Does earning more than £60k a year make you rich especially in London?

[Payinglotsoftax]

Labour has said that as part of their manifesto they will target earners over £60k for higher taxes. My personal view is that Jeremy Corbyn targeting those earning more than £60k a year will target some families without a high standard of living particularly in London and the south east. AIBU?

[MrsPear]

Yes have you seen the average wage?!

I think you need to come out of the land privilege and realise how little the average person lives on even in London !

[FourToTheFloor]

I think even in London £60k has to be considered high.

[Payinglotsoftax]

Correction £70k - less relevant to my family already but still seems like a figure for a family with one parent working and 2-3children in London/SE may not be living particularly extravagantly.

[witwootoodleoo]

If you're earning £60k in London and under 40 you'd be lucky to be on the housing ladder. Rents are so high people can't save for a deposit. People I know on that salary in London are either renting or living in a small flat. Not exactly rich.

[nobackchat]

Is london though aren't you taxed already with stamp duty and higher rents mortgages? Is disposable income of £70k family in London a lot higher than say £45k in north east?

[nonsense123]

£45k is a lot of money too!!! Average earnings are £22k in UK and £32k in London.

[witwootoodleoo]

@nobackchat a not very nice 3 bedroom flat is at least £2k pcm to rent in my bit of London. A nicer 3 bed terrace would be closer to £3k.

Your take home on £70k would be about £4k.

Not exactly rich.....

[Fruitcocktail6]

Not rich, no. But comfortable. Particularly if you already owned property.

DP and I earn over that jointly but still can't buy a house, so a huge amount goes on rent.

[user1492458803]

£60k is comfortable middle class, hilarious that that's thought to be rich.

That's a take home of £3.5k a month. Take out £1000 for mortgage, £500 on household bills and car, that's only really £500 a week. You'd be squeezed to pay two lots of school fees on that.

[FourToTheFloor]

Why a 3 bed though wit? We have 2 dc and live in a 2 bed house. Our mortgage payments are very low. A 3 bed would be crazy. So cut your cloth accordingly?

[Bluntness100]

I honestly don't think you can be considered "rich" living in most places in the uk. I think it's appalling they wish to target people at this level and tax them more. A family living anywhere on 60k isn't rich. Just another reason not to vote labour. If one was needed.

[user1491148352]

£60k in the north is a small fortune.

£60k in London gives you a take home of around £3200 - depending on NI, pension contributions etc.

Unless you have inherited a home you will be paying around £2000 in rent/mortgage (if you can get one) for a 2 bed terrace in Zone 2 or a 3 bed in Zone 3. If you go further out your commuting and childcare costs escalate. So £1200 a month over for council tax, utilities, food, clothes etc.

You can seenwhy no Londoners in work will be voting for JC.

[witwootoodleoo]

@fourtothefloor of course people should cut their cloth accordingly but I think it's a bit ridiculous to say that someone who can only comfortably afford to rent a two bed is actually rich, which is what JC is suggesting when he talks about rich people earning £70k a year. You might be rich in parts of the country but not in London.

[Shortdarkandfeisty]

Ha ha ha ha ha at the thought that over £60k is rich!!!! It so isn't.

[5moreminutes]

Did he actually say "the rich" out of interest?

[leopard101x]

As a family of five on a similar income it is not rich! We're in greater London and once rent and bills are paid there's not much left, we've been saving for years for a deposit to buy and are still a fair way off. I wouldn't even consider it comfortable in my opinion to be honest.

Single person on 60k maybe, but not to support a family on.

[AntiHop]

Yes that's rich. I live in London. I'm in my late 30s. Neither dp or I earn anywhere near that. We could never dream of earning that in our jobs.

[witwootoodleoo]

McDonnell did when explaining JC's position on Radio 4 I believe. As shadow chancellor you would hope that is an accurate reflection

[Bluntness100]

It's interesting that Corbyn then thinks MPs are rich because they earn well over 60k. It's no surprise his own party hate him too.

[Coloursthatweremyjoy]

The problem is that it's all relative isn't It? As a PP said in the North you'd be doing very well, in London not so much. We are in the south West and it's about average earnings in our area.

I heard a guy on the radio say, "apparently I'm a high earner and yet there seem to be an inordinate amount of people with better cars than me..."

[FamilySpartan]

I think it's laughable for London. Perhaps it's a lot of money for one person but for a family trying to save for a home, it's hardly rich.

Yes, I know people get by on much, much less, myself included. To me, 'rich' is six figures.

[soapboxqueen]

Comfortable not rich. 60 or 70k looks a lot as an individual wage but not if you are part of a single income household. Earning that amount already attracts higher tax for a portion of it.

[5moreminutes]

Referring to anyone except the top 1% as rich is too emotive and bound to get people's backs up, but people are mighty self interested when it comes to tax. Many European countries have a 45% tax rate kicking in at a vastly lower income than in the UK without living costs being much different.

[2014newme]

No, it's nothing. After tax especially. We couldn't manage and we,aren't in London.
But you don't need to listen to corbyn he's unelectable.

[AllllGooone]

Ha ha ha ha ha at the thought that over £60k is rich!!!! It so isn't.

It's probably because it's almost 3x the national average and almost double the average for London.