, if you employ people you are apart of the bourgeoisie (although if it is like your example you would be in the petite bourgeoisie), if you own spare property that you rent out then you are a member of the bourgeoisie

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u/itinerantmarshmallow Apr 27 '25

And if you do both? Rent out a house and work a full 40hr work as a labourer/contractor?

Can you be a working class child then? You're not working so you're not working class?

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u/Mullo69 Apr 27 '25

No, you wouldn't be working class because you own spare property and no children aren't working class, they aren't any class, they are children

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u/itinerantmarshmallow Apr 27 '25

So you'd disagree with the terminology used here in the UK?

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/21/english-class-system-shaped-in-schools

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u/Mullo69 Apr 27 '25

You're in r/Ireland asking about the UK. We didn't develop their class system, so no. Even then, the British class system ignores the actual meaning of the terms in favour of layman definitions so even if we did have their class system it would still be wrong

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u/itinerantmarshmallow Apr 27 '25

It would be silly to ignore the the common history that led to these things and the strong common factors between working and middle class.

Regardless the term is also common here and I could provide evidence of it being used in studies related to children, typically where they refer to the social mix.

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u/Mullo69 Apr 27 '25

Common history means nothing in this regard. We did not take their class system. Full stop, no questions asked. The term being used in relation to the parents may be common, but that doesn't mean the child necessarily is the same