what is "blue collar" and "white collar" worker & what is "middle and upper" class?

Question

please explain the difference between them all, many thanks.

Answer 1

Blue collar avg income-35 to 80K a year

White collar avg income-50 to 100K a year

middle class-----50K to 100K a year

Upper class ---100K+ a year

Answer 2

Those are really outdated terms from an earlier time. People that worked in offices typically used to make more money than people that did construction or were in different trades. The work environment has changed so much in the last 10-20 years that those terms are meaningless now. Some people that work in construction make more than doctors and some office workers make more than a janitor. middle and upper class would depend on what branch of the govt is in power. The Dems seem to think if you make more than 50g a year you are wealthy and the Reps probably put it up around 5 million.

Answer 3

Blue and white collar has been covered but it's worth pointing out that there are more and more in-between jobs as manufacturing increasingly moves from the West to the "third world" - horrrible phrase - sorry.
Categorising bank managers and coal miners is easy, but not so easy for security staff, NHS staff, cinema staff etc etc.

I hate to say it but people have got it wrong classifying middle and upper class dependent on salary or assets. Class depends mainly on parentage, and while "middle class" people may aspire to being "upper class", they are wasting their time. The upper classes are the aristocracy, and they don't have to be rich.

At one time the middle classes would have been those with professions - clergy, lawyers, teachers, doctors, but excluding "tradesmen" and probably "merchants" who were scoffed at by professionals. The lines have been blurred since around the 1950s.

Answer 4

The term blue collar usually means a factory worker while administrative people are considered white collar. Middle class refers to folks with a decent income ( $70 to 200 thousand) while upper class refers to folks with more money at their discretion.

Answer 5

blue collar means manual workers
white caller means administration jobs, because people used to only wear white shirts with ties.
middle class is generally the administrative jobs, although some fairly well paid blue collar jobs could also fit.
They own a cat, and possibly a dog or two - generally not thoroughbred. But they take care of their own pets.
upper class - well, they don't work. They own the businesses, or just coast along on what their parents and grandparents left them. They own one house on the top of a mountain in the city, and another very nice house in the country. They also own a golden retriever or two, and have hired someone to take care of it (them).

Answer 6

Traditionally 'blue collar' refers to people doing manual work ' (factory work etc...) 'white collar' refers to people working in offices and administrative roles.

The class question is complicated. It depends on the country. I believe in the US class is based on wealth, with a bit of whether their families were amongst the first settlers, or owned plantations.

In France it is more like the UK, with a traditional aristocracy (not all had their heads chopped off) and upper class, a middle and a lower. The upper class includes families with long histories, castles, and they have special parties for getting their children to marry eachother. A teenager from one of these families would learn to play bridge, ballroom dance, 'rock' dance and they 'come out' with big balls. I believe the same system works in Vienna. There are nouveau riche at some of these gatherings, but they are recognised as such and considered to be not quite on the same level. The French middle classes are middle professionals and bank managers, things like that.

In the UK the class system is extremely complicated, and as someone else mentioned, based more on ancestry and type of work than on salary.

Traditional marketing groups include A, B, C1, C2, D,E. A and B would be upper and middle class, C1 is lower middle and C2, D,E are levels of working class. There are also groups based on amusing groupings, such as the ACORN system. Check out www.caci.co.uk for this.

For an amusing explanation of the habits of the different English classes see the book 'Watching the English'. Basically English class is down to background, education and aspirations and can be identified by accent, hobbies etc... In England Middle Class is split into lower middle, middle middle and upper middle. The upper class tends to be people with long family histories and money in the background, as does upper middle although to a lesser extent.

Money does not come into it really! If you were a used car salesman who had made a lot of money, even if you moved your family to a manor house, you would still be considered working class. You'd probably be looked down on by your upper class neighbours. They would know that you were working class because you would be betraying an accent (i.e rather than Received pronunciation), you'd buy a flashy car, your wife would be wearing a mini skirt despite having fat legs, you'd stick a massive satellite dish on the outside and you'd probably gold plate the taps. You'd still read the Sun.

If you were upper class or upper middle class you might work in a poorly paid job but it would be intellectual or about helping people. You wouldn't earn much and you might live in an urban terrace, but inside there would be broadsheet newspapers, old rugs, a mix of furniture you've inherited, art etc... Or you could be upper class and live on in your family home like a hall or manor, but have no money! Although you'd probably still send your kids to public school; and you'd still ride.

Answer 7

Social class in the UK is generally categorised as Social Classes I-V, with subdivisons in S.C.III.

S.C. I - The Establsihment Aristocracy, Judges, senior Military Officers, Top Civil Servants.

S.C.2 - The Professions. Barristers, Surgeons, University Professors and other senior academics, Head Teachers, major figures in the Arts senior Civil Servants, Military officers around the rank of Lt Colonel. Senior financiers, industrialists and media executives.

S C IIIa - Upper Middle Class. Solicitors, Bank Managers and other senior managerial personnel. Military Officers except as defined above. Teachers, Doctors, Musicians (Professional Classical). Media personnel.

S C IIIb (White Collar). Lower Middle Class. Clerical and Administrative staff. Police below the rank of Inspector. Matrons and Sisters in the Nursing profession. Military Non-Commissioned Officers. Junior managers, supervisors and foremen.

S C IV (Blue Collar) Artisans, skilled manual workers, security staff, retail service staff, most chefs. Military rank and file.

S C V Habitual benefit-livers, itinerant workers, down-and-outs.

It is interesting to see that the gradings are status based, rather than established on earnings. A good plumber may earn enough money to place him in the SCII category economically, but he will remain in SCIV. Jade Goody, who is a millionaire, remains firmly fixed in the lower reaches of SC IV. Pop and Rock musicians, irrespective of their money, will remain anchored in SC III and IV. Impecunious aristocrats, however, will remain in SC I as long as they do not sell their title.

Answer 8

None of the above! Edwards, an ambulance chaser has done nothing but drive up the cost of health care through litigation. McCain is a Liberal who is soft on immigration and signed the McCain-Feingold Reform, and we all know that the first amendment says. "Congress shall make no law respecting establishment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of giievences." And that is exactly what it means. The real peoples vote should go to, Fred Thompson a true federalist, or Governor Romney, a business man who brought his state out of debt and into properity. Edit: Gary H. You have it backwards the Democrats are for the rich! ~

Answer 9

White collar is a name for a person with an office job

Blue collar is a name for a person with a manual job.

Answer 10

-upper class- someone with a high paying job able to afford luxuries not needed to survive

-middle class- someone who is able to get by, has a moderate job, and can afford occasional luxuries not needed to survive (the average family)

-white collar- someone who has a office job

-blue collar- someone whos job usally requries physiscal work, or on the field work