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

The dogs daycare is £400?

Weirdly it is (a month)

But my point in that sentence was that I only have about £400 disposable income a month

Apologies that I've worded it wrong

.....but missing the point that having £400/month for a dog's daycare (as well as food, vet bills etc) is an absolute luxury that many many people couldn't dream about!!

I'm a single parent, 2 primary aged children. I'm a registered nurse manager with 20 years experience and earn around the £30k pa mark. I don't get any other 'benefits'. In my circle I'm also considered a 'high earner' and most people I know earn much less than this. The staff I employ are all on minimum wage and will unfortunately likely remain so if they stay in care work.

milkysmum

Thats an awfully low salary for your position. Are you part time?

£30k is average in my group. £40k would be wealthy to us.

@PortiaCastis same. I don't know how much any of my friends and family earn 🤔 why would you need to know

Laurie, you don’t consider doggy daycare to be something that comes from your disposable income!?

You couldn’t make it up. Dog daycare.

You can "struggle" on higher incomes.
a family is just about managing on £££ income now, but What if interest rates increase? Fuel? Food? You’d have to cut back on other expenses To be able to afford the necessities. it can be a challenge.
I think part of problem is the believe that earning a certain income means that you are comfortable or well off even. Not true.

Most people can work out roughly what others earn when discussing things like claiming CB & paying it back for NI contributions or if you qualify for the 30 free hours etc

priceofprogress

Well only in the sense that kids daycare is a choice too

I mean these are all 'choices' but where I live it makes it expensive to have 'normal' things like a dog as my commute makes some form of walk in the middle of the day necessary.

When I had my 10k salary I had a dog but lived next to home so could go home at lunchtime. Now I have a commute I can't.

My neighbours child is in daycare at 1400 a month

I read the doggy day care as £400 a week!! Yeah, that's about right, it's big business isn't it. My friend dropped her girl off the other day and there were 40 other dogs there!

Massive business, my guy who does it earns £7k a month

The bubble bit is true, it is very easy to just not see what isn't in front of you

Um...... your uber driver is in front of you, the supermarket cashier is in front of you, the workers at your children's nursery are front of you. If you ever read a newspaper, the existence of food banks is in front of you.

God knows what your 'good job' was because you sure as hell aren't very bright.

And I'm saying that as someone with a household income similar to yours. You need to take a long hard look at yourself, as you clearly choose to ignore anything or anyone that you consider to be beneath you.

Now that isn't an average income 😉

@queenofarles
if you can't honestly see the difference between cutting back luxuries (multiple holidays abroad, a nice car, expensive gym membership, activity clubs for kids, private school) to afford essentials, and choosing between different essentials (food or heating, childcare or working, fuel in the car or school uniform) because you can't afford to pay them all, then I don't know what to say.

Nobody on £100k is struggling to pay for food and electric.

If you have a good enough wage to afford all the essentials (even if none of the luxuries) then yes you are comfortable and not struggling. You might 'struggle' to pay for little Xanthe's riding lessons this month, but you, as a family, are not struggling.

All the genuinely intelligent people I know are curious about the world. If they come across something that is outside of their sphere of knowledge, they go to the trouble of finding out about it before making pronouncements on the topic.

If OP had looked at the stats, realised her household was in the 98th centile, and then done a bit of thinking and research (even just looking at a local jobs board to see how much unskilled jobs pay), then posted her shock about the low wages many people live on, she would have got very different replies.

As it is, she saw the stats, did no other research or thinking (not even a bit of basic thought about what the service providers she comes into contact with every day are likely to be paid), and posted saying that she refused to believe the stats were true.

Then she makes excuses about how hard it is to see beyond her bubble, despite the fact that it is physically impossible for her to never see or interact with low paid workers, unless she never leaves the house.

Hence lots of people considering her to be either a troll or a dullard.

Is this average before or after tax? Does it include benefits or any child maintenance payments/receipts? These can make a big difference - a household with 2 workers on 15k will have more income than one with one worker on 30k.
Does it include pensioner households? These are people who may be asset rich, but income poor and in some cases may be supporting children. What is the definition of a family?

People can have very skewed ideas of what other people earn.

My DH is a Police Officer, and most people assume he's on about £28,000, but actually because he's been in the role for 10 years, he's actually on £40,800.

I work for myself, in a non-skilled role that required no qualifications, and people assume I work for "pocket money". In fact, just the other day, a customer cancelled an appointment with me, and then said "It's a good job you don't try to make a living off this, ha ha ha"........the reality is that I earn just over £40,000 per annum. People have no idea!

We are on combined 44,000. In South east. Don't struggle.

Yeah, we live off less than that at the mo. I am on mat leave, so that's smp - £592 a month. My dw earns roughly £19000 a year. We have 2 young children, house, car and the usual bills. We live in Scotland. I think your op comes across as goady. We both work hard, we get child benefit and a contribution to our toddler's nursery fees via child tax credit, that's it. Your post seems to suggest that those who have £30000 a year as an income would get benefits. Nope. Most of us dont. I have quite an eclectic group of friends, we mostly all work in different sectors and I would say we all roughly have the same family income, give or take a couple of grand.

There's another thread right no about a woman in her 30s looking to date men on her salary of £55k. Lots of posters saying "well, that's not actually much money". I mean, seriously- that's a fuck load of money to some people!! Some people are just so clueless.

onceamdneveragain

That’s not what I meant, no one is struggling to eat or have the heating on £70k or £30k for that matter . Ofcourse you’d be cutting back to pay for the basics but you’d be struggling to pay for other things, And it’s not luxuries like holidays or expensive cars.

saying that you are simply well off at £30k and in much better position than anyone on a lower income is simply untrue. As it has been pointed out by many, some are living just fine because their basic costs of living are much lower .
Rent , small or no mortgage , commute, food, utilities etc, but others are struggling. There is no other word!

moving to a cheaper area or finding a better job is simply not an option.

Part of the reason I find these studies hard to believe is that make one specific income fits all.

I know there people who are finding it difficult to pay rent, buy healthy food, pay for the heating , ive seen this and it’s heart breaking beyond words.

@flabbergastedfinances can I suggest that for one month you write down every single thing you spend. Every uber, every time you pop to the shops to get something for lunch, every time you go for a pizza.
I'm a single parent with one teen. My monthly income is about £2700, my mortgage and home improvement loan are about £1500. I don't run a car. I can't 'afford' a holiday abroad every year because I have a gym membership, use quite expensive skin care, have a facial every month or so, have sky sports for my son, fritter about £25 a week on a breakfast out and starbucks, go to gigs, theatre, sporting events, weekends away.
I could afford to go abroad every year but I make other choices and we love Wales, Scotland and Cornwall. I think we have a very comfortable life.
Whatever our level of income we have choices about where to spend it. Except some people's choices are a lot starker and more limited - rent or food, food or the electricity/gas, constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Your cheap £40 pizza will be some families weekly food budget.
There is nothing wrong in spending your money on ubers, pizza and your husbands expensive hobbies but those are the choices you are making and you are privileged to have the level of choice you do, as am I.