Average incomes

[flabbergastedfinances]

Found out that the average family income is around £30,000 a year and I can not believe it. I don't know a single family on anywhere near this low, lowest is possibly 70k mark between two teachers but majority have two earners pulling in 40+ each or one higher earner on 80/90k+

How on earth is 30,000 even possible in light of minimum wage and benefits/tax credits etc? What is even more shocking is that I used the where do you fit in calculator and we are apparently in top 98% of families in the uk. No chance, absolutely no chance.

We might have a high ish mortgage (still only £1000 so not outrageous) and have slipped into bad spending habits (Uber's, eating lunch out every day, new clothes now and then) but we are hardly excessive. We can't afford to run two cars, can't afford foreign holidays, can't afford the posher shops like Boden or northface new and yet this chart tells me we have it better than nearly everyone else in the country?! What am I missing?!

We have a child in childcare a few days a week, so that and mortgage are biggest expenses but combined that's only £1500 and I see everyone else buying £300 coats, spending 1000s on holidays, children in private schools and I am utterly stumped.

How can the average family income be £30,000? Which families are surviving on that? None I know that's for sure and I just refuse to believe that's an actual reality

I think many on this thread need to get a grip on reality.

I would start with looking at the cut offs for help from the government. It is not that high. Gov.uk helps here

Next look at the minimum wage. Again gov.uk

Next look at job centre plus and reed. Here is a clue - The average jo or joe will not be a professional.

Lastly use a dictionary and look up empathy.

The cut off for most benefits, other than child benefit, is very low, much lower than it used to be.

Oh gosh OP. You seriously thought the average income would be around 70k? I know no household anywhere near that. I know a number of families on far less than 30k.

In a bubble OP.

Do you live under a rock. Must be nice.

Christ, the level of ignorance among supposedly ''ntelligent and educated' middle class professionals is staggering.

Either the OP is a troll, or she is staggeringly dense. It cannot be possible to be this ignorant is it? Has she really never wondered what the barista serving her coffee is earning?

Even in London, the average personally come across people earning NMW several times a day. It doesn't take that much imagination to realise that your cleaner probably isn't earning 70k.

I am in a higher earning bracket now but have been on the very low end.

It is absolutely a reality and this post is so unbelievably privileged and insensitive.

I'd say it must be nice to live in a bubble but no, I'm glad I know what reality is and can help those who need it because I understand and relate to their situation.

@flabbergastedfinances

I've played with different figures on the link. It actually requires income net of income tax & NI and net of council tax to be inputted.

www.ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in

If you're in the 98th percentile, you'll have approx £2400 disposable income PER WEEK or £10K pcm which roughly equates to a household gross income of £220K+ pa.

^ person will not personally

Serious question OP - what do you think your uber driver earns? What do you think the barista at your local coffee shop earns?

My husband is a civil servant I work part time to avoid childcare costs, combined income of 34k oh has a disability and at the moment he can work full time, im terrified for the time when he can no longer work, which considering how much he has deteriorated in the last 12 months is probably not that far away. I have a degree but I'm not sure if I will ever earn much more than nmw, I've spent the last however many years looking after my children. I expected I would have 20 years after the children have grown to earn more and build a career, but I will end up being ohs carer.

Or do you not count those as real people, therefore they can't possibly count for income statistics?

I think people are just being harsh to the OP. It is easy to be in a bubble. We earn just over £100k between the two of us but we are far from the richest amongst DCs school friends or the clubs they go to.

But you still meet people every day who are on low salaries.

Do you go to a private gym / health club ? How much do you think the lifeguard earns? My ds works in a fancy private club, 40 hours a week, and earns £16 000. As well as his NPLG and First Aid qualifications, he does also have a degree. What other qualifications do you think he 'should go and get' ?
The bar staff earn the same.
So do the cleaners. This is because the club pay the NLW rather than the NMW. If he did the same job for the City Council, he would earn less.

Then you must bump in to the chap that delivers your groceries (if you shop on-line) or the cashier(if you go in a shop)
The person that takes your payment when you put petrol in
(Don't suppose you go on a bus or train to meet those staff)
The taxi driver
The person that waits on you when you go out for your lunch
The person that makes the coffee and cleans the tables in the coffee shop
The postman/woman
People that work in retail
You must see people cleaning - shopping centres, cafes, the street
You must see people going people's gardens
You must see people cleaning windows
You must see people that do internet shopping deliveries
You must at some point have been in a hopsital and seen cleaners there, and caterers
Nobody can honestly believe they never meet anyone whose household income is below £30K, let alone £45K or £70K

@sansou absolutely not true

I just tried with 70k net and it still came out as 98%

Wow! What job do you and all your friends do?? DH and I thought we were very lucky and in quite well paid, professional jobs, but we r only hovering around the average mark! To be on your salary(and that of your friends by the sound of it) you r v v lucky!! (and I can't believe how much of a bubble you live in!! Wow!!) I've often wondered if the elite really realised what life is like for us mortals!! ... I guess they don't have a clue!

@housebuyingistheworst housing benefit and tax credits are means tested and the cut off is about £25k or thereabouts, that's per household not per person. Benefits don't bring your income up to over £30k! The only benefit you can claim on a higher wage is child benefit.

@WaxOnwaxoff0

I think the cut off is less than that.
Currently on mat leave and checked the other day with my partners income to see if it would be worth me going back to work and having to pay childcare.
He earns £21k. The website said we weren't entitled to anything.

I think OP is on the wind up!!

@flabbergastedfinances

Well, I've just inputted £70K net pa and £250 pcm council tax with for 2 adults and 2 DC.

I get the same £1285 per week household income BUT it's 88th percentile not 98th percentile for me

Op are you reading things wrong after your last post?

@sansou no, that is literally what I get. I do not pay tax, I do not earn enough to pay tax.

@DragonontheWagon ??

You're either very naive or deliberately pretending you are. I feel it's the second. You've repeatedly been told it's possible and the not . All the "gosh I'm terribly sorry but I thought ....." and continue with quite frankly daft comments, leads me to conclude the second. If you are in a minimum wage job, your wage will never increase exponentially. An entry level wage I. A low income job is never going to translate to a high earning wage. You don't have a wide range of friends, you have a narrow range- and that's fine. No one is suggesting you start recruiting from the local housing estate for friends to ensure a range of people in your life, as that would be insulting. Accept that you're wrong and stop justifying it. Yes many people are less well off. Clearly they are doing ok. And some people are not doing ok and struggle daily, but survive.

@flabbergastedfinances

Anyway, the point would have been if you did have £10K + pcm disposable household income and just over £2K worth of outgoings, there is some serious overspending somewhere obviously and plenty of slack to cut.

Saying that there should be plenty of slack to cut on £5.8K pcm disposable household income too.

@sansou where are you getting £28k+ from? £435 is the exact amount I get per week (pretty much), that's £22k per year. Slightly more yes if I add on my pension contribution but it's not a lot, it's about £50 per month as I'm only part time.