To ask how much you think a family of 4 need to earn ...

[Jesscarbqueen87]

Minimum for a decent standard of living.

@ArnieLinson poverty at £35-40k? If you think that's poverty how do you think people on minimum wage/UC survive?

OP, it depends entirely on the families circumstances- area, rent vs own, transport, debts, lifestyle and so much else. There is a poverty line (a million miles from the arnies!) but for most of the country the absolute minimum £100k a year is outrageous

Let's see
1600 for mortgage and bills including insurances
600 car payments and car expenses
1200 childcare (depending on ages)
500 for monthly savings
200 for clothes/days out
350 food
200 fuel for car

That's an after tax income of 4650

So before tax 80k (joint would be great As then you would still get child benefit! Assuming you are in the U.K.)

That didn't include pension contributions though

Unless I missed anything then that would be comfortable.

@ArnieLinson what a load of rubbish. It really depends on your outgoings. I'm a single parent of one, total take home after pension contributions is £2k per month which doesn't sound a lot but my mortgage and bills come to just over £500pm, that leaves £1500 for food and leisure. That's plenty of money and we have a very nice lifestyle on that. Not rich by any means but enough not to worry.

I think 3k a month take home is probably a good family wage to cover rent/mortgage, bills, food, hobbies, clothes, days out etc. Average 3 bed is maybe £1000 a month, much less up north.

We spend about 3-3.5k in bills/food/hobbies. So yes 100k would be a good amount.

We had two children and earned around 40k a year combined - we weren’t flush but similarly I don’t remember being skint. Went on holiday, ate out weekly, managed to run two cars.

We have around double that now and an extra child but again, similar circumstances - were not rolling in money, but we don’t particularly have to budget for a every day life either

Our current outgoing with 3 kids are:

All house hold bills Inc mortgage: £1800 pm
Food: £500pm
Fuel: £150pm (DH walks to work and I only work in the next town)
Savings: £500pm
Childcare: £650pm (we use tax free childcare to subsidise this, actual costs are around £890)

We have about £4600 a month after tax,pensions and national insurance contributions

@peachypetite

this is like asking how long a piece of string is.

Exactly this, it is affected by so many factors!

@ArnieLinson

id say minimum for decent standard would br joint income of £100k

How do you think most people manage to live?!?

Well basic universal credit for a family of four is about £1100 excluding housing costs.

So that’s the minimum.

Everyone’s decent standard of living is different though. Some are happy with aldi/Asda food, ikea furniture, holidays in the U.K, others require more luxury and a higher standard of living.

It depends what people see as a decent standard of living!

I come from a poor background so as long as the bills are paid, we can afford to run a car and have some days out and occasional takeaways I’m happy. I would say we very comfortable on £45k. It will be a squeeze the next couple of years with 2 sets of childcare to pay for but easier after than (fingers crossed)

At least £80k gross.

The rowntree foundation state that in order to participate in society etc each partner, if two children, needs to earn £18,700.

Therefore £37,400 ( and slightly more if only one earner because of tax.

So those people saying £40k are right

You need to define decent as well as location. What kind of holidays, do you want to go camping in the UK or all inclusive somewhere sunny? What do you want to eat, fresh organic produce from local suppliers or freezer food? Do you want a house that's the 'right' size or have some spare bedrooms?

If you earn £25k you can't imagine what it would be like to earn £100k (and vice versa I assume) but no matter how much you earn it all goes somewhere

As others say it all depends on where you live and what standard of living you want. Living in the South East I'd say £80,000 would be a decent standard of living - mainly due to high housing costs.

Otherwise it is how much you need to cover housing, bills, childcare and some frivolity.

We are south east and bring home £5500 a month
Between us, supports our family of 4, we live comfortably

Betty94

I think it depends where you live - I'm from the north west and I think £35000-£40000 would be enough for a decent standard of living as in roof over head, food in belly and electric on and still have some left over for a holiday or days out etc - I maybe wrong but that's my thought process.

Thats the basic on the poverty standard youre describing there.

We get just under £39k gross from dh's pension. We have no mortgage, paid that off before he retired, no debts, and ds is through uni with no loans at all.

After the bills, which are less than £800 per month, all the rest is for spends, and we have savings. I ensured when we were working, that we were well equipped for dh's retirement, so we have bedding, towels, kitchen kit, etc, and don't really need to buy much apart from food and petrol.

As we have everything we need (and then some), and most of what we want, I wouldn't say we were on the poverty line at all.

I agree that this is a meaningless question. Is this family of four including young children and does earning the money require childcare, or does it include older children who are more expensive to keep in other ways? Gross or net? There's a big difference in whether all the money is made by one person or equally split - the latter is much more tax-efficient but on the other hand means no childcare costs. And most importantly what are the fixed living costs?

I think it also depends if those 4 people are 2 adults 2 kids or 1 adult 2 kids. Although I'm divided as to why - as 2 parent families have the option of working round each other but single parents have to use childcare. But in other ways kids are cheaper.
I'd have though £32k assuming £650 pcm mortgage.

Depends on:

• where you live
• how old the children are
• what family support you have close by (eg do you have family nearby who can provide childcare whilst you work or will you have to pay for childcare)
• what financial commitments you have
• what you are currently earning (so if you are asking this because you currently, for example, make £250k and you have just lost your job it will be harder for you to adjust to £30k than someone who previously made £25k and has just got a pay rise to £30k)
• what your definition of “decent” is. “Decent” to me would have to include two foreign holidays a year because that’s what I’m used to. Some people say just being able to pay all your bills is “decent”.

It depends

How old the kids are (how expensive childcare is)
Whether it's the income of one partner and so the other is a SAHP, or whether it's combined.
Whether the family already own a house.
Area of UK.
Whether they already have previous debts.

But, been pricing this up recently for one school child and one toddler and we found 40k not enough to cover rent on a 3 bed house plus extras. We could live but not have holidays, days out etc. Would have to save up for things we need rather than buy. Probably couldn't really afford to save, etc.

I would guess more like 50k with a SAHP, or 65k if the income is split between two partners. But I haven't finished the calculation yet.

I'm also assuming one car, no driving lessons. And 2 adults because £32k gross between 2 is more than £32 gross in a single adult household.

I consider a decent standard of living for a family of four living in an average area of the UK in terms of cost of living, as having a roof over your head, bills paid, food in the cupboard, decent clothes on your back, a car on the drive, little things to look forward to throughout the year such as family days out, occasional meals out, maybe the occasional bottle of wine or a takeaway on the weekend, the odd treat for the kids and after all of that having enough left to put a little into savings or a rainy day fund to cover broken appliances, car problems or any other unexpected expense. So in a nutshell being able to afford all of the basics food, clothes, shelter, without worry and having a little left over for occasional treats, unexpected expenses and savings. Not necessarily living a lavish lifestyle but a comfortable one where you never worry about where your next meals coming from and can afford the little things that make life pleasant and enjoyable. Not just surviving, but not exactly living in the lap of luxury.

id say minimum for decent standard would br joint income of £100k

Surely no-one can be that ignorant ? So just goady then ?