Middle class but no money

[roopiea]

Does anyone else feel like this?

We would say we are middle class. Both university educated and privately schooled. In our 50s now. Parents had similar professions to us.

We work for the public sector, a teacher and management in local government. We live in a pretty reasonable part of the country. But we still feel we have no money for being in the middle class? We probably earn a combined 80k a year but live in a pretty bog standard 3 bed semi. Have holidays in places like Spain or Greece.

Whereas our neighbours are blue collar workers but seem to have so much more money than us. My best friend and her husband work similar jobs and they have a nicer house and better holidays than us.

Not a new thing. My DPs were very much MC but permanently skint* - at least until we’d more or less all left home.

*and by that I don’t mean no skiing holidays etc., - I mean despite nice house and strong emphasis on education, never any spare cash for anything - e.g. orange squash, chocolate biscuits only ever appearing at birthday parties.

Funnily enough dh’s family was very similar - 4 kids, skint MC - the ‘orange squash and chocolate biscuits’ bit was one thing we had in common when we first met!

I think people sometimes get the American version of middle class mixed up with ours.

And yes, I find class fascinating. Read too many Victorian novels and grew up with a trade union dad.

40k is not a low salary nowadays. It’s above average. UK median salary is just over 37k.

You're working for a living, you're still working class just the same as your blue collar neighbours.
The concept of 'middle class' is just a fiction to make you feel you have knowledge and tastes that are superior to the working class. It doesn't guarantee you more spending money.

I don't know why people are shocked that 'blue collar' trades earn more. They are hugely in demand, essential skills (with our ageing and decrepit housing stock) and there are never enough of them (especially post Brexit). They work really hard, usually at short notice in stressful conditions and improve our homes and our lives. Those fancy cars and nice holidays are well earned IMO.

You also fail to notice there has been a huge shift in the employment landscape and the rise of private sector middle class jobs that didn't exist when you were doing your degree - software engineers, digital marketing, systems analysts, business development etc. All of these jobs pay more than civil servants and teachers and are performance driven rather than hamstrung by salary bands. So if you're good you get regular pay rises, bonuses and headhunters after you.

@roopiea I see a bit of snobbery here! a teacher and local government are definitely not middle class!! working class definitely!! does not matter where you were educated!

@littleluncheon , You're working for a living, you're still working class just the same as your blue collar neighbours.
So what do you think middle class people do for a living?

That’s not right at all. Teachers, at least, are professionals. That automatically makes them middle class.

My boyfriend and I earn £80k combined but I wouldn’t say we were middle class. I’m a teacher (upper pay scale with a TLR for middle management, earn £50k) and he works for the council (£30k).

We feel the same though. Saving for a house and it’s taking us ages. Everything in the shops feels so expensive now. I feel like with this combined salary we should feel so comfortable, but we don’t!

It looks like you and your DH are pretty middle of the road, @roopiea. What looks like average salaries for the average jobs you do and living in an average home.

Do you think private schooling and university education entitled you to a ticket marked "more"? Well, it didn't. But it did offer you opportunity. There are LOTS of things we don't know about your circumstances but on the face of it, 30 years down the line you have managed... average.

Which is absolutely fine, as long as you are happy. But as you are curtain twitching with your lesser, blue collared neighbours, there's clearly envy. And you see your middle class friends in similar circumstances make a better job, of things, in your eyes.

Curiosity and creativity - that's what'll help you understand what they are doing (better than you) and how you might be able to reach a bit more. As someone above me has just said - ask those friends.

This isn't necessarily true, we have 1x 2 week holiday abroad a year plus 2 city breaks abroad all in the school holidays, none of it goes on finance. We own our car outright, nothing is on finance aside from the mortgage.

Your wages aren’t that great thought if you averaged them between the two of you ( I say that in relation to the middle class comment). A trades person can easily earn more than £40k pa with own business and then partner at work too.

I think it's the cost of living. Even people who earn a lot are feeling the pinch. The children have friends where both parents are victims or both parents are lawyers, and they're still living in reasonably modest 3 bed semis. I'm sure in the past, people like these would live in quite grand houses.

Hear, hear.

Work?

Some posters seem a bit confused between social class and money. You can be working class and wealthy and you can be middle class and poor.

Dh and I are mc with public sector jobs and a similar age to you, OP, though our combined salary is a bit higher. I kniw exactly what you mean though - we are reasonably comfortable, but we don't spend as much on luxuries, holidays etc as a lot of people with ostensibly less well-paid jobs than ours. Who knows though - perhaps they go into debt?

I know a few tradies who earn very well but spend a fair bit, little provision for pension & plan is to downsize. You can’t ignore the benefits of a public sector pension plus manual work can take a toll on the body

but working for a living makes you working class according to your pp.

Exactly. Money neither buys class nor defines it

What does class have to do with it. Maybe one of their parents won the lotto.

There is no correlation between money and social class.

You are at the very bottom range salary wise for middle class. Average 40k per person is quite low salary nowadays with cost of living etc.

What are you basing this on? Wages have stagnated for years

Where's all your money going?

We're in our 30s with a combined income of £55k with no private education and only one of us went to uni (if that's relevant, not sure it is). We seem to live a similar lifestyle to what you describe - 3 bed semi in a reasonable location, annual European holidays, 2 children, 2 cars (not new). No credit or debt, except the mortgage.

If we had an extra £25k a year we would feel absolutely loaded!! Your money must be going on something.

Upto 350 a day for a bricklayer? My husband employs bricklayers and many sub contract to him and that “max” is about 6/7 years ago. We’ve got bricklayers taking home £500 a day net.

We have a higher combined income than you - husband is ex-tradesman now project manager in the same industry and I’m an accountant (part time due to young DCs) and I certainly wouldn’t say we are middle class.

DH doesn’t earn that much more now than he did when as a self employed tradie so if your neighbours have that kind of job it’s highly likely they’re earning more than you.