Revealed: The social classes of the modern age - so, are you a Dink, an Alice, or a Henry?

The social classes of the modern age include Dinks, Alices and Henry. 

That's according to Renaud Foucart, a senior lecturer in Economics at Lancaster University, who claims today's social classes look very different to how they used to. 

'When your parents were in their 20s and 30s, they probably had a job, a house and financial security,' he explained in an article for The Conversation. 

'A generation later, you get a variety of food they could not have imagined, low–cost air travel and a smartphone more powerful than the fastest supercomputers of the 1990s. 

'This new reality is leading to the resurgence of a different kind of class identification for young people.'

'Dinks' are couples with dual incomes and no kids, who choose things like technology, travel and restaurants over raising a family.

'Henrys' are high earners who are not rich yet, while 'Alices' are asset–limited, income–constrained and employed. 

'What unites today's Henrys, Alices and Dinks is they can enjoy consumption levels their parents in the same social class would never have imagined, but can't buy the same house as them,' Dr Foucart added. 

Social class is used to measure a person's status or position within society – with the traditional categories being working class, middle class, and upper class. 

In terms of how Britons see themselves, a recent survey by YouGov found that 56 per cent of the public consider themselves to be working class, while 36 per cent describe themselves as middle class. 

'Less than one per cent of the public identify as "upper class",' YouGov said. 

However, Dr Foucart now claims that social mobility is so different for today's young people that these traditional categories should be replaced with new alternatives. 

The first category suggested by the researcher is 'Dinks', which stands for 'dual income and no kids.'

'The Dink lifestyle is attractive to some: more money and time for yourselves,' Dr Foucart explained. 

'But on the salary of an average UK household, you still won't be able to buy an average house.

'Since 2000, UK house prices have increased twice as fast as everything else. 

'The share of young Brits who own their homes is 25% lower than in 1990.

'This might partly explain Dink logic – if you don't have hope of affording a home, why not spend more on your lifestyle?'

The next category is an 'Alice', which stands for 'asset–limited, income–constrained, employed.'

Part of the 'working poor', Alices 'can't even dream of saving for a deposit', according to Dr Foucart.  

Finally, if you climb up the income ladder, you'll probably hit the third category – a 'Henry' (high earner, not rich yet). 

'The moment you become part of the roughly 2 million taxpayers who earn £100,000 a year, your marginal tax rate becomes 60% – which means for each additional £1 you get, you only keep 40p,' Dr Foucart explained. 

'If you are young and went to university, you also pay an extra 9% on student loan repayment, meaning you only keep 31p for each additional £1.'

While this paints a pretty dismal picture, Dr Foucart says there's an obvious solution – building more houses. 

'That means building in less desirable locations, turning individual houses into flats, or overcoming opposition from older homeowners who often resist new housing developments in their neighbourhoods,' he added. 

'So, when your judgmental uncle remarks that "if you ate fewer avocados and lattes, you'd be able to buy a house just like I did", you may want to explain how the relative prices of an avocado and a house have changed over time. 

'If you're not saving for a deposit, buying avocados may simply be the most rational thing to do.'