What is lower class UK?
/ˌloʊ.ɚ ˈklæs/ Lower-class people belong to the social class that has the lowest position in society and the least money.
a class of people below the middle class, having the lowest social rank or standing due to low income, lack of skills or education, and the like.
The lower class is typified by poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. People of this class, few of whom have finished high school, suffer from lack of medical care, adequate housing and food, decent clothing, safety, and vocational training.
Lower-income households have incomes lower than two-thirds of the median, and upper-income households have incomes that are more than double the median.
middle quintile: £23,300. second lowest quintile: £16,600. bottom quintile: £9,200.
a household is in low income if they live on less than 60% of the UK's median income (a couple with no children would be in low income with an annual household income of up to £17,100 before housing costs and £14,800 after housing costs)
The lower class consists of those at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy who have low education, low income, and low status jobs.
synonyms for lower-class
Compare Synonyms. proletarian. factory-working. middle-class. proletariat.
- blue-collar workers.
- common people.
- commoners.
- hoi polloi.
- lower class.
- peasant.
- plebians.
- proletarian.
The "lower class" lives at or below the poverty line. The "lower class" consists of people who work but earn relatively little income (usually minimum wage or slightly higher) and people who don't work.
What are lower class jobs?
- Clerical jobs.
- Food industry positions.
- Retail sales.
- Low-skill manual labor vocations.
- Low-level white-collar workers.
In 2021, some 20% of adults in multi-earner households were in the lower-income tier, compared with 53% of adults in single-earner households.

(also the middle classes) UK. a social group that consists of well-educated people, such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers, who have good jobs and are not poor, but are not very rich: The upper middle class tend to go into business or the professions, becoming, for example, lawyers, doctors, or accountants.
The family's 2021 poverty threshold (below) is $33,148.
Individuals in the lower-middle class tend to hold low status professional or white collar jobs, such as school teacher, nurse, or paralegal. The lower-middle class is among the largest social classes, rivaled only by the working class, and it is thought to be growing.
(ˌləʊəˈɪnkʌm ) adjective. earning less than average. Lower-income people do not have the same access to quality education.
A broad definition of low household income, as suggested by the Government, applies to annual earnings less than 60% of the median UK household income. For London, this cut-off point is approximately £21,000[75].
The term “low-income individual” means an individual whose family's taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount. In the U.S., that's roughly $19,000 (it's slightly higher in Hawaii and Alaska).
The term "lower class" also refers to persons with low income. The working class is sometimes separated into those who are employed but lacking financial security (the "working poor") and an underclass—those who are long-term unemployed and/or homeless, especially those receiving welfare from the state.
- She'd never wondered if the lower class was different. ...
- She had no idea that such an elaborate system existed for the lower class. ...
- They generally form what may be called the back streets, and they are bordered by warehouses, cellars and the lower class of dwelling-houses.
Can you say lower class?
When writing about socioeconomic status, use the following tips to guide you: “Avoid using terms like “high class” or “low class,” or even “upper class” or “lower class,” because they have been used historically in an evaluative way.
plural lowlifes ˈlō-ˌlīfs also lowlives ˈlō-ˌlīvz. : a person of low social status. : a person of low moral character.
: to move down : drop. also : diminish. transitive verb. : to let descend : let down. : to depress as to direction.
lower verb (SMALLER THAN USUAL)
[ I/T ] to reduce something, or to become less: [ T ] They lowered the asking price of their house.
1 needy, indigent, impoverished, destitute, penniless, poverty-stricken, necessitous, straitened.
Just like the middle and upper classes, the lower class can be divided into subsets: the working class, the working poor, and the underclass. Compared to the lower middle class, lower-class people have less of an educational background and earn smaller incomes.
The Upper Class vs.
Its application to income, education, and social status varies based on location and other factors. Many people who make up the middle-class work as professionals and civil servants, and own property. The working or lower class refers to those who make up the lowest level of society.
Upper Class – describing those who have strong economic, social and cultural capital. They are typically from 'well to do' families and have often received a private and university education. Whereas those in the Middle Class haven't quite made it economically, the Upper Classes have more or less nailed it!
According to the Statista report, women aged 18–21 earned £17,005 on average in 2021. The UK median salary for men in the same age group, on the other hand, was £18,392 in 2021.
One way is simply to look at the range of incomes considered middle class. The Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households that earn between two-thirds and double the median U.S. household income, which was $65,000 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
What is lower income group?
Low Income Group (LIG): LIG households are defined as households having an annual income between Rs. 3,00,001 (Rupees Three Lakhs One) up to Rs. 6,00,000 (Rupees Six Lakhs).
For example, median hourly earnings for all employees in 2021 is £14.10, therefore low-pay employees are anyone earning below two-thirds of £14.10, which is £9.40. High-pay employees are those earning anything above 1.5 times £14.10, which is £21.15.
According to the ONS, in 2021 the average UK salary was £38,131 for a full-time role and £13,549 for a part-time role. This is a slight decrease from the average UK salary in 2020, which placed the average UK wage for a full-time role at £38,552 and part-time at £13,819.
The categories in between are: established middle class; technical middle class; new affluent workers, traditional working class and emergent service workers. The results were obtained by analysing people's income, assets, the professions of their peer group and their social activities.
Households are considered to be in poverty if their income is 60 per cent below the median equivalised income after housing costs for that year, according to Trust For London statistics. Equivalisation means that households of different types have different poverty lines.
- You're living paycheck to paycheck. ...
- You have credit-card debt. ...
- You have student-loan debt. ...
- You have a monthly car payment. ...
- Your income dictates your lifestyle. ...
- You aren't saving for the future. ...
- You're not healthy. ...
- Your relationships are suffering.
Poverty is measured in the United States by comparing a person's or family's income to a set poverty threshold or minimum amount of income needed to cover basic needs.
Instead, for those of us in economic policy, "working class" has come to fill in the bottom section of middle class. As Gallup's Frank Newport describes it, it is a "socioeconomic positioning that is below that of what is associated with the middle class but above that which is associated with the lower class."
- Elite. Members of the elite class are the top 6% of British society with very high economic capital (particularly savings), high social capital, and very 'highbrow' cultural capital. ...
- Established middle class. ...
- Technical middle class. ...
- New affluent workers. ...
- Traditional working class. ...
- Emergent service sector. ...
- Precariat.
...
What Is a Middle-Class Income?
Income group | Income |
---|---|
Poor or near-poor | $32,048 or less |
Lower-middle class | $32,048 - $53,413 |
Middle class | $53,413 - $106,827 |
Upper-middle class | $106,827 - $373,894 |
What defines your class UK?
How do people fit into each category? This sounds all very confusing but comes down to three main factors: wealth, class and occupation. Wealth, and this is inclusive of land ownership, can push a person into the upper class.
Most people living in the UK fall into the Middle-Class category. Such occupations as teachers, nurses, shop owners, and white-collar professionals are all a part of the middle class.
When used by social scientists, the lower class is typically defined as service employees, low-level manual laborers, and the unemployed. Those who are employed in lower class occupations are often colloquially referred to as the working poor.
Lower class (occasionally described as working class) are those employed in low-paying wage jobs with very little economic security. The term "lower class" also refers to persons with low income.
The family's 2021 poverty threshold (below) is $33,148.
Fourth grade is the equivalent of 'Year 5' (ages 9–10) in England and Wales, Primary 6 in Northern Ireland and Primary 6 in Scotland - the sixth year of compulsory education in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The upper middle class in Britain traditionally consists of the educated professionals who were born into higher-income backgrounds, such as legal professionals, executives, and surgeons.