Do you begrudge high earners?

I don't begrudge high earners. I do begrudge when they act like they are not rich and privileged as a result.

I also resent the idea that they work harder then everyone else. That is massive over statement. I know a high earner. He's a barrister. He works hard. He has a skilled job sure absolutely. He doesn't work harder then everyone else, nurses for example work just as hard as him on significantly less money.. he was lucky that he has a natural knack for debate and to be frank for manipulating people and ifs served him well in his career. Nothing more.

I consider myself a high earner but am not a higher earner by this def.

but the high earners I work with earn their money and do long demanding hours.

some of them are absolute toads 😅 but they are all talented in their respective areas.
i would 💯 not want their jobs / lives.

i also think that some of the hardest professions are horribly underpaid.
care work, medical fields, teaching to name a few.

I’m pleased construction salaries have increased in recent years as hard manual work takes it toll on a body and you aren’t going to be working until 70 as a bricklayer or similar.

i think salaries and resenting high earners is a red herring though. PAYE employees are keeping this country rolling… wealth and salaries are totally different and the wealth gap is a huge issue we can’t ignore much longer.

Dh mentioned this morning that he had a whopping great tax bill. He's happy to pay it but he can't understand the negativity toward high earners who are subsidising so many.

Exactly this. Those on high salaries are keeping the NHS going, just as much as nurses, carers and doctors.

I know.

I dont begrudge anyone that earns that kind of salary. My son does and I honestly would not want to carry the level of responsibility he does. I know the pressure his job brings and the sacrifices he made to achieve his career goal and I am so proud of him. And more to the point I love how him and some of his colleagues turn up to my house every friday for home made egg and chips with a loaf of bread and a pot of tea! They sit in my kitchen in my little house (which is so far removed from their lovely apartments) and they make themselves at home and comfortable and its all so natural exactly how it should be ,mind you I am always glad to see the back of them after an hour or so!!

DH is not in the mega high earning category. However I earn about 20% of his salary. He absolutely does not work 5 times harder than me, but he does work hard.

I think he envies my ability to refuse any overtime unless it's paid.

It’s possible to earn 100k as a PA without a degree if good at what you do. In London & big cities.

No, I don't begrudge them. High earners are not (usually anyway) responsible for other jobs being undercompensated. If nurses were suddenly paid £300k, people would make the same snide comments about them.

Yeah mine was a miner - started down the pit at 14 but easily the cleverest man I met despite me working in Russell group Unis for two decades.

I guess for me it's people who are loaded but literally don't work. Like people with loads of property. I have a family member like that. He just sits on his arse profiteering off being a landlord. He thinks everyone else is a work shy dosser though?

You aren’t. You’re confusing wealth and earned income from a salary. There is no way to tax dodge with PAYE. They are the ones literally funding the country. Whilst the millionaires are not.

I think unfair distribution of GDP and wealth is one of the biggest societal issues, not just in the UK but globally. That said, I don't think it's those earning a few times NMW are the issue. It's those earning 100s, 1000s, 10000s times NMW and those sitting on fortunes in the 100s of millions or billions that need addressed. Pitting low income earners against middle incomes is just classic divide and conquer in action. Talking of NMW, that's a disaster IMHO. It should be a baseline that is appropriate for only the most unskilled, inexperienced, low responsibility workers. Instead it has somehow managed to become pretty much the default for the majority of jobs that are not professional or highly skilled. It's removed the need for employers to use remuneration to compete with each other to attract and retain good employees.

No I’m not. I’m talking about an unfair system - the more you earn, the more you can avoid paying your fair share.

Totally. I am working towards being one of those high earners, and am in a career where it's certainly possible with time and effort. I already significantly outearn my parents at their peak earnings, but in no way will I be working as hard as they both did. My dad did 12 hour night shifts in a factory for many years. That's tougher than anything I do sitting at a desk all day.

6 figure earners usually get that as compensation for responsibility not how hard they work. Many on those salaries could be reputationally ruined or face jail if junior staff members screw up, so no, I don't begrudge them that salary.

You can’t tar everyone with the same brush as to how hard they work - whichever end of the earnings spectrum they’re on. I work closely with several 200k-400k colleagues. I can assure you it’s no more taxing than a 9-5 and they don’t spend time working evenings or weekends either, their jobs are really quite low stress and reasonable hours. They’re paid to take the risk of signing off on things and being the person ultimately responsible if things go wrong.
When I’ve been in hospital, the nurses/midwives/junior doctors on a small fraction of that kind of money work way, way harder. People who take several low paid jobs such as cleaning to the keep the family afloat work way harder.
There are high earners who work extremely hard, and those who don’t. There are low earners who work extremely hard, and those who don’t.

👏👏👏
exactly!!

I also begrudge the whinging. No one forces anyone to work long hours to earn more than they could possibly need. Its a free choice to trade quality of life for cash. If that's your choice, enjoy the stuff you can afford and get on with your chosen life. This constant bleating about how people are not affording you enough praise for your apparant excellence and outstanding work ethic, is quite unnecessary. It stands to reason that people working very hard themselves in essential and useful roles without which we'd all be in trouble, are going to have an occasional eye roll at the unfairness of their pay against yours, but why should you care? You can afford more stuff!

Yes. You are confusing wealth and earned income from a salaried job. Someone on the salary op is talking about will pay approx 120k tax a year via PAYE.

Not at all, I do think very little of those who say they believe their high salary is down to the fact they work harder than anyone who earns less than them though.

@cheerscheerscheerstomeyeahcheers , do you know what high earners do? ALL of them? Or just your husband?

what a goady post for a Sunday morning.

Please can the high earner come and work a 12 hour shift, on their feet all day, caring for sick people, holding peoples hands as they die, comforting distressed relatives, whilst looking after 9 other patients, making sure you’re calculating their drugs correctly so you don’t kill anyone, whilst also being verbally abused and complained at that you’re not going quick enough.

Also, over 300k? I doubt surgeons even get to that point. Surgeons who can spend 16 hours in theatre removing cancer tumours without rupturing aorta’s and reconnecting veins to one another.

Are these people not skilled enough to be a high earner?

Would you be actually willing to put in the time and effort yourself?

I don't begrudge high earners their good fortune per se. But I certainly resent statements like the above which imply that high earners somehow work harder than people on lower salaries.

This isn't a meritocracy.

But will they though? Lots of them have fancy accountants and they will tax “avoid” rather than tax evade so morally wrong (IMHO) but not illegal. Wayne Rooney apparently only paid £800 a month in tax when he was getting £120k a week