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?

Me. Single and work in local government and earn just under £25000. So grateful for my secure HA tenancy.

Why? That’s take home of about £6k after tax.

Mortgage for a decent but average house in the SW: say £1800 increasing to £2500pcm
childcare full time: £2k pcm

that leaves c.£1500

At least £500pcm for bills

£900pcm left for food, activities etc for a family of four seems quite squeezed to me.

You say yourself you don't have a whacking great mortgage. You have chosen to have a third child so you cannot say you are squeezed middle on that salary even in London as you admit your mortgage is smaller than normal for London.

We earn 45k household income, when our fix runs out our mortgage will be going up by £480 a month. That is a squeezed middle. We get no help at all, our mortgage is already £880 a month so an extra 480 a month will cripple us.

You do realise most people would dream of having 900 after bills to spend on food, activities, clothes etc..... a month.

That poster admitted their housing costs are low for London.

Are they, genuine question I am with Ovo and my bills have remained the same

I think squeezed middle of would be people who are having to change their ways of living due to cost not living. Eh taking their kids out of extra curricular activities not being able to do certain things they’ve always done. Essentially I mean their leisure ££ has decreased drastically and it impacts the way they live

Of course! But on £120k household income you’d think you’d be living a bit of a nicer lifestyle.

I was just making the point how distortive housing costs are - that can really make or break someone’s living standard and salaries aren’t actually that meaningful (obviously unless you’re earning like £500k or something!)

A take home of 6K after tax? That is not 'middle' by any standards. That is high income. If you struggle on that amount then it is because you expect a standard of living that is way beyond the vast majority of the population

This is an interesting thread and it would be a shame to see it descend into a bun fight. All any of us can do is share our experiences and opinions.

That's interesting, because from what little I've read in the media, the impression I've come away with is that it is the 'middle-but-not-rolling-in-it' classes that fall into the squeezed middle bracket. As in squeezed middle class. That's the gist of it, especially when the term is used by certain newspapers such as the DM. Not that I read that rag - I just see the headlines on the newspaper stand as I walk past!

Which is why I started the thread, because I was rather puzzled by it all.

Of course it’s high! The point I was making though was that if you earn that and have high housing costs and childcare your ‘leftover’ money to pay bills and everything is about £1500.

That will the same as someone on a MUCH lower income if they don’t have kids and no mortgage.

It’s not black and white - it’s all relative.

The squeezed middle to me, was us for a very very very long time. Working to just pay the bills. No holidays except camping, no nights out, very little disposable income - just enough for the odd takeaway and Saturday night pint.

Me then I guess
Min wage, mortgage

I agree with this.

We feel squeezed at the moment. And everything is worse - healthcare, schools, dentistry, the roads, public services …..

Thanks. 🙂

So many threads like this do end up as bunfight, which is a shame. It does seem that a lot of people think they are the squeezed middle, irrespective of income. Maybe it is more to do with outgoings, and which of those outgoings are unavoidable, and which can be cut back on. We have distant cousins living in London in a small privately rented flat, they've just had their 2nd baby, and are wondering how on earth they will be able to pay nursery fees for 2 kids when mum's maternity leave ends and she goes back to work full-time. They both have good jobs, and they are really struggling, whereas we earn far less than they do and aren't struggling anywhere near as much.

My thought too

The problem is that it is all relative, childcare, location, when you bought your house.

We are good earners (80/90k) together, we go on uk camping holidays, drive older cars, shop in Aldi and maybe have a take away once a month. We do not have a lavish lifestyle at all but with a very high mortgage and childcare costs of £900pcm we feel squeezed and have done for a while.

We have a newish (to us) house in a part of the country where you can’t buy a three bed semi for less than 600k and moving is not an option due to work and DSC. If we lived up north in a comparable house we’d have a very different experience and would not be considered squeezed!

We are exactly the people who some roll their eyes at and yes we are very lucky but we are definitely squeezed.

It is about choices. I don't have the lifestyle I would love to have, because I have made choices that fit my financial circumstances. 'Leftover money' of £1,500? Who on earth has that much, except the very well off? Even without kids and a mortgage?

It really is not the norm, or the middle.

I think the 'squeeze' for many is between expectations and reality. And maybe the expectations need to be revisited?

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

Yes, agree with this.

I think we probably come under that bracket. Household income variable as dh self employed but around £75k, both earning roughly the same.

On paper it seems fine. MIL thinks we should be rolling in it, she sees it as a huge amount. But with high housing costs, childcare for youngest, no additional help except CB and 5 people relying on that income (four of whom are adult size/prices) it definitely feels squeezed at times.

We're not struggling and it's nowhere near heat or eat territory obviously. But we are spending far less on extras now and we have to be very careful with money at times.

We obviously have different views so I’m not going to keep nit picking, but two people on £25k each will take home about £3k between them.

If they don’t have a mortgage and childcare they have much more disposable money than the £120k household with a big mortgage and childcare.

Anyone beholden to mortgages will be feeling the squeeze now because they’re going up so quickly.

Housing costs are the biggest factor in feeling squeezed, simply because they are most peoples largest outgoing, along with childcare. My point is outgoings are key - particularly non negotiable outgoings.

We have a household income of about £45k, no UC entitlement, and I confess it does grate to see people earning 3 times that complain they are just as squeezed as us! Especially when we have made prudent financial decisions like not to overstretch with a mortgage so when rates rise we can weather it ok.

The problem is that it is all relative, childcare, location, when you bought your house.

Yep. It all comes down to this point.

These factors mean people can be very squeezed whilst not being in the middle, or they can be middle or lower and not feel squeezed at all. There is vast generational and regional variation in housing costs in particular, to the extent that it ballses up comparisons.

I’ve had an email from Octopus this week saying energy prices are coming down

Agreed. The big mortgage and childcare are a choice, however.