To detest the term 'squeezed middle'

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And how it's being used on here to forecast that the poor high earners will be worse off than anyone else over the next few years?

It's absolutely not true, for one. The worst off will be the worst off.

I grew up in poverty. My kids are middle class. I know the gulf that exists between the two, firsthand, and secondhand from working with kids in inner London for twelve years.

The squeezed middle will be ok. So can we stop pretending that people who earn over £50k a year are on the brink of destitution? It's really demeaning to those who survive on a lot less.

Surely it makes sense that someone who earns 100 pounds over the threshold for receiving government help is going to be significantly worse off than someone who earns 100 under it? That's the squeezed middle - non-high earners who just about earn enough not to qualify for any assistance.

I've been squeezed middle with children at one time in my life but grew up in proper piss poor poverty. I'm now closer to poverty again but thankfully have a lovely (council) house so it feels a lot nicer, but I know plenty of people who are living in poverty with children. The fact that the squeezed middle even try and think they are worse off is just an absolute joke. They have no fucking idea what life is like for the poor.

Yes, and? It’s still not amount that means freedom from any financial worry.

Oh yes, how dare those in the middle earning bracket mention bills are worrying, or changes may have to be made. It's only the poorest in society who can make that claim. Those squeezed middlers pay a shit ton in tax, and get fuck all out. All fine, but bills are getting higher and a lot of my friends are equally worried.

Do you know what, it's threads like these that make me think screw everyone else. People are asking where the people are who are prepared to stand against what's happening, except you'll need those "squeezed middle" to help with that. So maybe stop slating them and accept that most people have worries around what's happening.

Before I get jumped on for not understanding, I grew up in a house with grinding poverty on disability benefit the only money coming in. With parents who smoked and drank the whole lot away. I know how utterly shite it is.

They really don't. And of course they're allowed to feel sorry for themselves if they wish. I would just recommend not communicating that feeling to somebody with a just bag of lentils and a stock cube in the cupboard and no electric left on the card.

The whole point of the ‘middle’ is that these people are in ... the middle. Nobody is claiming they will suffer most. But they will experience serious downgrades to their lifestyles as a result of cost increases and more along the lines of downgrading from being able to save and / or spend on leisure to just getting by, NOT downgrading from an Audi. I don’t know why we need to minimise or mock these concerns.

I also don’t agree that they are living beyond their means, or not more than any other group at least. Should we all live our lives as though we’re destitute? There seems to be an idea on here that if you incur expenses above the absolute basic you don’t deserve any sympathy if costs increase and you struggle.

There is absolute poverty.
And relative poverty.

I do think there needs to be more attention to whether people live in single or dual adult income households.

Single adult income households .. it's all a bit seat of pants at the minute. Almost everyone I know who is of childbearing age and where I live (SE) have a sideline at the minute. It's not a disaster but it is reality for most people I know.

If you're.on a truly low wage you have no hope, unless you have social housing at below market rent, and benefit top-ups

if I had much younger children who needed childcare, am not sure how I would cope .. although the 30 hrs free childcare seems pretty revolutionary to me. When mine were little (more than a decade ago) the cost for a nursery place was around £1400.pcm and there was no state help before age 3.

Well we earn 60k and don't qualify for benefits yet are starting to struggle. HTH.

Not being able to play golf/eat out/go on holiday as much isn't really tugging at my heartstrings the same way as kids routinely going without breakfast. Soz.

I'm not sure people on this thread quite understand who the squeezed middle are...

They are those who earn just over the thresholds to qualify for assistance? And this can actually mean that the amount of money hitting their bank account is actually no more than a person on a much lower income who qualifies for benefits.

Eg person A might earn 13k as they work 20 hours per week in a low paid role. But they therefore qualify for housing benefit, working tax credits, child tax credits and end up actually getting another 10k per year hitting their bank account, which they don't have to pay tax, NI, or pension contributions on.

Person B earns 23k and qualifies for NOTHING. Due to tax, NI and pension, they may actually have less money hit their bank account than person A??

And right now, person A gets quite a bit more assistance with the energy costs than person B.

What do you actually mean by squeezed middle? Household income of £50k?

Struggle how? Do your kids have clothes that fit? Do they eat one hot meal a day? Do they have a bed to sleep on? Duvet? Do they have a pen in their bag for school?

The kids I worked with had none of this. They struggled.

Note: hypothetical figures, I don't actually know where the threshold is that people no longer qualify for assistance.

