AIBU to think that the majority of people on here are middle class and high earners?

[Kaylasmum49]

Just curious.

I think it’s this thread that addresses the question of why high earning women tend to have more time for messing about on MN.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4049415-High-Earners-on-MN

Dh and I both come from working class families (parents were builders, plumbers, factory and office workers, grandparents miners and pottery workers). Both of us were the first in our families to go to university (my mum did A levels, the rest of our families left school between 14-16)

But I guess we’d be middle class now. Dh is a teacher on about 31k, I work in the office of the family plumbing business on about £35k.

At one point we even had two kids in private school until we moved Ds to state.

But I think we are still very down to earth.

@Madbengalmum

I don’t think £100k is a particularly high earner is it? There are lots of households that earn nearer £200k combined.

From what i can see the top 10% of earners earn 52k or over. So 90% of people earn less than that. But in terms of what happens next there is only 500,000ish earners on more than 120k and something like 340,00ish on more than 160k.

So yes 340,000 is a lot of people and if you mix in that world you could get the idea most peopld earn a lot. I think a lot of people also have wealth that usnt PAYE

MN is obsessed by money. IRL no one cares if you earn £300k or £30k providing you live within your means. Yes there are swathes of middle class people who get paid loads, but it doesn't mean they're extra special, just they've gone into well paid careers and done OK.

I have no interest in what others earn or have in savings. I don't care if you own or rent the home you live in. People should only be judged( yes, we do judge) on their actions.

You need to define high earner, and whether you are also considering household income.
I'm a teacher earning less than 25k, with a matching DP earning slightly less. To me, I suppose being a higher rate tax payer defines being a high earner. If I made enough money to be in the higher rate bracket, I would feel like I had more money than I'd know what to do with
I've got friends whose household income is +120k, but who themselves don't 'earn' at all, being SAHPs. However, having access to a big household income, they probably share some experiences and consumer preferences / opportunities with women in well remunerated employment.

MillieEppie, exactly. There are alot of people with “cash” businesses, and also alot of people who are so wealthy they have tax advisors. Imagine the true number, it would be much bigger.

@Whattheactual20201

I don't even really get the point in lying. I mean if you're found out, you just look like a nutter. I can only assume they get some kind of satisfaction from people believing the lie, but when you have to keep adding to it and it's getting out of hand, you've got a problem.

If you earn 15k, 50k, 150k, so what? If you earn nothing and are a sahm, so what? You're just living your life, be proud and appreciative of it. Really, lying is probably just going to make you feel bad that that isn't your life. Plus there will still be people out there that wish they had what you have, even if you think it isn't enough.

Nmw here. Early years childcare and education practitioner. Woefully underpaid profession

I'm a SP, on the dole (so not even working class proper) and live on my overdraft so I dont contribute to the earnings and savings threads.

I see far more posts from people who are struggling with financial difficulties or poor circumstances than those who are claiming to be well heeled and middle/upper middle class. I could name a couple of well known braggers and fantasists but I know them because they stand out (even when they name change).

Of course you will get people who are economical with the truth, but you would be surprised by how many people are earning a lot of money
My dh is an accountant and has clients from all walks of life and many of them are earning eye watering amounts of money. Some people are taking home £5k a week
MN is an extremely popular site and these people will visit this site.
There are probably celebrities, millionaires etc on this site

@CakeRequired but some of us are not lying 🤣
I mean I defo work more than 9-5 ! I just have a well paid job. I don’t look down at those worse of than me but I do always find myself justifying my lifestyle 🤣
People will say oh well there isn’t many people on that income so it’s unlikely we are
Who do people think live in the houses in London ? Or the mansions on Surrey etc haha
I don’t live in a mansion I am Nearly mortgage free in zone 2 London of a 3 bed house though at nearly 29 years old but literally most people think I’m lying so I give up 🤣

I love a how-much-do-you-earn thread. I’m nosy about finances and enjoy the unsubtle boasting. “£60k you say? Well, I suppose that might be just about acceptable for a new grad with a middling degree. Outside London, of course.”

And nobody at the higher house value of saving amounts ever admits to help from parents, which I find interesting.

Wouldn’t ever post, though.

Class threads on the other hand drive me up the wall and I avoid them now. Can’t take the inevitable posts about REAL upper class people (tatty cars, dog hair, would never speak about money, blah, blah, blah). Comes across as a weird and horribly cringey mix of idolising and fawning over their betters, while taking care to make the point that the poster has greater proximity to ‘old’ (good) money than the previous person. Ugh.

@Whattheactual20201

I can't think why they don't believe you, it all seems so plausible.

I've seen Mumsnet partnerships pitched at work and the data they share (based on the annual survey but corroborated by other surveys) suggest a fairly broad user base.

So, have we established what is classed as a "high earner" so I know if I am one or not?

I've also no idea what class I'm in.

[quote sst1234]@Lucidas

While you express a nice sentiment, the reality is that poverty and happiness are not compatible. Honestly, girls (and boys) need to be taught to aim higher, because warm, fuzzy happiness follows financial stability, it doesn’t precede it.[/quote]
A sentiment Jane Austen would have agreed with — her novels are entirely clear-sighted about the importance of a sufficient income to happiness. The difference is that in her day, middle-class women could not earn their money, but had to marry it or spend their lives supported by relatives.

OP, no, I don’t think Mn is primarily middle-class and high earning, I think it’s skews very lower-middle-class in its worldview, regardless of income. I also think it often boils over with class anxiety, which expresses itself on education threads and shibboleths about sitting in your front garden and saying ‘Pardon’.

@notinthiseconomy class is a whole different story here from what I have leaned on here previously is I am part lower class
Part working class part middle class and part upper class basically I am fairly confused haha !

@MillieEpple

From what i can see the top 10% of earners earn 52k or over. So 90% of people earn less than that. But in terms of what happens next there is only 500,000ish earners on more than 120k and something like 340,00ish on more than 160k.

www.ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in

Not if you're using this link and inputting NET income - it's closer to £7K net monthly income which puts you into the top 10%.

Depends on what you mean by 'high earners'?

Sansou i think that link was household income rather than salaries of individuals. I was meaning individual salaries.

Like a PP I also laugh at the ‘class’ threads where the professional bow and scraping cap doffers fall over themselves to tell us how ‘real’ upper class people all have great manners are super friendly, are covered in dog hair, have kids with knotty hair wearing hand me downs and a battered old car. They are also apparently all much nicer than those awful people who’ve earned their own money. Jolly Cooper fantasist crap.

Nevertheless, I do believe there are many people on here who genuinely do earn £100k+. I tend not to believe the ones who claim their husband earns £££ and is always flying out of the country with 5 mins notice though.

I think a lot of people on here are very untruthful when they talk of their income. They are usually the people utterly obsessed with the notion of 'class'.

@MillieEpple

From what i can see the top 10% of earners earn 52k or over. So 90% of people earn less than that. But in terms of what happens next there is only 500,000ish earners on more than 120k and something like 340,00ish on more than 160k

I think those figures only relate to PAYE earnings. So if you have income from other sources - which most high earners do - they won’t fall within that data.