I'm not sure of the difference between working class and middle class in the US. I mean, I hear politicians talking about the middle class and I'm thinking that they mean just regular people too. And I know that they would be considered just working class in the UK. Do people here not like to be called working class and want be labeled middle class?. I hope it's not a naive question. Sometime I just get the feeling that people, in say low paid jobs without even health care may still consider themselves middle class. Someone please explain, I know this could be a complicated issue.
You are right. Basically, any American who makes between 0 and 300,000 dollars a year considers themself middle class. No one here wants to be called working class. It may be due to the popularization of the American dream that anyone can become an entrepreneur millionaire at any time, or a stigmatization of the word "working", but probably just because politicians always talk to the "middle class" and people want to think they are talking about them. I believe at the turn of the century (I mean the end of the 1800 century) "middle" class were those people who had at least live-in servants. The equivalent in today's era would be a very small amount of the population.
People who work in industries not requiring a college degree are considered working class: assembly line, tradespeople, clerks, etc. This does not neccessarily mean they're not middle class, too.