Absolutely rinsed in this budget - almost £1k a year worse off.

We are a higher-earning household (c. £400k pa) and I am - up to a point - happy to pay tax. My hesitancy is because, despite paying lots of IT and other taxes (e.g. last year's household tax bill was well into 6 figures), our public services are still complete and utter shite. We have to use private GP's to fit around our work, locally the NHS hospital is not fit for purpose, you'll probably find the NHS dentist riding into town on a unicorn that shits diamonds, and (in our case) you'll have to take the LA to a Tribunal to obtain anything like acceptable support or education for our disabled DC, because they are happy to ignore their legal responsibilities. Oh and the whole "go private" mantra is pointless, because there is no private pediatric medicine in the UK outside London.

Where is the plan to reduce spending? Or to cut our trillions of unfunded public sector pension liability? Why are people like us, who pay and contribute and work hard and claim nothing, being rinsed for even more, just to shovel the money at welfare and debt interest, and then insulted for "complaining about tax" when suggesting that our lot is not an entirely happy one?

Even if I was paying tax at 20%, or paying none at all, I would struggle to accept that waiting 6 weeks for 10 minutes with a dismissive locum GP was a reasonable provision of primary care, or that a cancer patient waiting 16 hours in a corridor was anything other than barbaric and unacceptable. As a dual additional rate taxpayer household chucking >£10k into the public purse every month, it's absolutely insane.

How can you be feeling squeezed if you each pay £35k a year into pensions?

Because they have limited life experience out of their well off comfortable bubble? Because they don't understand statistics? Because they know they are in the top 10% but prefer to claim to be a middle earner to get engagement on social media platforms?

Yep. It’s incredibly hard to imagine that being the case but it definitely is. Our household income is ten grand less and we are very frugal indeed. Literally no luxuries, yellow sticker items, charity shop and Vinted clothes, no holidays abroad.

There's a great bit of research somewhere - can't be arsed to try and find it but look it up - that said the vast majority women CEO's in the top 100 companies believed that they were there by luck, and the vast majority of male CEO's in the top 100 companies believed they were there due to ability and hard work. Read into that what you will. I always believed I got to the top of my field by luck and the majority of women directors I mixed with felt the same.

We are a higher-earning household (c. £400k pa) and I am - up to a point - happy to pay tax. My hesitancy is because, despite paying lots of IT and other taxes (e.g. last year's household tax bill was well into 6 figures), our public services are still complete and utter shite. We have to use private GP's to fit around our work, locally the NHS hospital is not fit for purpose, you'll probably find the NHS dentist riding into town on a unicorn that shits diamonds, and (in our case) you'll have to take the LA to a Tribunal to obtain anything like acceptable support or education for our disabled DC, because they are happy to ignore their legal responsibilities. Oh and the whole "go private" mantra is pointless, because there is no private pediatric medicine in the UK outside London.

Where is the plan to reduce spending? Or to cut our trillions of unfunded public sector pension liability? Why are people like us, who pay and contribute and work hard and claim nothing, being rinsed for even more, just to shovel the money at welfare and debt interest, and then insulted for "complaining about tax" when suggesting that our lot is not an entirely happy one?

Even if I was paying tax at 20%, or paying none at all, I would struggle to accept that waiting 6 weeks for 10 minutes with a dismissive locum GP was a reasonable provision of primary care, or that a cancer patient waiting 16 hours in a corridor was anything other than barbaric and unacceptable. As a dual additional rate taxpayer household chucking >£10k into the public purse every month, it's absolutely insane.

What’s ludicrous is to say luck always plays a part. How could you possibly know that? Did you attend their job interviews? Have you met every single person who earns over 100k? But I can see you’re basing your opinion on what you’ve heard on TV. Maybe someone noticed potential in others because they worked hard within their job environment and got noticed that way

Because they don't mix with people on actual middle incomes? Because they believe the bullshit narrative that the right wing media parrot?

Our household income is a little bit more than that and we are in no sense squeezed.

This! Our house is nowhere near £2m, but there was a lot of talk of doubling council tax for top bands, which would be an extra £3k a year, and is a real worry. But it’s an unknown so I’ve not factored that into any calcs yet.

But it’s an additional stress.

Your posts show such naivety. I worked my way up the ladder and did really well. I was lucky that my parents believed in the value of education and supported that. I was lucky that I didn't have any additional needs that were unmet. I was lucky that my parents could afford to financially support me through university. I was lucky that I genetically had enough academic ability to pass exams. If you don't recognise the luck required to achieve in today's society then you have spent too long in the middle classes. Can I suggest doing some voluntary work at a food bank as it would really aid you in understanding. For what it's worth I was raised with the whole "anyone can achieve anything if they work hard enough" adage, and life has shown me that it's simply not true.

Everyone wants not to pay tax. But they want a functioning NHS, potholes filled, good schools, NHS dentistry, good councils, streets kept clean, free childcare... and in the case of the OP, she wants to keep the household income of £140k all to themselves.

Make the complaining about tax make sense?

They shouldn’t feel thankful for working hard and moving up the career ladder. These jobs do not (mostly) land in people’s laps. Most would require a degree of skill and qualifications, things that most people can acquire themselves. Luck very rarely plays a part

Maybe we need to question why £140k feels like the squeezed middle to those that are living it.

Maybe we need to question why £140k feels like the squeezed middle to those that are living it.

Yep. It’s incredibly hard to imagine that being the case but it definitely is. Our household income is ten grand less and we are very frugal indeed. Literally no luxuries, yellow sticker items, charity shop and Vinted clothes, no holidays abroad.

I would rather have a better paid job than to prop up parents who can’t afford their kids

Yep. It’s incredibly hard to imagine that being the case but it definitely is. Our household income is ten grand less and we are very frugal indeed. Literally no luxuries, yellow sticker items, charity shop and Vinted clothes, no holidays abroad.

I haven’t assumed anything - I’ve given my opinion based on my experience. You’ve misread and misquoted that, perhaps deliberately.

THANK YOU!!

This is the 2nd post I've seen today from someone claiming to be a middle earner when they're actually earning £140,000 a year...reality check much?