The Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) has just published a study relating to the description of middle classes understood not according to their income level or their socio-professional category, but according to a self-positioning approach, based on felt class belonging.
In this survey of a sample of 4,000 people, representative of the French population aged 18 or over, in 2023, more than one in two French people identify with the middle classes (34% with the lower middle class and 21% to the upper middle class) and very few (7%) to the wealthy categories. Finally, 30% identify with the modest categories and 8% with the very modest.
“This feeling of belonging to the middle class is strongly linked to income level and profession but also to housing status or family configuration,” specifies the study. Indeed, when it describes itself, the middle class would be made up of 60% of people with intermediate incomes. In addition, it would be made up of 31% intermediate professions, 27% employees, 20% liberal or managerial professions and 13% workers. In terms of family configurations, the upper middle class is close to the wealthy categories and stands out from the general population with a higher proportion of people in couples with or without children.
A better situation than that of their parents
The lower middle class is more in favor of greater intervention by public authorities in economic and social matters (22% have strong expectations compared to 14% for the upper middle class). Furthermore, compared to the lower middle class, individuals who self-position themselves in the upper middle class more often consider that their situation is better than that of their parents at the same age (57% compared to 40%) and there are more of them who be optimistic about their own future (59% versus 48%), that of their children or future generations (42% versus 33%).
Between 1,500 and 2,800 euros net per month
In May 2023, during an interview with L’Opinion, Emmanuel Macron mentioned incomes of “between 1,500 and 2,500 euros” to define the middle class. The Montaigne Institute, which looked into the question via a study published in January, evokes a lower middle class with monthly net incomes including between 1,440 euros and 2,260 euros and an upper middle class who receive between 2,260 euros and 3,100 euros. At the end of September, Prime Minister Michel Barnier promised not to increase taxes on the working and middle classes.