At least here in NL there is a difference between the poor who receive social security, the people who earn a bit more but get (almost) no social security and the rich. The “middle” here is often a forgotten part due to people like you grouping everybody who isn’t rich. It happens regularly that people in the early middle class earn less after a payrose due to the loss of social security. The missing out on social security, but also paying taxes makes it feel like you pay a lot more taxes and percentage wise you do

So at least in NL there is a real difference.

There is also a difference between people who work for a boss or people who are self employed or people who are shareholders.