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

Oops, their partner.

Our joint income is around 70-75k, one child and we're fine but not well off, when DH finishes his master's next year he gets a ten grand pay rise and I will have been back from mat leave for nearly a year so we'll be back to being comfortable.

What is the definition of well off in your opinion? I would be overjoyed with £70k for a family of 4 (also live in an expensive area)

I earned £600 a week. I was getting no benefits because I didn't even consider that this could be an option (if it was).

I'm guessing this is a typo and you mean £600/month?

I have some high earning colleagues but all are well aware of how fortunate they are. Not everyone who is a high earner lives in a bubble.

I am a single parent to three on 21K (gross) plus child benefit, tax credits, and a small amount of child maintenance.

In actual net money terms we are living on about £31,336 a year. That’s actually a lot.

I really hope to up my earnings in my next job so as to rely less on tax credits.

Just before you get too smug op remember there's far richer people than you that would think your income is nothing to brag about

For context, me and DP earn £27,500 per year between us. Net. One child.
We pay £525 rent, and get no benefits bar the child benefit of £82 four weekly.
This year the same food shopping we've always done has gone up by £40 a month, our electric has gone up by 4 pence an hour, nearly £1 a day, an extra £30 a month, water rates increased by £13 a month, and our council tax went up by £100 a year.
Our wages have not gone up at all so everything is costing more and we have to come up with around £100 extra a month.

That calculator says we earn more than 38% of families in this country. DP is in a bloody good job with fantastic progression, but because he's starting out doesn't earn very much. We wouldn't change jobs because they're both incredibly flexible which makes family life easier and means we don't need to pay for childcare which we couldn't afford anyway.

Same as alot of posters. £30k would be AN ABSOLUTE DREAM.

f I was you and you were truly embarrassed at your dumbness as you state I'd ask for this thread to be deleted.

Please don’t it could educate others.
Maybe Boris and Jacob could read it too.

Our household income is roughly 30k a year, we rent, have one car we pay for and have a baby on the way.
We get no help whatsoever. We do not have any money for luxuries or going out. I am very concerned about maternity leave financially also. I have frequently gone without eating all day, and only having one meal on an evening just to save money.
Genuinely cannot figure out where all of your money is going op! There's no way you're spending your remaining 3k a month on going out for food and buying your kids bits and bobs. I'd be seriously looking into my finances if I were you!
You have the means to have more than one lovely holiday every year plus extra spending!

I would have to not eat properly for months to afford one!

You don't know anyone who's on minimum wage who earn less than £30,000? There are people in this world who would love to earn that and earn no where near that.

Open your eyes op.

Just so people know the impact of tax
Gross £25k Net £20,535
Gross £30k Net £23,935
Gross £40k Net £30,735
Gross £50k Net £37,535
Gross £70k Net £49,135
Gross £100k Net £66,535

Some will have less net pay if they choose to contribute to a pension and/or if they have the 9% student loan/graduate tax which is applied to income over £25k only. So someone on £100k will will pay £6759 student loan cost bringing those with the loan down to still a very generous £60k but may well have to rent in London at £2k or £3k a month and have childcare full time of about £20k per baby (hopefully shared with their spouse)

I earn £30,000 in a professional role within education sector (not teaching), in order to get to this level of pay I had to take 2 lots of post graduate qualifications and I currently work 3 different jobs in 3 different schools. We have teenage DC and not entitled to anything except child benefit My OH is older than me and has health issues and should be looking at retirement but at this rate both of us are going to be dying in harness. I quite often don't get home till after 7pm of a night and an often so tired I can't remember anything about the drive home!

I think I get what the OP is trying to say.

First of all I’m aware that there are so many people on low wages. I’m aware that the number of people relying on food banks are increasing, parents struggling to pay mortgage & utilities.

But I also agree with the OP that 30k doesn’t mean a very comfy standard of living.

All these studies and statistics don’t reflect the reality of increasing expenses.

a quick search shows that in the UK a MC earns between £37k-47k and according to Some on MN most MC send their children to private schools, go on foreign holidays, shop at Ocado and Waitrose, shop at mid range places like JL and Boden. eat out often , enjoy many hobbies , live in a nice house. With some savings.

