What do you consider "low income?"

[SistemaAddict]

People often talk about low income but I wonder if there is a set figure or if it's relative?
I would probably class as low income as I'm on UC but I don't consider myself poor like many might see me.
Just asking out of curiosity.

Different to actual poverty , but not much fun

Not scientific at all but to me low income is just enough to scrape by, no extra for holidays/luxuries, have to be very careful with food budgets etc (MN chicken) and in a real pickle if something goes wrong eg car suddenly needs a repair, that would mean difficult choices such as which bills not to pay or having to live on beans and 15p instant noodles. No room to save , living hand to mouth etc. Different to actual poverty but not much fun.

Oops not sure what happened! Sorry for multiple posts....

a low income wage and a low income household raster complicate the issue though. 16k is a low income but if your partner earns 50k and its basically spending money, its fine. single parent or single incomw household with a couple of kids is much different

I’m in London, I think under £20k although that’s just under what I earn when I go back part time because of the kids. Although that only pays for me, childcare and holidays and extras, my husbands pays for mortgage and bills, that’s how we spilt the load.

I'd say when you might be able to cover essential outgoings, but cannot afford any type of holiday and often have to think carefully about when in the month you can buy kids' shoes, and have to use the cheapest supermarkets.

And although DH is on £40k, we can live on that ok while I am SAHM so I think it’s all about how you budget as to how happy you can be on a lower income.

Low income would be where the government has to provide you benefits to top it up, There are too many variables to say it’s only min wage, because kids, partner etc all have to be taken into account.

So I think if it’s a single person on min wage it’s low income for that person and arguably anything below the average is low, but anything else, once you start to bring in Two incomes and kids, it’s about does the government have to provide you with benefits to top you up. Not just child benefit as everyone gets that.

Good point. I view it through my single parent lens so I hadn't thought of if there was another income and therefore meant household income, not individual income.

It's relative, but by definition anyone on UC doesn't earn enough to support themselves without it, so I would consider them low income regardless.

Depends on where you live, size of family etc but I would as a rough guide say an earned family income (4 people) under £25k is low, £25-40k is normal. The average household income is about £27k but that's across all household sizes, it would be hard to raise 4 kids on that as a single parent needing to pay childcare costs where as 2 kids and one parent stays home to raise them it's doable

Its what you are used to too. I live in a very affluent south east commuter town. A household income under £50k would be relatively low here. £50-150k or so, normal here. £150k and up would put a household at the upper end.

@Wishforsnow

Council rents are typically higher than private rents here! People choose them because it's a guarantee tenancy. It really does depend where you live

"I earn the min wage but this is mumsnet haha low income on here I can guess 60ish grand pa."

There was honestly a thread where someone said a decent wage is £60k pa.

Low income for me is under £20k.
I understand you could earn a lot more than that somewhere like London and have trouble paying your bills.

It depends where you live. We’re in Glasgow, I’m on 25k, DH is on around £20k and we own our home, have a decent car, new phones, we go on holiday twice a year, eat out regularly and still have enough to save each month.

"Not scientific at all but to me low income is just enough to scrape by, no extra for holidays/luxuries, have to be very careful with food budgets etc (MN chicken) and in a real pickle if something goes wrong eg car suddenly needs a repair, that would mean difficult choices such as which bills not to pay or having to live on beans and 15p instant noodles. No room to save , living hand to mouth etc. Different to actual poverty but not much fun."

Hmmm.
When I was on £16k I was still able to go on holiday and go to the pub. I bought a lot of my clothes in charity shops, didn't have to worry about food at all. Renting in an area that leaves a lot to be desired and not saving, but it wasn't a hand-to-mouth existence so I guess it depends on your costs, how many mouths you're feeding, etc.

I live outside of London and for me it’s under £30k is low, £30-40k is manageable, £40-50 is doing ok. £50k+ is any one with decent qualifications or decent position in a company and seen as doing well

Low income is defined as the following:

Living on less than 60% of household joint average which is around £28,000

It is based on household income, not how many people live in the household.

I would say minimum wage TBH .However so much depends on personal circumstances .A SM in London / SE would struggle ,but someone in the North would be better off as cost of living there is generally lower.

"Low income would be where the government has to provide you benefits to top it up"

Don't agree with that. A single person on minimum wage wouldn't get top-ups, but is still on a low income.

Starting out ie needing everything for a house etc, beds, washing machines ... £25,000 doesn’t go far even in the north west, you’d be paying bills not much more. It would take you a while to set up a house

I'd say low income is anything that needs topping up with benefits. After that it become a quality of life question - if you earn enough to pay for all the essentials then you're not on a low income but you will have a different quality of life to someone earning £20k more.

"Quality of life is a separate question imo."

I think people are confusing quality of life and standard of living.

It depends on your perspective. I don't consider myself to have a low income at £50k. I think I'm fairly well off. When I was earning £15k less than 15 years ago, and £22k when I started with my employer, I thought of my grade as unattainable to a normal person without lots of experience or qualifications. I am agog at other threads where people consider my income to be low. I grew up around people who would see £50k as a life changing salary.

"Starting out ie needing everything for a house etc, beds, washing machines ... £25,000 doesn’t go far even in the north west, you’d be paying bills not much more. It would take you a while to set up a house"

I don't agree with that. I rent and have my own furniture, though not washing machine and I've done that on wages ranging from 1k Euro a month to 16k. You can buy second hand, buy from Ikea when you can afford it, pick things up for free in the street if you live in a big city. I wouldn't count not being able to go to an expensive shop and buy all your furniture in one go as a sign of a low income.

Where I live, a medium-sized city in the UK, a single person could live really well on 25k. Could probably buy a small property, go on holiday, entertainment and even save. I've never reached that level so find it hard to consider it 'low'.