AIBU to feel deflated after payday despite a decent salary?

Surely questions of social responsibility should first be addressed to the millions of able-bodied adults in the UK who choose not to work, or deliberately game the UC system by limiting their hours? The top 1% of earners already pay about 30% of all income tax, so they are actually doing more than their fair share rather than being self-centred.

There are of course personal benefits to a well-paid job - although I am at a point where I'd experience more "personal growth" if I could spend extra time with my disabled DS and feel less frazzled. Most senior professional and managerial roles - with the possible and partial exception of medicine - are simply not compatible with PT working.

I might think that the trade off is worth it if I get to receive (say) 70% of any salary uplift, but when the amount I am allowed to "keep" shrinks every year because of fiscal drag and inflation, when there is absolutely no incentive to correct the 62% marginal rate even though it's nonsensical and raises no money, and when absolutely everyone thinks the only people who deserve to be clobbered with tax are all the people who earn more than them, working at this level becomes much less attractive.

The main difference between UK and mainland Europe when it comes to income tax is around the basic taxation level, not the higher rates. The rates of tax on average earners are higher in Europe because (unlike here) they realise that these workers form the critical mass and there are not enough higher earners to keep everyone afloat.

I would agree with those who say the issue is probably less the money but how you view it and how you spend it. It's worth reviewing your saving and spending goals. And what do you really feel is a treat for you?
I recommend a (short) book called Frugal Hedonism.

Yes, paying for my family of 3 to live. It’s an option for most able bodied people you know. Do better, make better life choices, gain qualifications, earn more. Then we can all pay more tax. Instead, the middle earners pay more, whilst those not bothering to do the above claim more. But woe betide any one moans about it.

That “unnecessary discretionary spending” is part of having a “good lifestyle” though no? Unless by “good lifestyle” you mean “pay for essentials easily”?

All I can say is I wish I was as deflated as you on payday and as poor as you too.

And that's the issue. Tax on income has to be progressive so you pay more as you earn more, but there has to be reward for earning more. To not see any benefit for a 50 percent increase in salary is just crazy.

Based on the OP’s post her salary is only £7-8k above that of the average full time worker in the UK. Less if she has a student loan.

It’s also simply the principle.
Yes he has more than others but it’s simply not fair to work and lose half of it before you ever see it.

It’s a fair point. To put it in the same bracket as tax makes no sense as it is simply paying back amounts loaned to you.

Amazing isn’t it. No one wants to pay a fair amount of tax. But everybody wants more police, a crack down on shoplifters, an operation within weeks of diagnosis, a GP appointment as soon as they need one, good teachers who don’t leave and disrupt their children’s education, wrap around child care support from the government, a better defended country with a large up to date armed forces, social care when they get old, not to sell their parents home for Care depriving them of inheritance, more support for their SEN child, clean streets, bins emptied, a fire brigade that turn up quickly if they have a fire, an NHS dentist nearby with appointments, etc etc etc. #WHEREDOTHEYTHINKTHEMONEYCOMESFROM

The social responsibility element is damaged by a number of factors I think.

It is annoying to feel that you are highly taxed and yet still receive poor quality public service - it creates the sense that your contribution just disappears into a bottomless pit (which to a large extent is true given the enormous cost of servicing the nation’s debt)

It is annoying to be highly taxed on income, whilst people who receive far more from unearned family wealth are taxed on a much lower basis (see my earlier post re. Rishi Sunak paying 23% tax on his income of £2.2 million, compared to the 38% effective rate I pay on my salary). I feel I am shouldering a disproportionate burden compared to far wealthier individuals, just because PAYE is seen as easy pickings!

It is also a bit annoying to be treated as if I should be grateful for what the government choose not to take from my salary. I feel the opposite ought to be true really - they should be grateful that they get to benefit so much from my labour, especially when I ask for very little from them in return!

And? It’s still a “small” luxury.

I got my payslip today for 5 days work (one day was Saturday so overtime rate). I get paid weekly and my take home was £440. It's already accounted for - no money for frivolities. Tbh I'm just grateful to be able to earn something.

How many children do you have to be losing £25k a year of childcare help??

A more sensible approach would be people writing to their MPs to demand that they change these things and start managing the economy competently. These idiotic policies remain in place because people just shrug and do nothing.

I wish I hadn't read your post. You earn a big salary and felt the need to tell everyone about it.

Focus on what you do have- which is a lot more than some people.

And I should probably remember that comparison is the theif of joy.

Exactly.

A sensible Government would immediately:

Make the personal allowance universal again
Make child benefit universal again
Make childcare funding universal again
Lower the UC taper rate
Reform VAT and business rates to remove cliff edges
Levy taxes on a household unit basis

Specific rates of tax could be adjusted slightly to offset the removal of the cliff-edges and remove these perverse disincentives which are strangling growth and therefore actually reducing overall tax revenue. It’s idiotic.

I feel exactly the same about some government expenditure. I rationalise it by telling myself my money is being spent on things I approve of and other people’s is paying for the things I don’t. I’ll pay for your share of the two child cap if you pay mine for something else.

Exactly. I’m in a similar position to OP.
People say cut your cloth etc, we pretty much do- don’t drive fancy cars, live in a nice but normal house without a huge mortgage, etc. I think most are in the same position proportionally regardless of what they earn. It only stands to reason you want to have a nicer house/car or take a holiday, etc or there would be no point slogging away at work for the higher wage.
By the time we pay bills, pay/save for various bits, etc there isn’t much to play with. I know we are lucky to be in a position to save and living a decent enough life but we have a household income of £170k and we certainly aren’t living the high life.

I feel similarly, more about the tax issue. On one hand I’m glad to contribute and not leech (as some people do) but I’m appalled about where some of my tax goes to e.g. this ridiculous change of lifting the two child limit on UC).

Still, what can you do other than suck it up and moan on online forums?

I get what you’re saying OP, money doesn’t go anywhere near as far as it used to. Frozen tax thresholds really haven’t helped.

The fact that some people earn less is frankly, irrelevant. This is like saying that someone in Afghanistan has to work for a week to buy a loaf of bread, and therefore, nobody in the UK has any right to complain 🙄

I wasn't actually suggesting that everyone work a minimum wage job. The poster I responded to was suggesting it wasn't worth having a higher paid job because it comes with more responsibility, longer hours and a bigger tax bill (for higher wages). There was no mention of the any of the benefits such as higher autonomy, professional development, personal growth, etc.

Where's the social responsibility in all this complaining about paying more tax? I find it so self-centred.

There will be nobody left paying in if high earners are despised so much!

There has to be a benefit to retain high earners in this country. People may feel jealous they aren’t earning as much as someone else - there’s a lot more who earn more than me due to career choices - but it’s life and I wouldn’t want those who earn more than me leaving the country.

BTW I don’t work full time but I did earn via PAYE as an employee too.

this is not about life expectation - this is the reality of many real people's lives

Which means you kept a six figure sum, which by your own admission you did nothing to earn