I have no more idea what it is than any of the people on here moaning that they have £80 a week to spend on groceries where they used to have £120. It's generally deemed to be households that receive no form of government assistance, because they earn too much.

Erm I'm a single parent of two fully reliant on benefits. I've never struggled with money since becoming single/on benefits but when I was with ex and we were just over the thresholds every single month was a struggle even 5 years ago. It's the earners just above the help that are screwed.

I know of several families just above thresholds who on a day to day basis have less money available than I do when all is taken into account

Is this actually for real though? I'm not in the UK so don't know but wtf is that energy bill? Is that for a month? I'm in Ireland and we have seen enormous rises in our already high energy prices but £550 but €650 would be almost 6 months of my energy bills? What would you be doing to use £550 a month in a 2 bed flat?

Can we direct our anger at the massive corporations making literal billions from ALL of us and the governments who are in their pockets?
Divide and rule is live and well!

The richest 1% get ever richer while everyone else stays where they are in the good times, and sinks lower in the bad times. It’s been this way for about 3 or 4 decades. The Labour Party under Corbyn in 2017 laid it out pretty explicitly and gave us a shot with its “for the many not the few” manifesto, but the country voted for the 1%. Apparently magic money trees didn’t exist for mass investment in 2017, but they suddenly sprouted in 2020 when we literally shut down half the economy for two whole years (let’s not even bother mentioning the trillions in GDP that the government has forecast Brexit will lose us over the next couple of decades).

We probably won’t have an opportunity to elect a “radical” government (ie one that works primarily for the people not big corporate profit) again for half a century of we’re lucky. But hey ho that’s democracy.

Not being able to play golf/eat out/go on holiday as much isn't really tugging at my heartstrings the same way as kids routinely going without breakfast. Soz.

Ridiculous response because nobody has suggested it should “tug at your heartstrings the same way”. Just like being destitute in Britain doesn’t “tug at my heartstrings the same way” as hearing about what people are living through in Afghanistan.

This thread is a really clear example of how the upper earners and those in power turn those below them against each other. Those in poverty shouldn't be pissed off with the middle earners, its the ones that earn the top 1% and the government that you should he looking at.
The "squeezed" middle is an issue and if they are squeezed too much, it just means more people fall in to poverty. Obviously those with the least money, suffer the most but that doesn't stop other people suffering as well.
We shouldn't hate people who are struggling but struggling differently from us, we should hate the society we are in that has led us all to suffer.

The squeezed middle aren’t on 50k! 50k is twice the average U.K. wage, there’s no middle there.

the squeezed middle are those that earn just too much to get any help, but end up slightly worse off than someone earning a bit less that does qualify for things like in work benefits.

Also can we please stop the myth that spreads here that students from less well off homes are 'better off' at university.

I disagree with you here.

DC are at university. As a household, we earn just over the amount that means they only get the minimum maintenance loan of £4289 (I think) each year. Accommodation for DS is £6500 for the year and that is comparatively cheap-so as parents, you are ‘expected’ to top it up by another £4000+, no matter how many other DC you have in childcare/at university etc.

DC friends whose parents are on lower income and qualify for the maximum loan, get £9000+ each year (even the ones who live with mum, but separated dad is a millionaire!). So

These days at uni, you have

1. the higher income families whose parents can easily pay for their accommodation outright and give them the £4200 plus more as pocket money.
2. the lower income families who get the higher £9000+ maintenance loan which pays for their accommodation and spending money.
3. the ones in the middle who only qualify for the £4200 but don’t have a spare £4/5000 per year per child to top this up and the children aren’t able to borrow any more.

I have never been what I would call "squeezed" But I can say that in reality I am no better off now in terms of lifestyle, since my DH has started a £40k a year job. I earn around £10k.

Take home pay and lifestyle is exactly the same as when we earned £18k between us, with three kids to support. Our top up benefits, taking into account all the add ons, were over £20k a year, and it wasn't taxed.

There is no golf or expensive car to downgrade. But the kids eat, they always have.

There’s a lot people who are technically middle earners but have high outgoings that can’t be changed such as childcare, rent/mortgage leaving them with very little cash to spare, if you live in a high cost area like London and pay for childcare a salary of £50,000 isn’t going to leave you with very much. Very low earners also receive benefits that increase their income, where as middle earners receive no help.

It really depends on where you live and what your outgoings are as to how much you’re going to be affected, not just your salary.

You’ll want their tax though right?