The New Middle-Class Poverty Is Wearing a Nice Coat

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An older man in a decent overcoat walking down a wet British high street.

A nice coat can hide a great deal. It cannot hide a direct debit.

 The new middle-class poverty does not always look poor.


That is what makes it so awkward.


It wears a decent coat. It pays on time. It says, "No, no, I'm fine," with the crisp little laugh of a person mentally moving money between invisible envelopes. It knows which direct debit lands first.


It can still pronounce quinoa, though it may now regard it as a hostile grain with metropolitan ambitions.


That's as far as the free preview goes. The rest is for paying subscribers, which felt like the right call for a piece about money.


Read the rest on Substack.


The Library


Buy me a pot of tea

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