Are postsecondary students working class?

Last month, I expounded on what exactly is the working class and who belongs to the working class. A reader reached out to me afterward to suggest that I could’ve expanded on people who are part of the working class but that others wouldn’t generally see them as the working class.

I thought it was a great suggestion, so I’ve decided to do a short series expanding on my original post. Each week, I publish a new post in the series, exploring one of the groups that seems to be sitting outside what people consider to be the working class.

Last week, I looked at whether disabled people are working class. The week before, I explored whether retirees are working class. In my first two posts of the series, I discussed whether self-employed people and stay-at-home parents are working class.

In my final post in the series, I’m answering the question of whether postsecondary students are working class.

Before we get to that, however, let’s review what “working class” means.

In last month’s post, I mentioned that belonging to the working class depends on one’s relationship to the means of production: if one owns or controls the means of production, then one belongs to the owning class. Otherwise, one belongs to the working class.

As I indicated last month, means of production is also known in economics as the four factors of production: land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship.

And by that definition, postsecondary students—at least generally speaking—are working class, since they don’t own the means of production.

Now, of course, there may indeed be some postsecondary students who do own the means of production. Perhaps they own a lawn care company, for example, that employs other people.

But I think it’s safe to assume that people like this make up a small percentage of postsecondary.

It’s not uncommon for postsecondary students to also work—at least part time—while going to school, so it might be easier to see them as working class. But what about those who aren’t working while going to school. Maybe they’re living off student loans. Maybe they’re still living with their parents. Maybe their spouse works full-time, which covers their school expenses.

Remember, “working class” refers to one’s relationship to the means of production, not how much you make or what type of job you have.

As such, if someone is postsecondary students aren’t holding down a job while they’re in school, that doesn’t mean they aren’t working class. The fact that they don’t own or control the means of production makes them working class.

Whether the postsecondary student is a barista, a welding apprentice, a grocery clerk, or someone living off student loans and just going to work full time, they’re working class.

Because they don’t own or control the means of production. You don’t need to have a full-time job working for someone else to be working class.

So, are postsecondary students working class? While there may be some postsecondary students who are owning class, probably most belong to the working class.