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

[Kaylasmum49]

Just curious.

Why would anyone come onto MN to talk in intricate detail about specific private schools that cost thousands a term if they aren’t even looking at the schools? Many of the secondary schools discussed are around £6000 per term and most people have more than one kid there.

To brag and pretend that is their life sadly. I've seen people on forums post pictures of stuff like animals, pretend they are theirs, even giving them names and a history, only for someone to find them on FB or something belonging to someone else. Someone on here even said about a poster on MN posting pictures of a house that wasn't theirs. Or the thread about people in rl pretending they live somewhere else. It's not uncommon.

Some people have problems unfortunately and can't see reality. Pretending they have a kid at private school wouldn't be that rare I'd imagine.

YANBU for thinking it.... but you are naive for seeming surprised at it

No.
You can tell from the poor SPAG and issues raised.

@PumpkinHat
Hah, yes, or "try therapy" when you mention anything vaguely unpleasant that's happened. Yeah no problem, I can easily spare £60 a week to talk to a therapist Or try to get something on the NHS...when people who are actually suicidal and seriously unwell can't even get proper help in our area.

I too have often wondered whether half the stuff you read here is real. I know there are many high earners in the UK but surely they'd be too busy in their high powered careers to be posting on MN all day?

I remember one poster scoffing that other women really were gps and solicitors. Depressing in a way that that is seen as so unlikely. Plus if I were to be weird enough to lie on an anonymous forum I would pick a more exciting job!

I started this thread because I honestly felt the majority of the posters on mn are middle class/high earners. My reasoning for thinking this is the snobbery that I've witnessed on many threads over the years.

To the posters who say they earn 100k and don't feel like they are high earners, well.... I am amazed, to me that is a vast amount.

I think I’d love to be a supermarket worker. I’d love the interaction and the stories and to feel like I’ve actually done something rather than turn the corporate clogs to make some millionaire a billionaire. Ugh

I joined Mumsnet looking for advice about babies but found all manner of compelling other stuff, alongside the useful tips about nipple shields and how to make ‘soldiers’ out of cold porridge.

It’s only when reading threads about nannies, private schools or handbags that the class of the poster ever occurs to me. Happily, cracked nipples and porridge soldiers largely defy class barriers.

@Kaylasmum49 my DH's single colleague on 100k thinks he isn't a high earner cos he can't afford to buy where he currently lives (zone 1). Of course he can move out a few zones and buy a flat which is what DH and I did but then again DH and I only managed to buy a london flat cos we lived with family for free for 3 years. And even though we earn less than 100k combined, the fact that only DH is a higher rate tax payer and we both get the tax free allowance means that my DH's colleague is only getting a few hundred pounds more than our combined income (assuming he pays student loan). So while yes he probably can afford to buy property in London on 100k if he was less picky on location, being a single person and paying private rent means that the budget would not stretch to something very luxurious at all.

But there you go, a situation in London where a single person on 100k is not exactly a life of luxury either. and of course the people around him all earn similar amounts or more (and are often partnered with high earners) so if you are a single high earner, you may not feel rich either.

It 100% depends on your circles in real life and your friends/where you live.
I’m in SE where I was born but raised in poverty. I got good grades, went to a Red Brick, got into Big 4, saved, invested well. I’m now 26, I live in a very expensive house and my partner and I have a high joint income (over £100k). It seems like a high achievement to me.

My friends at work, however, went to private schools, Oxbridge, their houses are in the millions, they ski every winter and vacation in the Caribbean. Their dads are on the boards of huge companies. It’s mad. They’re just super rich. So I will always feel poor and working class next to them even though we earn the same and have achieved the same.

Comparison is the thief of joy!

@MsTSwift

I remember one poster scoffing that other women really were gps and solicitors

Quite. People are prepared to believe that a man has a “penis beaker” or that someone’s neighbour incorporated their roof space into their extension or that a teacher called their someone’s five year old a dirty little bitch but god forbid a woman could be a GP

i dont have a "job" as such as im a carer to 2 disabled boys so we are on uc and dla

but between us we get well over 42 thousand a year and full rent and ct paid

£100K a year is a large income, it’s more than three times the national average. The average household income for the UK in 2020 was about £30K after tax.

It really depends where you live 24k a year for a family (assuming you have at least once DC by your name,) is very low and if you're both FT it's below NMW , it would barely cover rent on a two bed flat and basic utilities here, after tax NI etc , so what to you sounds like a high income of 40k might just be enough to scrape by in some areas for two adults and a DC or two. Our nursery is £74 a day and a lot of people who live where we do commute to London for work, it's more than 6k a year just for the train per adult

well I get paid £1.92 per hour for 35 hours work. any extra will be without pay. but I do occasionally get a £10 bonus at Christmas.

I'm middle-class but not a high earner.

Simply jealousy

@Kaylasmum49

I started this thread because I honestly felt the majority of the posters on mn are middle class/high earners. My reasoning for thinking this is the snobbery that I've witnessed on many threads over the years.

To the posters who say they earn 100k and don't feel like they are high earners, well.... I am amazed, to me that is a vast amount.

It's an enormous amount, but you'll never convince them of that. They have genuinely no idea how other people live.

There’s as much inverted snobbery on MN as there is snobbery. Having digs at the middle classes or anything perceived as “ posh” is absolutely seen as fair game.

@purpledagger

When I first came on here, it felt like that to me. Now, I just think that there is a vocal minority whose voice skewers the majority.

I agree. I'm not a high earner, and DH is semi retired. We live in an area where unless you are a headteacher or hospital consultant wages are considerably less than 6 figures.

I'm working class and I went to university. I met various people from walks of life who were private educated or went to boarding school. One of my housemates father was a famous agent, you would never think to speak to him and he was the most down to earth person he remembered a time before his dad came into money. I do agree that's theres an element of snobbery when it comes to minium wage or earning below a certain wage however it depends where abouts in the UK you are. The national average wage is 31k so its quite plausible someone might alter there wage, many alter details all the time. I do think its crass anyone boasting about material things they have though.

You are unreasonable to think that or perhaps you unconsciously home in on threads which interest you, where posters seem to be better off than average.

I don't post on all but read a lot of threads and it strikes me that we have a good cross section here. Plenty of people with next to nothing, living in council/housing association properties, on benefits; some really quite well off; most just ordinary, struggling a bit but managing to make ends meet with a little care (most of the time).

My husband and I both earn 50k, and I felt like we were doing well, but mumsnet makes me feel poor! So many people on high salaries and spending shitloads on baby stuff. I try not to compare, thief of joy and all that, but reading a thread recommending buggies over 1.5k was an eye opener when I had my eye on a travel system bundle circa £600. Does make me question myself tbh, so I try not to read too many money threads. Yet here I am commenting on this one 😂

I don’t think it’s lies though, what on earth would be the point? Why is a bunch of strangers thinking you are rich any type of validation? I don’t get that at all.

Yup, along with that most seem judgemental arseholes. The thread that sticks in my mind was a, woman with a massive house and income insisting that money didn't make you happy. Absolute moron, refused to understand that whatever happened in your life, money made things easier. Was as if really she thought money should really cushion you from difficult things., she was annoyed that she, still had to experience grief. Well duh you will still experience shit, the added poverty is just another insult though. She refused to get that.

I'm from a very working class background, educated and now in top 1-2% income bracket. I align more with traditional working class values and can afford to buy pricey things, I guess. Agree that there's a load of middle class bullshit on here. Gets very tedious so generally avoid those threads!