Because They've Earned It

[DanaC]

How difficult is it to break thru the class system in the UK?

Not very difficult. The class system isn't the problem. The problem is the enormous gap between the haves and the have nots. It is very difficult to break out of the mindset one is raised with. If one is raised to expect little from life, then only the exceptional break through that.

[orthodoc]

Originally Posted by DanaC

It is very difficult to break out of the mindset one is raised with. If one is raised to expect little from life, then only the exceptional break through that.

Then it doesn't seem so much a problem with the economic status of the home as with the attitudes and expectations. I agree with that - my husband's parents were immigrants who arrived right after WWII with literally nothing. All his father's money was stolen on the boat. He saved pennies for a year, working two jobs and walking everywhere to save tram fare, before sending for his fiancee. They always had a very low income (and had grown up in poverty, I might add). But they expected their kids to get educations and do well. All three sons went to university and became professionals.

You don't need a high income to have high expectations for your kids.

Even where the expectations are low, in this country kids can break out of that mold. They have to want to - but it takes that for anyone to really succeed, not just low income kids.