Honestly I don’t think anyone can enjoy that sort of lifestyle on £37k net. Might be doable on £47 but certainly won’t mean much spare cash for travel or expensive hobbies etc.

Why does your husband have to pay £500 a month on travel?

I have £800 per month

I’m single mum and earn £32,000 this is the best paid job I’ve ever got yet. I have no degree or anything

DD17 earns £5.50ph works a 8 hour day with no breaks 🙁

On £32k I am not worried about putting the heating on or eating anymore but I can’t afford a holiday with 2DC.
I’ve earned a lot less, around £17k for most of my adult life and lived off that

Because in looking at people's "wealth" you can't just base it on income.

£30k seems like quite a lot to me 🤷‍♀️ I’ve even living on a lot less than that my entire adult life.

Well my brother is the sole earner in his family, earning 35k and supporting his wife and 2 kids. As she's not working they didn't have childcare costs, but they still have mortgage, bills and everything else, so they never go abroad on holidays or have any spare money really.

@flabbergastedfinances I apologise if this was answered earlier and I missed it, but what did you do work wise prior to maternity leave, and what did you earn?

Like your husband, I'm in "finance" and very lucky to be on a good salary (not as much as his!). However, I've run payroll in many companies such that I'm aware of what everyone in the organisation is paid, and the £8.21 per hour maximum (ie over 25) for many incredibly hard working people is pretty appalling and humbling. These workers can't afford to be ill because they don't get paid the first three "waiting" days, and SSP after that.

I'm not dim

Well you’re doing an extremely good impression of someone who is, then.

You have no idea what reality is like for much of the population.

A bit like the Tories, really.

It's probably a good thing that your husband earns a decent wage, because if you honestly think that 30,000-300 and 100,000 - 1000 would 'add up to the same' (even proportionally), if, God forbid, you ended up as a single parent household I can't imagine you'd be able to get even one of those 'lower-level' jobs to support your children with such a low understanding of a)maths b)common sense!

Your problem is your expectations are too high. Your poor friends in their demeaning low-level jobs (teachers, nurses, office manager) are skilled professionals who will have had to do at least one, if not for teachers, two degrees to get that job. If that is 'lower level' where on earth do people who work on the tills in aldi, or mcdonalds, or cleaners, fit in?

It's all about your insanely high level of expectation. You say you can't afford to run a second car - my second hand citroen c1 costs literally the price of petrol (and service&mot each year), plus £250 insurance - which would probably be less for you as you are already insured on one car - no road tax due to low emissions. If you are paying £30 per week for lunches out between you and your husband, you can afford that. But could you afford to run a brand new range rover like 'all your friends' undoubtedly have? No, probably not.

Finally, stop saying you are 'struggling.' Can't you see how incredibly insulting this is to people who are actually struggling to feed their children? You are not struggling, you have made deliberate choices that have inevitably impacted other elements of your lifestyle. You choose to eat lunch out every day and pay for childcare despite having a parent at home full-time, so therefore the amount of money you have to buy expensive clothing is limited. You are not struggling to feed your children because you spent your last £5 on topping up the electric meter. See the difference?

If I spent three weeks in Mauritius I wouldn't be "struggling" if I then couldn't afford a weekend in Centre Parks!

Listen YOU are not in the 98% highest earners, your husband is. You have no work experience and what appears to be limited intelligence so you would struggle to even get a minimum wage job if you needed one. You are just lucky you married well. Let's hope your husband doesn't ever run off with someone with a bit more about them or you might find out pretty quickly what it's like to struggle.

It wasn't until I was in a senior nursing role that my income exceeded 30k and that's with two degrees and the responsibility of a round the clock role. Newly qualified started at £19k when I qualified. Many years later it's only £22/23k.

If my partner wasn't working that would be our income we don't qualify for support.

We are lucky to have both of us in job, I'm lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to have an education and a profession which I've developed in. We will both have to work full time after this pregnancy though which neither of us is particularly pleased with despite loving our jobs.

A lot of my friends would kill for a household income of £30k. It's really very common.

Minimum wage is a long term, life long, reality for some people. Those who didn't have chance at education for social reasons etc. Those who don't have the ability to learn beyond a simple job.