My colleague announced today that he is lowly paid............

[TroubleinDaFamily]

He is on £45K a year, now he has four children (all planned) but lives in a detached house in the South East.

His money may not go far, but IMO he is not lowly paid.

I was working with someone when the child benefit rules changed. She was furious that her daughter lost her child benefit for her 4 kids and complained that she was so hard up and got no help. She was living in the North West and had a fabulous house, a husband on £100k a year and she did voluntary work as she wasn't qualified for the job she wanted. She couldn't understand why we weren't all outraged that other people were getting something her daughter was denied. Some single people who were struggling on under £20k a year objected to her saying that families were more heavily penalised than single people.

I guess people don't look at it from other perspectives.

Having a big family and a big house is irrelevant to how much he earns so not sure why he included that in the conversation?? He might be under paid due to the work he puts in, but that is different.

And assuming his partner does not work, they can always decide that she gets a job if his salary is not enough.

I’m on a tad more and feel underpaid due to the amount of hours of my life I put into the job and the responsibilities I have

I used to work with a single guy on £80k who had a house, a rental property, a motorbike and two cars (one a Porsche) who claimed poverty. Drove me nuts.

if his is the only income in his household, then it's not a lot in SE. It's enough to cover the basics but probably not enough to save much for the future or even have an adequate rainy day fund.

It’s a good wage but understand he feels skint with 4 kids, mortgage, probably 2 cars.

It might not go far given his lifestyle choices but it certainly isn’t lowly paid.

That's ridiculous. He earns a good wage and he should be grateful that he has the skills and health to earn it.

Some people think they are poor just because they (choose) to spend all their money each month. Doesn't matter that it has been spent on copious amounts of hobbies, holidays, expensive cars and wine etc.

The price of property in the SE is extortionate but even so, once you get past a certain amount of income, the amount you have as disposable is significant and all some people have to live on in the first place.

Males always think they are hard done by, no matter how privileged they are

Wow...that's some serious leap of logic!

if your on over 27k then your earning over the average wage. I detest this kind of navel gazing whining from people. He chose to have four dc, they are not free. Lifestyle choices and all that.

If someone thinks £45k is a low wage they are ignorant. The median gross income is around £22,400. Double that is hardly a low wage.

I have had the conversation with my eldest DD that she isn't short of money, she just spends what she has. Combined her and her DP earn 70k, they bought their nice 3 bed house, with big gardens for 65k, here on Merseyside. She does hair/nails/eyelashes weekly. Has good holidays and designer clothes.

However, if you watch Rich House/Poor house, were people swap lives for a week, there are people who genuinely have no idea how some people live.

My Sister-in-Law would come out with jems like "there isn't any poverty, i was shopping in Marks and Spencer and everyone was buying food". She would drive to a 'posh' shopping Center and the golf club, then go on holidays to Barbados (but not leave the resort) so that was her world.

My Sister is clueless, because she's changed her lifestyle and friends, who are all middle/upper earners, so she thinks she is badly off, but she has a fantastic lifestyle.

Comparison really is the thief of joy.

In the South East your fixed costs (rent/mortgage, council tax, utilities) would easily be £1500, leaving £1000 a month for food, clothes, transport, etc.

£45k as a single income is £2,619.27 net per month. Two people earning £45k equally between them would bring home £1,513.02 net per month each, which is £3,026.04. If you're clever, you can share work with a zero childcare bill and higher net income.

I think perhaps his ideas of "low paid" are a bit squiffy, given that the money his household has for discretionary spending is likely to be pretty close to the total net earnings of someone on NMW.

You could go Jeremy Kyle on him and tell him he 'should have put something on the end of it, then'

The trick is to come from a modest background where money is a worry and only socialise with peers who earn the same as you or less. Then you feel you are doing pretty well .

God knows how people manage with x4 kids though I breathe a sigh of relief almost daily that we stuck at 2 (new boots, school meals, violin lessons, eating out etc etc)

its all relative he might feel poor if he doesnt have much disposable income , we get by on dh just over minimum wage my carers allowance ,tax credits and ds2 DLA but i suspect our two bed council house in the northwest is significantly less per month then a detached house in the south east .

It's not low pay. It's a really good salary.

He might be being underpaid for a job with his skills and responsibilities, which isn't the same thing but can make you feel a bit low.

I earn about the same as OP’s colleague, and consider myself decently paid - however since my DP got made redundant and our savings are now gone, I worry a lot about money and frequently moan about not having enough.