We very soon won’t be able to afford our life

[WhatsHoppening]

We have a high mortgage, high childcare costs which thankfully will reduce but still wraparound. With our mortgage term ending in December and the increase in gas and electric, food costs, petrol and the increase in mortgage when we remortgage on a higher rate we will not be able to afford to live. Our outgoings will outstrip our income. We are both professionals, I work part time (4 days) and there’s no hope of DC getting into after school club on my day off (and realistically after childcare I bring in less than £100 pcm per extra day worked after childcare). I feel sick. I keep getting told by my parents and grandparents we will get through it but how?! My grandparents were post war so it was hard but my gran could be a SAHM for 3 kids on a my grandads teacher salary. This is a pipe dream for us now and DH earns more than a NQ teacher. Just a rant- lots have it much worse. But I’m scared for the future.

‘People are just going to have to get second jobs/cheaper childcare/move jobs/downsize/cut back on expenses. It's the stuff of nightmares.’

Taking control of personal finances, making hard decisions & cutting cloth etc is not a nightmare. It’s uncomfortable, responsible, hard work & maybe disappointing, but not a nightmare.

Loosing control, bankruptcy, homeless, endless debt & grinding poverty - nightmares.

This is a common misconception, but in academia we don't get the same leave arrangements as teachers. We get around 25-30 days annual leave a year - which is plenty, but it is not getting the summer and all holidays off. Obviously a tiny number of academics may have different contract arrangements, but this is how it is throughout the UK (and beyond).

I'm always amused by how many UG students email me with queries / concerns / anything over the summer and very kindly ask how my holiday is going. They would be surprised to find out that we are very much at work doing admissions (A level results loom!), open and taster days, supported progression / summer schools, supervising PhDs and taught MSc/MA students, running labs, carrying out and publishing research, applying for grants, redesigning, writing and setting up the teaching for the Ups, and often much more besides. Actually teaching students is a relatively small part of many of our roles.

We had similar. In the end we extended the mortgage to 40 years interest only, took a term time lodger, got rid of the car, ate more veggie meals, drastically lowered the amount we spent on gifts/Xmas, camped or holidayed from home, stopped the kids expensive activities and did more play dates, stopped buying adult clothes

It might be worth using your skills, you could teach one night class a week

huh, she already works 4 days per week. So at most she could earn another £100per calendar month.

So exactly like teachers then! (Sorry…. I couldn’t resist! Ex teacher who happily enjoys actual holidays now even though I technically get half as many days)

Would your children be suitable to join a reputable child modelling agency, to do catalogues, and TV adverts? That can bring in an extra wage - and a good one.

Whatever your views, they make no positive difference to the poster’s difficulties. Not the thread for pontificating.

Well no because who would take them to the castings?

Think about taking some evening work?
it’s really hard, I’ve had to take on a new job, dp gets home I spend 5mins updating him on what needs doing(finishing the dinner, housework, admin etc) and I fly out the door till the early hours. Between us we are working on average 90hrs a week but before I took the new job we were on a knife edge. This has eased some of the pressure, I’m getting back on top of some bills that we had slipped behind on and hopefully at some point soon we can start building a savings pot.

it does feel like all work and no play though atm, with everything going up at once but I just keep reminding myself that thank goodness we are housed and fairly healthy and able to take on more work. I feel desperately sorry for those who don’t have that option, later this year it’s going to get very scary for those people

Castings done via The Spotlight/self tapes etc. Also, some of the bigger agencies employ DBS checked chaperones.

so much bullshit

Not an easy one- childcare is seriously expensive. I gave up my well paid teaching job, top of scale to be at home with my son. I worked a long way but at a good school which was fine at 25... my fuel would be £400 now a month, childcare ( husband would drop and collect) £65 a day . Just for those I looking at £1500 /1600. Then clean air extra £250 ... after tax, pension etc its not worth me going. Life has changed , I don’t have the money I did - it’s full on with little break , constant mess but it’s life at the mo. Supply rate is £110 a day and quite honestly is nearly an insult for the hard work I did 3 days a week last year. I scrapped gcse work out of kids who had done nothing after a succession of teachers and after me the persons not stayed.

I know its been said before, but the UK atm is going down the drain. I live overseas and was thinking of moving back, but won't be anytime soon the way things are going. Two professionally educated people working almost fulltime should not be in this situation. They wouldn't be in most other developed countries in the world. They'd almost certainly be on far better money (likely double in Australia or the US), and likely have much cheaper or subsidised (petrol, childcare, etc) prices.

It is a total failure of government, and decades of wage suppression. I wish the UK people would get angry - its time for action. Get out on the streets. I'll fly back and join you.

Perhaps you’ve confused university academic roles with school roles- a standard lecturer contract is only about 40% teaching/lecturing. When that pauses over the summer - the remainder of the 60% of the contract spikes up where there are some very steep and often in achievable targets to meet in the other main category: Research. Summer is when university academic scramble desperately to publish ( or perish), to publish in high impact journals (or not meet their appraisal targets), and produce bids (grant applications) to win external funding for research projects. If you only do the 40% lecturing part of a standard academic contract you’ll unfortunately be sacked. And as it turns out - 6 weeks in summer is nowhere near enough for all of the research targets to be met. So sinners unfortunately are rather different for university academics than school teachers.

The current situation is international.I spend half the year in Spain and my DH is from another northern EU country. It is the same everywhere thanks to Putin and his hideous war.

Stop rabble rousing.

Something needs to be done to the childcare charges. I'm originally from the nordics and our childcare costs are significantly less. And I do think thag if childcare was subsidiced it would pay itself back since more parents (and more often mothers) would he able to work.

The pressures are the same but the UK has very high poverty, high inequality and little is being done to help.

For example in France they have renationalised EDF to control price rises for consumers. Whicheans now when the UK pays for the energy at Sizewell C, we are paying direct to the French state. Brilliant for France, shit for us.

The government here has raised taxes and is making things harder rather than helping. Benefit cuts, low wages, profiteering utility providers, sky-high transport costs.

It isn't rabble-rousing to discuss how badly we are being treated by our government.

It most certainly is not the same everywhere. Inflation is a worldwide concern, yes, but not to the degree that the UK has it. And as I said, at least other governments are trying to do something.

This.

WAges need to rise for the workers

if you cut peoples disposable income then a recession will be linger and harder

raise wages and cut profits at the top to balance out and the economy will come back quicker

Cooperate business in the last 3 years have seen profits increase by 75% but choose to keep the profits at the top. Not sharing the profits, leaving those at the bottom to claim working benefits - if they can

I think, as things worsen for everybody, family dynamics are going to need to change and grandparents help more, where possible. It may need to become more usual for grandparents to live with their children and cut down on fuel bills in two houses; cut down on childcare.

Diverseopinions

so instead of striving for higher wages, you think people will get grandparents to give up paid work, move in and look after D.C. ?