Tothink it's utterly ridiculous that a 6k raise would only work out to be £100 per month

[theduchessstill]

I'm just feeling really hopeless at the moment. I earn a decent enough wage and know that I am very fortunate compared to many. However, as a single parent who receives no maintenance I am solely responsible for myself and two children and a mortgage, as well as having to save for a further pay out for ex when youngest comes of age. We do ok, but I have little to no savings and think about money constantly.

I have seen a job that pays 6k more than my current one and is a natural next step for me. 6k seems like quite a step up, but have just put the figures into a calculator and it seems that, taking into account the fact it would take me above the CB threshold, I would be a measly £100 per month better off.

Pisses me off tbh. As I'm in a public sector role I very rarely get other pay rises and when I do they're minuscule. I also think the fact that I would lose CB when a couple with a combined income well above my single one would keep it is an absolute disgrace. It just seems things are never going to get any better for me so just having a little rant, a pointless one as there's obviously no guarantee I'd get the job even if I went for it.

I'm sorry for anyone worse off, but it is all relative. flowers to anyone struggling - whatever income you're on it's scary feeling alone and totally responsible for children

It's a lot scarier for people doing it on half of what you are.

It's a lot scarier for people doing it on half of what you are.

Presumably that depends on where you live. In some places a 3-bed terraced house is still around 100k rather than 1 million.

Agbnb- exactly. And I think we haven’t seen the worst of it yet, because these people who are trapped into putting a ceiling on what they’ll earn or hours they’ll work, because there’s very little incentive to work or earn more - what happens when they reach their 60s and 70s and have sod all pension provision and have to carry on working

Presumably that depends on where you live

No, because half of what OP is on is half, no matter where you live.

I would be very disappointed too

I don’t constantly go around thankful that I have it ok you are allowed to be disappointed at any level of income if you expected to get more

No, because half of what OP is on is half, no matter where you live.

Don't be ridiculous.

Of course it is. Nothing ridiculous about it. People on low incomes live on London too.
People with high incomes choose to have bigger houses/more expensive areas and reap the benefits of that.

Better than my new role being only £40 better off a month! I’m waiting for HR to respond to my request for a fairer pay.

“I cried last year when I got a pay rise, only for it to increase my tax, NI and student loan payments, leaving me £12 per month worse off”

That’s not possible. Think about it.

I hope all those posters with the wo-is-me begrudging attitudes are bloody grateful that they’re not living in Africa and wandering down to the water holes every day to carry back water for their starving families while waiting for the big charities to come and help them out.

Earn only a bit of money compared to more money? Well at least you earn money eh? Don’t be so bloody ungrateful, there are people out there who don’t even have beds to sleep in at night and you’re complaining about having to budget? What makes you worthy of sympathy? No, didn’t think you’d consider that one.

Seriously there’s nothing quite so unattractive as those that begrudge others based on what they don’t have.

But is it salary or household income? Many people on that average salary will be with someone else on similar maybe, or perhaps more. I'm certainly very very lucky compared to many people but it's a bit depressing that there's little scope for improvement now.

I'm sure the thread has moved on a great deal since pg 3, but I disagree.
My dh is away a lot and can work odd hours. With no family support or affordable wraparound care this meant me giving up my job. There's a lot of us in this position who are now stuck with exceptionally low paid jobs which fit around school, if we can find one, with little prospect of getting back into previous good careers or earning a decent pension. Let alone looking at a 6k pay rise.
The last good job I had an interview for would have seen me £20 a week worse off until my young kids are independent. When this level of inequality in work is sorted, I might be able to feel more sympathetic. Sorry op.

Are you actually serious whiskapie? The OP is a single parent who faces all the same challenges when it comes to work that you do with your working odd hours partner. And yet she is able to work and earn good money. It is telling, isn’t it, that not one person has challenged you. If the OP as a single parent had said she can’t work ‘cos she’ll be worse off she’d have been torn to shreds. Unbelievable.

There are many stupid posters here, who cares that you are a single mum earning a lot less? That's not the point of this post! It's not about you! It's the fact that for the money OP will most likely have much more responsibility and £100 is hardly a good compensation for it.

