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

[Jesscarbqueen87]

Minimum for a decent standard of living.

we earn over £100k but have two kids at private school. our life certainly isn't luxurious.

@whattodo2019 how terrible for you to have to pay for private education

We are currently on £45 joint income (one on maternity leave) in SE and manage as family of 4 with a standard house and 2 cars.
We don’t save but we have nice food and don’t go without

Previously were on £75k joint income and that was more than enough and plenty to save / splurge

I expect when I return to work our joint income will settle at around the £55k area and that will feel like plenty after living on £45k for a year

We adjust our spending to what we’re bringing in.
No unnecessary subscriptions. No silly mobile phone contracts, just sim only and no expensive hobbies or leases

@whattodo2019

we earn over £100k but have two kids at private school. our life certainly isn't luxurious.

That sums up the pointlessness of the vague op tbf.

100k and you have made choices that mean your life isn't full of luxuries and you possibly couldn't imagine what you'd do on a household income of 50k. If we were on 100k we'd be rolling in it!

@whattodo2019 but sending your children to private school is a choice you made. Having that option is a luxury in itself.

It's a very personal thing surely, we are a family of 4, 2 adults 1 teenagers 1 preteen.
Our combined salary is £29500.
Our mortgage is only £400, my car payment is £280 we own DHs car outright. We have a UK holiday twice a year, the children have tennis lessons, we don't go without treats. We have 3 months salary saved in instant access accounts, I add £100 to 200 to it each month. We have no creditcard debt.
I would say we live a very comfortable life on less than £30k.

@Offtothedogs

These responses are hilarious. Our household income is waaay less than anyone has said so far, and our life is amazing, it's simple and stress-free, we're happy and healthy. We drive old bangers, live in a tiny house and have very basic holidays but our life is seriously blissful.

So much respect for this

Combined income of 35k, south east, living comfortably with disposable income , 2 adults 1 child 1 toddler

Didn’t they do a study comparing happiness with income and at around 80k happiness started descending?

Depends on so many factors. We're a family of four outside the South East on a combined income exceeding £100k which is really comfortable. A few years ago on £55k it was much tighter, especially with higher childcare costs. I think we'd need £55k as a minimum to manage but that would mean no extracurricular activities for the kids and holidays etc.

Single parent here (no child support) and earn £38k. Two kids, own my own home and car and decent standard of living, I.e pre-Covid holidays, nice clothes, after school clubs etc. I live in a Scottish city.

@ArnieLinson

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

I live in a town where the median house price is $1.5m, and that’s not going to get you much at all. So, to live here, you need to earn at least $300k, unless you were fortunate enough to inherit a place or qualify for affordable housing.

Thats the basic on the poverty standard youre describing there

What on Earth are you talking about? Poverty in the U.K. is described as people living on 40% of the U.K. median income, for a single parent with 2 children that would be £195 a week - a very far cry from £40-50k per annum.

We are in the East Midlands we have 2 children, we own our own home It’s a large house in a very good area, 2 cars I’m a say at home mum, husband earns between 40-45k we have a good life, have treats Save a minimum of £500 a month, food shopping done at Sainsbury’s and we definitely don’t go without anything, clothes / holidays etc. In our area we are not considered in poverty! so depends on circumstances.

Well if you count the dog as a child (he does cost about the same), we are a family of 4 with one full-time income of £17k plus tax credits. And we do have a decent standard of living in the sense that all our food and clothes are organic, but we don't really buy anything else. And we save £100pm.

But it does feel like we are struggling all the time, so it would be much easier on £20k+.

I think the poster controversially claiming "Thats the basic on the poverty standard youre describing there" is thinking of the Joseph Roundtrees minimum income standard, which includes things like an annual holiday, rather than actual poverty. Or else is living in cloud cuckooland!

This is interesting...

www.minimumincome.org.uk/

We make just slightly over that, and it seems that most people also seem to say that's an okay standard of living. So it seems approx £40k joint upwards, depending on individual factors.

I took home significantly less than that last year. Managed 3 holidays, to run a car, could replace the boiler if it broke and eat fairly well.
It's all relative and a really daft question.

@Lancrelady80 that calculator is really interesting, although the breakdown of costs might be a bit off as it says rent £92 a week...we are near London and that is WAAAY off so must surely set the whole calculation off? Although London probably doesn’t really count

Yeah that calculator had me down for £85 a week rent and £130 childcare... I live in the North East and things are cheaper but not that cheap!

@Pumpkinnose

Let me be clear, I’d never advocate limits being government policy. Only kids suffer and believe it or not I’m not a Tory voter.

But as an individual making my own decisions, having an eye on overpopulation and aboliyu to provide well for my kids is of primary importance to me. I don’t ever want to be in a position to need government support. It would be selfish of me.

You’re being awfully pious, because if you really cared about over population or over-reliance on the government, then you’d have remained child free.

For all you know your two children could both go off and have lots of descendants who all go on to rely on government hand-outs. You also had no idea before having children whether they would have health conditions that would render you unable to work or require them to need lots of additional support services.

You’ve obviously made a decision that stopping at two makes sense financially for your family, but don’t turn it into a decision supposedly based on well thought out moral standards.

That calculator though doesn't initially allow for mortgage & only £92 a wk for rent as it assumes you received help. Once I put my mortgage in it says we need a minimum combo of 50k.

@Goatinthegarden 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 absolutely this. You've decided to stop at 2 and now made it into some self righteous choice about saving rainforests. Sorry but bollocks.

Depends on what you want out of life/what you're happy to settle for.

Up North in a cheap city where I am, a nice average life could be had for around 40k household income.

Me, Ds and the cats are surviving on £12k.