Test Your Knowledge of the Hidden Rules of Class 

How well could you survive? 

People who grow up in poverty learn different things from people who grow up wealthy or in middle class. But most schools and 
businesses operate with middle-class norms, and most teachers and business people grew up learning the hidden rules of middle-class 
families. It’s no surprise, then, that children of poverty often struggle in education and business environments. 

In her book A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Dr. Ruby K. Payne presents lists of survival skills needed by different societal 
classes. Test your skills by answering the following questions. 

Could you survive in poverty? Check each item that 
applies. 

I know how to ... 

_____ find the best rummage sales. 
_____ locate grocery stores’ garbage bins that have thrown-away 


food. 
_____ bail someone out of jail. 
_____ physically fight and defend myself. 
_____ get a gun, even if I have a police record. 
_____ keep my clothes from being stolen at the laundromat. 
_____ sniff out problems in a used car. 
_____ live without a checking account. 
_____ manage without electricity and a phone. 
_____ entertain friends with just my personality and stories. 
_____ get by when I don’t have money to pay the bills. 
_____ move in half a day. 
_____ get and use food stamps. 
_____ find free medical clinics. 
_____ get around without a car. 
_____ use a knife as scissors 

Could you survive in middle class? Check each item 
that applies. 

I know how to ... 

_____ get my children into Little League, piano lessons, and soccer. 
_____ set a table properly. 
_____ find stores that sell the clothing brands my family wears. 
_____ order comfortably in a nice restaurant. 
_____ use a credit card, checking and/or savings account. 
_____ evaluate insurance: life, disability, 20/80 medical, 


homeowners, and personal-property. 
_____ talk to my children about going to college. 
_____ get the best interest rate on my car loan. 
_____ explain the differences among the principal, interest, and 

escrow statements on my house payment. 
_____ help my children with homework and don’t hesitate to make 

a call if I need more information. 
_____ decorate the house for each holiday. 
_____ get a library card. 
_____ use the different tools in the garage. 
_____ repair items in my house almost immediately after they 

break, or I know a repair service and call it. 

Could you survive in wealth? 
Check each item if you … 

_____ 
can read a menu in French, English and another 
language. 

_____ 
have favorite restaurants in different countries around 
the world. 

_____ 
know how to hire a professional decorator to help 
decorate your home during the holidays. 

_____ 
can name your preferred financial advisor, lawyer, 
designer, hairdresser and domestic- employment 
service. 

_____ 
have at least two homes that are staffed and 
maintained. 

_____ 
know how to ensure confidentiality and loyalty with 
domestic staff. 

_____ 
use two or three “screens” that keep people whom you 
don’t wish to see away from you. 

_____ 
fly in your own plane, the company plane, or the 
Concorde. 

_____ 
know how to enroll your children in the preferred 
private schools. 

_____ 
are on the boards of at least two charities. 

_____ 
know the hidden rules of the Junior League. 

_____ 
support or buy the work of a particular artist. 

_____ 
know how to read a corporate balance sheet and 
analyze your own financial statements. 

Attend our workshops … read our groundbreaking books … and you’ll see why 
thousands of people are saying, “aha!”