What does ‘middle class’ really mean, anyway?

In today’s Big Story podcast, are you a part of the Canadian middle class? At times, that term can feel like it’s just part of a politician’s flashy sloganeering, designed to get more votes. But the fact is, we aren’t super great at talking about class in Canada, so it isn’t any surprise we don’t have a strong sense of what it means or how to identify with it.

According to University of Western Ontario sociologist Wolfgang Lehmann, who has studied cohorts of students who were first in their families to graduate from university, it might even be dangerous to lump everyone into this homogenous idea of “middle class,” when there is actually a working class, too, just as there is also that lofty “1 percent.” He should know — Lehmann grew up working class himself. So did Maclean’s writer Shannon Proudfoot, who joins us to talk about the nuances of class identity in Canada today.

Guest: Shannon Proudfoot, writer, Maclean’s

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