AIBU To think that the vast majority of the 5% of top earners in the UK don't really post on MN

[ChristmasAlone]

Top 5% of earners in the the UK earn 70k or more, but it seems that every 3rd poster on here earns way above that and beyond.

@forinborin - I meant can you put the actual figures here that demonstrate that a single parent on NMW with 2 nursery age children gets subsidies that add up to the equivalent of a £70,000 salary.

@CaptainCorelli ah I see - I’m an EO in DWP which is entry level

A highflier does not say “knocking off” instead of leaving the office. Most amusing.

@Bluntness100

I do and I do.

Riiight. Knocking off, indeed...!

Yes salaries in the uk are much lower say than Ireland/ Germany etc. In Ireland for instance benefits for a couple with two children would be almost 50k or you would have to earn that before you would be better off. I’m always stunned at how little people survive on in the uk.

Blunty never ever gets involved in threads about language. I can understand why...

I just looked it up. Out of the 32.5 million employed that would be 162000 people who earn more than £70k. Not very many people when you think about it. I work 60 hrs per week and earn £43000. I have a very comfortable life.

Actually I genuinely do. And of course I’m not going to put myself. 😂

[quote Chicchicchicchiclana]@forinborin - I meant can you put the actual figures here that demonstrate that a single parent on NMW with 2 nursery age children gets subsidies that add up to the equivalent of a £70,000 salary.[/quote]
Yes,

Here's a turn2us calculation for a woman with two nursery aged children who earns £1200 / month, has £2000 nursery costs and £1300 rent - with the nursery costs and rent being probably on the lower boundary or even below realistic for London.

She will "get" £2688 / month from welfare and £1200 / month from her own income - making it £3888 total net. This grosses up to an equivalent of £69K salary. Well, almost £70K, I was off by a couple of hundred / year - my own calculation is several years old.

This is not to say that this help should not be there, absolutely not - especially as this is money that actually never lands in her wallet. Just to make a point that a mother on £70K in this situation will be similarly "rich" - both of them will really struggle.

A lot of people are talking about their household income, so they might be on 30k or 35k themselves while mentioning 70k.
Not everyone in Mumsnet is in the UK.
You can do a lot of mumsnetting while commuting etc. You don’t have to be at home watching Loose Women to have time to do it.

@Janegrey333

A highflier does not say “knocking off” instead of leaving the office. Most amusing.

Posts like this are just bizarre.

When you're paying a £2k mortgage and £2k in childcare for 2 kids, £70k does not go a long way in the short term. In the long term of course you are much better off because pension, employee benefits and equity from owning property. But £70k in the SE is in no way an unimaginably huge Mulberry* handbag and private schools salary.

There are 2 issues here: it is fairly tone deaf to complain about having not much disposable income in a well paid job while there are people queuing at foodbanks.

But also, salary and living costs gap in this country is just shit. Luxuries are affordable but basics like housing, dental, transport are ridiculously expensive.

*is this a posh handbag? no idea

When you're paying a £2k mortgage and £2k in childcare for 2 kids. Per month obviously

It's 1.6 million people who earn £70k plus

@LaurieFairyCake

It's 1.6 million people who earn £70k plus

Ok, and it's about 100 people who regularly post on Mumsnet - OP's point is proved .

@LordOfTheOnionRings

'Oh gosh, i'm really struggling to buy a home, I only have a budget of £950,000' eye roll

House prices in the south are a big problem and not all of us can move.

A lot of MN posters are in Sr and London - especially if the property and education boards are anything to go by. And yes, in the South East if you are in your 40s -70k is not that unusual. But that means that MN demographic is skewed not that people are lying. Plus even the 5% doesnt mean that its true for every region and age....in London am assuming the average salary of a 45 year old is undoubtedly higher than all UKwide all age wide stats

@wingsnthat

I don’t think £70k is that unattainable tbh

I’m in my early 20s and earn £30k - and I do expect my salary to increase in time. I also went to university and currently work outside of my graduate field thanks to COVID, so I know the scope for me to earn more is there once I get back into my career field. Therefore £70k does seem quite achievable in a 2-adult household where one or both partners are educated/senior in their field

70k between two adults is very different than a 70k+ earner, which is the 5% we are talking about. Me and DP earn between the two of us over that comfortably.

I know, I live in the south. It's just when there budgets are in the millions and they complain and there being NOTHING they can buy. So stupid.

"women represent just a quarter of people earning in excess of £73,000 in the UK. The analysis of 250,000 professionals revealed that 77% of people with salaries of £73,000+ are men"

I'm slightly less than you and live a very comfortable life, am happy with what I earn. Realistically know I could get more but am very happy with where I work and that out weighs the higher wage for me. Sometimes I read things and people claiming they earn 100k and just think there not a chance you do. I'm sure there are people that earn more but most are chatting breeze, unless admin have got some kind of deal with HMRC to send out an invitation in people's P60s when they hit that 70k mark.

I earn just over £70k. I work in London in HR, full time but live outside of London.

I could easily earn £90k+ if I wanted to sacrifice a good work life balance but then I couldn't piss about on MN.

10 years ago I earnt £13k and I've spent the last decade studying and working my arse off to be able to buy a house- just a normal one!- and I feel incredibly fortunate.

I don't feel like I'm in the top 5%, you live to your means, but I do know my salary is high- even SE England/London for a woman's in her thirties with children. Most of my 'mum friends' who work earn between £25-40k and most work part time. Disposable income wise we're not that different- I pay a fair % into my pension, commuting is expensive and I have full time childcare costs.

@FKATondelayo

When you're paying a £2k mortgage and £2k in childcare for 2 kids, £70k does not go a long way in the short term. In the long term of course you are much better off because pension, employee benefits and equity from owning property. But £70k in the SE is in no way an unimaginably huge Mulberry* handbag and private schools salary.

There are 2 issues here: it is fairly tone deaf to complain about having not much disposable income in a well paid job while there are people queuing at foodbanks.

But also, salary and living costs gap in this country is just shit. Luxuries are affordable but basics like housing, dental, transport are ridiculously expensive.

*is this a posh handbag? no idea

Well, many £70K jobs are also the ones where you cannot really work 9 to 5. It is often exactly that squeezed middle when you already are senior enough to have a lot of responsibility to keep you working into small hours, but not senior enough to decide your own timetable. Well, at least in my industry.

And while I agree with you that it does sometimes come as very entitled, it is also quite disheartening to work 60-70 hour weeks, see your children for less than 2 hours a day - and still be able to afford only quite basic lifestyle (again, I am quite London centric here, so obviously have my blind spots).