To detest the term 'squeezed middle'

[unicormb]

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.

I know.

And fuck the economy eh. The squeezed middle will cancel the cleaner, cut down on haircuts and eating out, take aways etc putting people in these industries at risk of losing their jobs.

YABU. You're right that the poorest will be the worst affected. But that doesn't mean that people with more resources have no right to feel worried.

Also the "squeezed middle" means something quite specific: its those people who are not wealthy enough that they are totally cushioned from economic hardship but who earn enough that they can't rely on any support from the state. And its a big category, ranging from upper middle class people at the top end to tradespeople and those on much lower incomes. I would put myself in this category: I earn enough that I don't get any benefits or financial support, and I'm grateful for that, but I'm also a single mother and have to work extremely hard and because of the constraints on my time its much harder to focus on making the kinds of economies which other people with more time on their hands can make to shore up their finances.

I realise that I am comparatively lucky, but my situation brings particular challenges which are not acknowledged in general and without compensatory support from the state. This isn't a "woe is me" thing and I have enough tact not to moan about my financial situation to people worse off than me but it doesn't mean I don't have a right to express anxiety and concern.

It isn't only people on the breadline who are affected by the cost of living crisis. There are thousands of families who will struggle to pay fuel bills and mortgages but don't have a hope of getting any government support. It's perfectly legitimate for this to be pointed out.

I'm a single parent teacher on £30+K. I receive top up UC. But 3 kids school age and under living in london means £1.5K a month on childcare, and £1.2K a month for my 2 bed flat (private rented - council house waiting lists are 10 years+).

I have threadworms. There is £2.76 in my bank until I get paid next week. Don't get me wrong - we have a roof over our heads and food in our fridge, but still, this feels like poverty. Not being able to afford to go and buy the threadworm tablets and just feeling them wriggling around me at night is humiliating and degrading and this feels like poverty, regardless of how much money I take home. I'm putting my head in the sand about the price rises to come, because I can't cut my budget back any further than it already is. It will definitely be a choice between eating and heating come the winter.

Well explained. I have a friend who works 16 hours a week on minimum wage. Her net pay is £2k per month as she is heavily subsidised by benefits. This is the same net pay as someone who earns 30k per annum. Except the person earning 30k is paying into the system and receiving very little back.

Maybe a better term is ‘just about managing’, remember that little sound bite? The torys were going to do so much to help them once weren’t they? It’s a very real demographic and if they were just about managing then they will certainly not be this winter. Lots of people fall into this category and they are professionals who many would consider fairly well paid.

Thanks for the myth busting comment. It goes against the standard mumsnet narrative though.

Thanks for this. There are a lot of myths on mumsnet about how low benefits are. Benefits are low if you are childless but quite generous to those who have children.

50k to me is high earning !

I work for a charity and the squeezed middle are the people who earn just too much to receive any help, but not enough to live on. £20-30k.

It’s not a competition, OP. The squeezed middle is absolutely a thing especially when parents are paying childcare costs that are on par with their rent or mortgage. In London and the south east housing costs are very high and 50k can quickly disappear on housing, utilities, childcare, travel to work and food leaving very little spare for emergencies or savings. It doesn’t take much for these families to end up in debt or financial insecurity.

To put that in perspective, excluding the children's DLA, that's the same net monthly income as someone earning 40k a year.

This is why the current govt plan re energy isn't working

I earn 35k and will need some help as well.

They need to offer help on a graduated basis up to about 40k. A household income of 50k doesn't need any help.

The squeezed middle will cancel the cleaner, cut down on haircuts and eating out, take aways etc putting people in these industries at risk of losing their jobs

^ This 100% Our lical economy needs The Middle to function. The government needs The Middle to pay their taxes through economic activities.

OP might hate the term Squeezed Middle, but if you squeeze to hard, it will go pop and flow into the low to no income brackets.

And if too many people move down a bracket or two, then we are committing ĺmass financial suicide all round!

Totally agree I am also a single parent and I don't think people realise how tricky just having one income is

Seriously you think a teacher, a trained, educated individual should be grateful to earn a fraction over a bin man’s salary?! Is this where daily mail culture has got us?!

