Who are the squeezed middle?

[Thisisanewnamename]

I know the squeezed middle is a bit of a contentious term here on MN but as it’s common parlance, let just roll with it for the thread.

In terms of household income who are the squeezed middle? Obviously there’s variation here for location, children, mortgage/ rent. Given that the average uk mortgage is around £750 a month. What is the salary range (before tax) for the squeezed middle. DH and I have an average life I’d say (average mortgage, average usage bills wise, average family size you know) but I think we’re probably a bit above average in terms of household income and yet we can barely make money stretch. I think maybe households that earn under £100k?

am I the squeezed middle? I think I must be, household income is definitely under £100k. Is there a definition of the squeezed middle?

We shouldn’t be fighting with each other, but should be standing with each other to demand better from our government.

Totally agree -

A single person on £30K V a family of 5 on £80K (£16K each) are still the sweetest middle.

I see the squeezed middle as a vast majority of earners who get absolutely nothing back. No rail discount, no free dental care, pay full university fees. No tax breaks taxes and pay NHS prescriptions - everything falls to the middle earners.

It doesn’t matter if you’re on a low income or high income it’s still the middle earners who suffer.

According to google about 53% of the population fall into this category. It’s about time we spoke up!

The biggest differentiator is housing costs - so many here with mortgages each month below £1000. In the SE, you’d be pushed to find a 3 bed semi below £350k. You can very quickly become squeezed with a household income of £75k+, servicing a large mortgage, childcare and bills!

I'd say people who earn just too much to be eligible for benefits. Particularly as this has a knock on effect on things like whether your children are eligible for free school meals.

Exactly what income that is will depend on the individual situation, but I'm guessing it's generally having an income in the £25K to £40K sort of range?

Completely agree! I’m in the midlands and the areas that you’d feel safe/ want to live have become eye wateringly expensive. £650k for a 3 bed new build detached level, older houses comparable too because they have more land (3 bed semi at least 400 and that’s a house that needs repair)

you can’t find a nursery for under £60 a day, very few childminders. So many huge unavoidable expenses that you just can’t budget your way out of

Household income of 25k isn't anywhere close to the middle, given the average salaries in the U.K. 25k is poor, not middle

You earn over 50k and get universal credit? Wow

How do you work AND look after your own children? Don't be so goady

I think the squeezed middle are those who are not qualified for benefits etc (possibly with the exception of child benefit as the threshold for that is quite high compared to other benefits), and are able to pay their bills, buy food and other small purchases etc but have nothing left over at the end of the month for savings, emergencies etc.

We have a combined income of 90k and are not struggling. But we live in a very cheap area, our childcare costs are now minimal. I imagine in London with two pre school aged children that income wouldn't stretch as far.

So I don't think it can be defined by an income amount. It's more about what is leftover when you've paid for all the essentials.

I think a lot of it depends on stage of life, lots of my friends have lower household incomes than many quoted here and are doing fine because they are have young adult DC and now small mortgages. If you asked them 15 or so years they would have said they are in the squeezed middle.

I'd agree that it depends on stage of life. If you live in the south east with both of you working, it's got to be a very decent wage to cover mortgage and childcare.
It's why so many have to seriously consider how many children they can have.

There's not really a secret. We have a modestly sized house and so not huge housing costs. We budget and save very carefully and don't use credit. Cars are both a few years old and bought outright so car costs are low, same with our mobile phones not the latest iPhones so contracts are cheaper. Our savings are lower than we would like just now as we've done all the big house projects in the last few years and have holidays booked.

I don't understand all these people saying they're squeezed on £75k -£100k. No matter where you are in the country that's a very comfortable wage. It's just choices that make it otherwise. i.e. choosing to have a bigger house or new cars or top of the range phones etc. These are the things that suck up extra money but aren't really necessary for a nice life.

I thinks it as others have said, you can't really define if by income alone because there are so many variables.

We fall into the salary brackets quoted on that thread BUT we have a very small mortgage with only 5 years remaining and no childcare costs.

If we had a big mortgage and were still paying for childcare I imagine we'd be feeling pretty squeezed right now.

I think there are a lot of people who have lived at the top end of their means for a long time (taking out the maximum mortgage the could afford, upsizing while the market was buoyant, having multiple children close in age) who are currently very nervous.

I don't understand all these people saying they're squeezed on £75k -£100k. No matter where you are in the country that's a very comfortable wage. It's just choices that make it otherwise. i.e. choosing to have a bigger house or new cars or top of the range phones etc. These are the things that suck up extra money but aren't really necessary for a nice life

i promise you, you can. I’m in there, and we feel the squeeze, Think I said up thread our bills by the end of the year will have gone up £700 a month. Car is owned and we just have one, house isn’t lavish, holidays are v much shopped around for and got at cheapest possible price (one hol a year if that). Our issue, probably like many, we weren’t anticipating this much an increase in costs all at once, so we took on a large mortgage when we could because no one saw this coming. Now even if we were to sell and get a smaller house it would cost the same as what we paid for a bigger house so it makes no sense.

I think there are a lot of people who have lived at the top end of their means for a long time (taking out the maximum mortgage the could afford, upsizing while the market was buoyant, having multiple children close in age) who are currently very nervous.

yes! I’m included, but I’d say people like us were generally encouraged too with income multiples for mortgaging and HTB, 95% mortgages, the whole ‘a mortgage is the cheapest loan you’ll ever get’

Take home pay on £100k is around £5k, two earners on £50k would take home about £6k. If you can't live comfortably on that you really need to take a long hard look at where your money is going and budget accordingly. Although I take the point you can change your housing costs if you've over committed yourself.

Threads like this really smack of privilege. The 'squeezed middle' refers to people just above the benefit threshold, literally just scraping by.

As for 'nobody saw this coming'...erm didn't we? We've known since brexit was in the pipeline that the shit would hit the fan, then covid hit making it a double whammy, it has been known for years but most have buried their head in the sand and continued to live to maximum means.

Did you see the pandemic coming? many of us bought our homes before the pandemic, i for instance got me In the will they don’t they stage of brexit where we had no idea what it would look like to leave the EU and some mainstream parties campaigning for another referendum on brexit.

i used to work as a mortgage advisor and yeah we did not see this coming.

we have about 85k gross which is 4.8k after tax and deductions. We live within our means and not the max tbh, but like I said upthread downsizing doesn’t even make financial sense due to property price increases, interest rates and fees. All the money we saved per month is now pretty much going to be eaten up with that £700 per month bill increase

I think it depends massively on a) household size and b) area. We live in the SE but outside London, and it’s just me and DP with no DC or pets. Our net income is about £55k and I wouldn’t describe us as squeezed, but a family with our income in London with 3 kids and a dog probably would be.

Yes, which is why I find the notion of 'a low salary but not low enough.to qualify for benefits' a weak definition for "the squeezed middle". UC reflects (rental) housing costs and childcare costs, so in many cases will have an extremely high threshold. I have to pay back half of my CB but still get UC. 🤷‍♀️

Need a few 🎻 on here!