Thank you for starting this thread theduchess. It’s heartening to see that the majority response has been intelligent and supportive, with relatively few of the tedious ‘I earn a hundredth of what you do and live in a cardboard box’ replies

Amen! It annoys me so much, the higher tax rate payers like OP already subsidise for these pity party people benefit. If I do have a choice, I'd rather my tax not support these whingers.

It's the fact that for the money OP will most likely have much more responsibility and £100 is hardly a good compensation for it.
This has not been said in op. Lots of ppl in positions nowadays are being given increased responsibility within their jobs and not being financially compensated. It's not right, but it is happening. And that wasn't the initial point made in the op either. Although I agree it's disheartening when a seemingly large pay rise doesn't actually work out as much of an increase each month. But that seems to commonly be the case in that kind of pay bracket.

ohreally I'm not getting into an argument with you. Yes, it is good for op that she can hold down a well paid job, and has the support or wraparound care to enable this. That's a different situation.

We established early on its more than 100 and she worked it out wrong didn't we..

Yes, it is good for op that she can hold down a well paid job, and has the support or wraparound care to enable this. That's a different situation

Sorry, I totally forgot that single parents have to find care for their children but married mothers don’t need to and indeed, can moan about their partners working difficult hours, lost opportunities and so on. The fact remains that if the OP said she was struggling to work she would have been ripped to shreds but it’s perfectly fine for one half of a couple not to work.

Ah fuck off ohreally. Don't know what bee's got into your bonnet. Hers is a different situation to mine. As I said, it's not the case that most ppl on a good wage are married to someone on a similar wage, and they both can work at this level. Obviously it wasn't true in my case, and a lot of others, so £50-60k is a good household income regardless of whether it's a single parent or a couple bringing it in jointly. Also is more than some couples bring in.

Sorry, I totally forgot that single parents have to find care for their children but married mothers don’t need to and indeed, can moan about their partners working difficult hours, lost opportunities and so on
Did you miss the bit about the only childcare I could find to cover what I needed would actually mean I was spending £20 a week more than the whole of that wage? This doesn't seem to be the case with op. And that's good for her. Nothing to do with the sarcastic shit you're spouting.
If you want to read something into my posts which isn't intended, have at it. But I'll not be responding.

I feel your frustration. The trouble is that in a lot of jobs a 6k increase means more responsibility and more hours. Then you think: I'm doing all this for £100 quid???!!

It's why a lot of people in the public sector don't want to progress imo.

That's exactly right brownmouse. My situation is v similar to the Ops. I've changed jobs, my salary has gone from £44,500 - £50,500. The new job brings with it increased responsibility, more travel and a lot more stress. NHS pension means my contribution is fixed at 12.5%. My travel costs have gone up and I'll lose my child benefit. Additionally, when my DS starts uni next year, I'll be contributing more to him, as my increased salary means his maintenance loan will go down.
£50k sounds like a huge amount of money, but renting in the south east is expensive, as is having to bring up two teenagers on your own (I don't eat any maintenance). It just makes you feel like you're working harder and harder, yet the financial situation never gets any better.

I’m afraid I am struggling to have sympathy. I’m on way less than £50k despite being qualified for many years in one of “the professions”.

Gosh. Did I hit a nerve? My point was about the lack of challenge made to non-working/low paid mums with a partner and the very certain challenge made to single parents who don’t work/are low paid. Why is that so difficult to get? Of course there are individual situations which make it difficult but I guarantee there is only sympathy in the case of married/partnered parents.

Why are you so angry that someone on a good wage might feel the need to be frustrated by her situation overall?

Brownmouse- precisely. It’s why I refuse to move up a level to senior management. Hundreds and hundreds already disappears each month on tax and NI, I pay nearly 12% into my pension and frankly I don’t think the financial benefit to me of taking on a promotion is worth it.
Naturally, this being MN, someone will be along in a minute to tell me how lucky I am to be paying out that much each month and how little they earn. Fine- go and be a senior manager then if you’re envious.

One of the issues is that public sector pay bands after 40k goes up in small steps but tax increases at a much greater rate. Public sector/NHS pay bands really need to be reviewed on this basis.

For the reasons you note, op, my takehome is pretty much the same as the staff I manage who are on a grade below me - because I pay more in tax, NI etc and I lose out on CB. It's just silly.