To think most rich people don’t understand how the rest of us live?

I strongly agree with this. Politicians should be representatives of its citizens. Instead what we have is a big clump of homogeneity. Swathes of our elected representatives have come through the political family/private schools/PPE at Oxbridge/worked as a SPAD/parachuted into a safe seat, regardless of their political colours.

I’d like to see a system where in order to represent a constituency you need to have lived there for at least 5 years, and either worked there or gone to school there. If you are to represent people you should know what their issues are beyond the folk who shout the loudest at one of your one hour monthly surgeries. You should be one of the people you represent.

Yes but you are swing it only from one angle - money. It proves the point that most people think from their own narrow perspectives.

This lady has money but a child with struggles for which you are not able to empathise. You may have a healthy, well functioning child but not money. Now someone rich would not give as much thought to your money troubles as you would not give thought to other people’s others kind of struggles.

Humans struggle to empathise those who are not from their socio, economic backgrounds / status for lack of common experience.

It’s the human condition. Men don’t understand what it’s like to be a woman.Women don’t understand what it’s like to be a man. Young people don’t know what it’s like to be not young. Middle aged people don’t know what it’s like to be old.
we each live in our own circumstances, and the best we can do is be well intentioned toward others. To fail is human.

@Pavingprincess your not getting it , you sister still had the choice to put her daughter into a private special SEN school .. that what money does it gives opportunity and choice ..

What on earth do you mean out of touch? my DH gives me only £250 a week, 250!!! and I think that is stingy as hell, i think spending £250 a week is completely normal, isn't that what everyone else does?

Every one lives in their own bubble and don’t understand struggles of those living in a different bubble. Rich don’t think of poor people’s struggles to the extent you would like, but that’s because most humans are not capable or don’t want to think and imagine other people’s struggles and would offer a quick advice and move on.

Where are you seeing this advice? Who is making it to you?

Indeed.

The ones that spout about what they have due to 'working hard' whilst ignoring property inflation and inheritance.

People are not born equal to start with, then things are much easier for some for many reasons. Acknowledge the privilege and advantages we have.

i think this is the OP’s point exactly. The higher income provided your sister with options “why don’t you send you r daughter to X school.” And for her it was an option. Lower income removes those options entirely. I.e no holidays and very limited support for SEND children.

I am glad your sister had the means (both financial and the means to get a job paying £95k to giver her the chance to to the best for her child.

Hmmm. Depends if they have been well off since birth I guess. My parents ended their lives owning a large house in Spain, a condo in Boston and rented in the UK. After my father died my mother got an annual distribution of £60k cash, a pension and had other income and no debts. Sitting pretty right?
Except when she was in her 30s with three kids under five she had to borrow money to afford school uniforms. My father was in hospital for several months and though she worked funds were very low. She literally had to count her pennies.
So if you met her at 60, you’d say how privileged is she? If you met her at 35, you’d be thinking gosh glad that’s not me!
It takes a certain lack if empathy or indifference or even intelligence to not see how someone else might experience life differently to you. Most people I know are aware of their privilege (otherwise I wouldn’t be knowing them long) and do things to help those in less favourable circumstances. I find it hard to believe that someone could blithely say ‘just buy a house’. Are these the same people who think having lattes is making it unaffordable?
I know a number of wealthy people - those with lifelong money and those who worked their way up. None are so ignorant as to suggest it’s a choice to be struggling or that someone can easily remedy it if they just tried hard enough. I’m sure there are some who do - but they must be very blinkered and narcissistic, and I don’t think most rich people are.

Rich means different things to different people. I think the hardest place to be is in the middle. The place where you don't qualify for the help and assistance you might get on a lower income, but you aren't well off enough that you can easily absorb the gap between rich and scraping by.

@Pavingprincess I do get that too - someone I know was busy moaning about her income/benefits ( she only works 6 hours a week) but then I know she also gets almost £850 a month maintenance on top that doesn’t count against her UC and effectively still gets her rent virtually covered off - When I thought about it , disposable income wise she isn’t far off off us as we have high rent, business costs, no benefits and that’s between two of us both working full time in our 60s - there does seem to be some kind of an idea that on £100k you are bringing home 4 times someone on 25k - a bit of understanding sometimes wouldn’t go amiss - and yes I’ve been poor and skint too several times in life

It works both ways.
Some rich people don’t understand poverty. And a lot of people with lower incomes think anyone on a decent wage is rolling in - not understanding the higher tax rates, lack of child benefit or funded hours etc.

So are thry just giving general advice to everyone or are they saying 'poor people now,what you need to do is'

And i dont divide people into rich and 'rest of us' that is just as judgemental to me, people are people and have different things in their lives than others

Agree. There are a lot of people on high incomes who live counting pennies due to lifestyle decisions they have made. My sister is like this because she has a SEN child who she put into a private secondary school. She could have decided not to do this and still be able to go on holiday but did what she thought was best for her child.

She’s made the right decision - the transformation has been incredible - but she’s certainly not got much spare money from her £95k salary.

I don't think it's just the rich, we're all guilty of this.

Every socio-economic level forgets the rung below them and only looks to what the rung above has because humans are aspirational.

I'm from a poor family but a high earner now. I don't really think about the times my parents couldn't afford things, because it's in the past and human nature is to look to the future.

How often do you think about being grateful to have hot, running water on tap, which 2 billion people in the world don't have?

It may not be 4 x universal credit but even with mortgage, childcare and higher bills there is still spare disposable income. And a house that is being paid off to provide security.

Yeah apart from that argument is “I have so little left after bills”…which could be reduced with some lifestyle change). Not “I can’t cover the bills and I have nowhere left to cut back”

it’s like comparing beans on toast and a tiara. They are not alike.

I agree OP, some people do make some out of touch comments that must grate when you ponder day to day realities. But as @Pavingprincess pointed out, often people quickly dismiss any hint of complaint from what they perceive to be high earners.

The group that really annoys me though are those who benefited from huge house price growth, free university, reasonable cost of living to the point where we had a choice to have 1 partner stay at home, final salary pensions etc. They'll happily lecture you despite having favourable circumstances.

agree - and define “keep seeing”

Its all relative is line trotted out be people who either can't empathise of really do not want to.

The more money you have the more choices you have, if you choose to stretch your finances that a choice, living payday to payday without choices just getting by is not the same in anyway to having over stretched yourself

If that’s a pressing issue for you, you can always start your own thread. It feels unfair coming to someone else’s post to discuss another issue.