It's a self entitled mindset. Some posters can't grasp that someone who has gone to Uni, passed a professional qualification and works full time should earn more than someone working part time in a low skilled role, with no qualifications other than a handful of GCSEs.

the Worst off are probably those people who own homes and have a ft low earner and a part time Warner and don’t qualify for benefits bar tax free childcare and cb

sil for example gets enough for all her rent paid direct and an extra in uc 450 after her means tested deductions for working, doesn’t pay council tax, gets 85 a month CB a free nursery place, and then she takes home about 680 pcm so she’s got 1130 after rent and council tax
i
wheras BIL and his wife both earn 1200 each pcm pay 725 on their mortgage 85 quid on ground rent because they live in a coach house cos it was all they could afford and 730 quid on childcare to go to work and 180 on council tax

they’re crippled in comparison With only 680 for all food utilities the cost of running and insuring 2 cars because we live in Devon the petrol because they had to buy in a cheaper outside area

arent They the squeezed middle? People working their bums off and not making ends meet when those on either side are managing!

It does make me cross that I am getting the same help as someone driving around a super expensive car living in a huge house and privately educating their children. !

But they will in the south. They will be paying 40% tax and begin losing CB. It’s that awkward threshold where actually, they aren’t that much better off. As long as they pay enough tax for your help though?

I live just outside London. I'm in the south?

Squeezed middle isn't about swapping an Audi for a ford at all, it's having to decide if you can send your dc to after school activities or not, when those on low incomes get them free etc

My relatives DC did 6 out of school activities because they were all free, she got free school meals.

I don't begrudge her getting them she was in an awful place. And people who need benefits need helping. I wouldn't want to have to try and survive on what UC gives you.

I'm very lucky, what I excel at is quite a valuable skillset at the moment.

What I do object to is that 50k on a single income family ,(because you both can't work as your dc have special needs). Gets you so much less than if 2 of you work on 20k. And if you claim carers, oooh that's a whopping 55 a week !

If you can have people together for benefit claiming. Then you can put them together for proper shared tax relief, not the crappy £364 to £941.50 a year.

I object to people thinking because we earn over 50 k we must be rolling in it, no we are not. It's too much for benefits (rightly) but not enough to be frivolous.

The limit is too low, the fat cats are getting fatter, they're avoiding tax because they have the money to do so. And people are being riled by the likes of the DM

I don't receive any benefits or support at all. I am one income. I will survive this winter by cutting back on food (as in less) and not having the heating on. I don't consider myself poor . I agree most support should go to those already receiving help. But I don't believe any support (including CB) should be going to people earning a lot and buying a lot of luxuries - around here the cars I see are very expensive!

Why do you need help but assume someone on £50k doesn’t? What are you wasting your money on that you can’t get by on so much?

Why should the person on £50k subsidise you and your family if they are working longer hours than you, or have just made better decisions?

As I said there are so many personal circumstances that make things like this meaningless because a family could be unemployed but have all their rent paid, council tax, need no child care and make ends meet. The most frightening thing is losing your home, this couple are not at risk of that their rent is paid

But a person who earns more, just over the threshold, no help with their rent or even worse to pay the mortgage, their child care and housing costs are putting them into debt more and more every month, they risk losing their home.

If I was earning 50k I'd be fine. I live in an expensive area (not an expensive house -
I moved out of London to be able to buy). An extra £15k a year would be fine .

Also a single parent - who receives no child support from my ex husband. I have been paying for childcare to enable me to work and pay the mortgage since day 1.

I'm luckier than many as I have a mortgage, acquired in richer times ( I would not pass the affordability tests now particularly with may childcare bill) - but as I earn £30,000 a year I don't qualify for any benefits at all.

I don't have the option of asking a partner to do unpaid childcare/ get a job that is a second income.

I've been asked by many ignorant people why I don't just stop working and apply for a free council house!

Hang on, you have a god, don’t you, one that you’ve not had long?

Why do you get to have a completely unnecessary luxury and still get help but think that it’s wrong that others do?