Who are the Squeezed Middle?

[Tambora]

I see this term a lot, both on threads on MN and in the media, and I would be interested to know what is meant by that, because there seems to be some debate. Who do you think they are and does it include you? When it comes to household income, from £x to £y would be the squeezed middle in your view?

I don't think it's income specific as different people have different outgoings so someone who earns 25K and lives up north could be fine whilst someone on 50k in London might be struggling.

For me the squeezed middle is anyone who earns too much for support/help from the government but is still feeling the pinch with all these price rises left right and centre. Imo it's the squeezed middle who will have the biggest impact on society. They're the ones who when the going gets tough will stop ordering takeaways, stop going on days out, stop going to the cinema, stop eating at restaurants, stop going on holidays, stop doing "fun activities" and most importantly stop donating to food banks.

This in turn has a negative impact on the lower paid workers who will now face their hours being cut, loss of jobs, not being able to eat (our foodbank is basically empty and are really struggling and this isn't an uncommon situation across the country but what can you do when people can't feed themselves?)

I suspect the squeezed middle, in reality, are those families and individuals who earn just enough not to qualify for UC.

From what I read in the paper this week, if you earned viva £25k each in a couple you’d cope with last years price increases. This year each person in a couple needs to earning £50k+ plus to not feel the squeeze.

Oddly no one seems to be reporting on the fact that electricity and fuel prices and going down…

I think people in their 30s and 40s with young children and big mortgages relative to their income are pretty squeezed right now.

Yes, that makes sense. So that means us then - fancy that. How families earning a lot less than us manage, I don't know. Benefits aren't going to top up their income to higher than what we earn, so they are being squeezed rather tightly too.

We earn just too much for uc and defo feel like the squeezed middle...

When we were lower income I felt it was those just above the help threshold, now we earn more (but have a mortgage) I do feel we are still squeezed, not to the same extent but you certainly feel a bit of a mug when you're getting taxed highly and struggling with internet rates but the Tories are too busy protecting those who are well and truly not feeling at all squeezed during this crisis.

We're in our 60's (DH is semi-retired but I work) and we paid off our mortgage a while ago thank goodness. We wouldn't be able to manage at all if we still had a mortgage to pay.

I would say I'm in that bracket too. In the last 2 years we've gone from regular days out, new clothes for DC, abroad holidays each year with weekends away between to walks put with a picnic, DCs clothes from vinted and a couple of nights in a premier inn a year. I'm used to it now and making the best of it, but it must have a huge impact on the economy.

I’d say I probably am. Went from decent joint income with plenty of savings to divorced single Mum. I managed to get promoted (yay) and increased my hours. I get a minuscule amount of UC. I can sometimes pick up extra hours but then I lose what UC I do get so I have to take that into account. NHS so getting a pay rise that works out to about £100 a month but I think I’ll lose my UC.
Mortgage company wouldn’t let me take over the (affordable) mortgage payments on my own so I had to get a new mortgage which was £200 more than the previous. I have no savings (aside from what I’m scraping together for Christmas). Maybe get a takeaway every two months. My Dad got us an NT membership which helps with days out and we take a picnic so all I really pay for is fuel and ice creams.
I’m not poor. I can afford to feed us. We just don’t have many luxuries. I’m so relieved to see energy prices will come down.

I feel squeezed because our take home is good, but our mortgage (for a 3 bed semi) and childcare costs are huge! If we didn’t have childcare and a mortgage we’d be rolling in it.

Earn just a bit too much for child benefit and repaying large student loans as well.

We are the squeezed middle. I earn £43k and OH £84k. We don’t have a whopping mortgage, it’s about to go up £500 a month though and will be a challenge. We live in London, don’t have multiple holidays and a flash car

Workers - most of whom who've not had inflation linked increases in their benefits/pensions.

Workers - those suffering having to pay ever increasing child care costs.

Workers - those suffering increased taxation through the stealth of not increasing the tax bands in line with inflation, increase in national insurance (not paid by pensioners/benefit claimants), workplace pension contributions, student loan repayments, etc.

Workers - who've suffered the crap public transport over the past few years and now the public transport strikes, meaning they have to use other, potentially more expensive forms of transport for reliability to actually get to work on time.

The working age population who'll have paid multiple times more for their homes than pensioners.

So basically, workers!

In the media it appears to be people with relatively decent incomes with either shit budgeting skills, families that expect one income to keep another adult and children or an expectation they should live a luxurious lifestyle.

In reality I think it’s a lot of people that are just above the cut off for benefits and no choice but to pay ridiculous amounts for modest, or even god awful housing.

Mostly those who if they went pt might be better off as would receive more in benefits or save money not going to work imo. But for most going pt would not work for reasons such as career progressions etc.

£120k combined here too in London. Mortgage will probably increase £500-600 too. Mainly ok because we don't have DC yet so still have multiple holidays (mainly weekend breaks)

But yes I did ask mumsnet about how we would cope on our income and mortgage with a child in full time childcare and the consensus was that possible but tight.

Us.
I'm on 33k (but promotion soon I hope) and DP on £42k
Too much for any help, but not enough to manage day to day wkthout being careful. It really doesjt stretch far at all.

@rosetintedmemories2023 we have two kids and pregnant with a 3rd. Childcare is okay for now, £90 a week for two of them 6hours each as in school.

I don't think it's an income thing specifically as some expenses are regional.

The squeezed middle to me are all the workers who earn too much to qualify for government assistance, but who have a modest standard of living and still feel the squeeze.

They're the workers who've not kept good pay and conditions at work, workers who are affected by increased petrol and public transport prices, the workers who are trapped in rental earning good salaries but can't get a deposit together because they're paying through the roof on rental, they're the workers who've taken on a reasonable mortgage for a small family home and are terrified at finding out their mortgage bill is going up over £500 a month. Etc.

The squeezed middle are those who, on paper, appear to earn a reasonable wage. However, with the increased costs, having to pay full whack for prescriptions, dentists, Council tax, school trips, etc, aren’t actually better off than some people on benefits or have less disposable income

@Kazzyhoward the rail workers also experience all the other points you made.

Or do their costs for childcare, gas, electricity etc etc not go up too

Like bollocks are those of you on £120k household income 'the squeezed middle'.

https://ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in

Depends entirely on housing costs I would have thought

IMO, me and DH. 30k each