The Malfoys and Blacks always struck me as aristocratic types who would be more likely to look down on anyone who actually has to do any sort of real work for a living, in which case they wouldn't brag about family members doing any sort of "common" labor.

Still, it's true that there's no real canon info on how well curse-breaking and dragon-taming pay. Just because the jobs require very specialized skill-sets and come with a fair amount of risk is no guarantee that they'll pay well.

 

Duuuuuude.

 

The Weasleys are poor.

By fourth year, the Weasleys can't afford to get Ron some good dress robes. Think about that. They couldn't afford to get their youngest son one good robe for what is essentially a major international function.

No, the Weasleys are fucking poor, not middle class.

Now, why are they poor? Well, probably b/c they fucked like rabbits and had way more kids than Arthur's ministry salary, which I think is probably enough for a reasonably sized family like the Diggory's to survive upon, can support

Just imagine at one point the Weasleys were possibly paying for Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Fred & George to attend Hogwarts. Even if Hogwarts is free, which i can't imagine, that's a lot of money tied up in educational expenses (robes, wands, cauldrons, potions supplies, books, etc). Some of that may be reusable, but other stuff is not.

Additionally, since you can't transfigure food, Molly needs to buy food to feed that army over the summer as well as Ginny and Ron during the year. Sure the burden probably lessens as the kids get out of school, but, judging from the Weasley vault at Gringotts in CoS (I think there was like 5 galleons in there), and the way Fred and George are concerned about how much the Lockhart books will cost, they're fucking poor and they know it.

So, no. The Weasleys are not Middle Class.

Also, I don't think there is any canon proof that Bill or Charlie make a lot of money, or send any of that money home.

 

There's no guarantee, but in real life those two conditions generally increase the pay-scale of the job.

 

How much do bomb squad members get payed annually?

 

Judging by what I could find in five minutes on Google, generally in the range of $55000 - $66000 (depending on experience, location, etc). That's a pretty healthy income for a single male.

 

That's pretty good for a starting salary, but if that's the median wage overall, it's surprisingly low. Then again, Bomb Squad technician doesn't make the top 10 most dangerous jobs list, so maybe not.

 

No they don't. Sure, in *some* dangerous professions (read: high-profile) the pay is commensurate with the danger, but I don't see a lot of Marines laughing all the way to the bank. The bank which, btw, just happens to pay its CEO tens of millions of dollars per year for nothing more dangerous than the potential for a papercut or falling overboard from his sailboat during the regatta.

No, dangerous jobs pay *marginally* more, or to put it another way, cops and firefighters get paid a little more than other manual labor jobs, while Green Berets and Navy Seals get paid somewhat more than the mechanic who works on their APC or Humvee.

Danger = Huigh Pay only in the incremental or relative sense.

 

What did you think I meant, exactly? Dangerous jobs pay relatively more (by whatever degree) than those with similar skillset requirements but none of the danger, and vice-versa.

 

In CoS, the weasleys had a single gold galleon and a handful of sickles. Essentially, they had ten pounds in their vault at most. In terms of the dollar, that's a maximum of $12.

The Weasleys are fucking poor.

 

I agree to what The Santi said. Speaking from first-hand experience (I grew up in a family of five dependent children), no matter how high the parents' salary is, they won't be able to spare much on niceties. Here I will give the details, so if you aren't interested, skip the next passage.

Both of my parents worked full-time, and father's salary was well above average. No mortgage. But despite of that, having five children meant: second-hand clothes for all, no pocket money, everything goes to food, clothes, medicine, books, school expenses, utilities and other monthly payments, and many other things you don't realize are essential until they hit you in the face. Then there're parties, birthdays (in both immediate and extended family), family outings (circus, theater, etc.), and last but not the least, in school there're also parties and birthdays and other events that you have to pay for. Surprisingly, I think that the latter ate the most of my parents' budget. And frankly, with all that they often had to borrow from their own parents.

tl;dr; Big family == no spare money.

 

Even if curse-breaking was the easiest, most secure and awesome job in all the fucking world, goblins would still pay wizards money to do it, because they can't use wands.

 

They can. Ministry just doesn't let them.

 

They said Charlie was really good at Quidditch and could have played professionally or some such thing which I assume would've payed handsomely. The fact that he didn't go that route when his family's so poor meant that either dragon handling paid good money too or he was very passionate about it that he didn't care about the money.

 

I choose to assume he went with it because he was passionate about it and not because it payed well.

That's more Weasley-ish.

 

Passionate about dragons +1. Didn't Ron call him "mad" about dragons, or something?

 

I would also think of somebody that could have been playing football internationally and then went to live with fifty foot long, fire breathing predators because they liked them. Unless said person has fireproof skin that no sword can cut, they are probably mad. As there is no human like that, anyone that does that is mad.

Also, I think dragon handling would pay something similar to lion/bear handling.

 

You think following your passion, even if it's a dangerous one, is mad?

There are many humans like that - they are generally regarded as the brave...

There is much more to life than money...

 

Like heart warming quotes and mysterious ellipses.

 

Not when your family goes near-bankrupt buying school supplies though.