To think there should be more help for middle class families

[RootinandTootin]

This isn't a hate mongering post, those on lower incomes and can't work should be helped. My issue is that there seems to be little to no support at all for middle class families. Myself and partner work 5 days a week and have 2 kids. Not a terrible wage so I can't complain about that but the energy cost, food bills and fuel are going to cripple us soon enough. We also have Christmas to think about and a couple of birthdays inbetween. I just feel so unbelievably stressed out all the time about it. I'm praying this all calms down by the end of next year when our mortgage is coming up to renewal. There is pretty much no help being offered to us (unless anyone has some hints). I can't see it getting any better and its pretty depressing, alongside other personal issues going on at the moment I just want to cry.

@mummybearcub2022 surely it depends on how much equity you have though?

This thread is nuts!

Race to the bottom op. There is always someone worse off so thats ok then.

I understand OP but I think it might help to reframe your thinking. You have loads to show for working 5 days a week: you are keeping your children fed, clothes, warm in a stable home, with access to a very pleasant lifestyle. That is huge.

Honestly, I think we have all become way too materialistic at Christmas and you can have a brilliant time on a budget. Ditch all the extra tat we're encouraged to 'need' (except stockings - they are fun and you can fill those with craft items from Wilkos, a few useful things and sweets from the pound store).

With birthdays -can you go for things they really want that aren't top price range? Do a traditional party at home.

Race to the bottom op. There is always someone worse off so thats ok then.

pretty much

What are we classing as a very pleasant lifestyle?

I wouldn't say being too worried to turn the heating on was particularly pleasant.

Stop voting Tory would be my suggestion!

The government ( past and future) are to blame because they have not planned the UK’s energy needs properly. We should have been investing in energy decades ago. We are an island surrounded by tides etc we now rely on a t tyrant to control the supply of gas to Europe

i am old enough to remember mortgage rates of 15 percent, rates of 5 percent are normal, mortgage holders have got used to super low rates which is not the norm, this has fuelled borrowing and house price inflation.

i am old enough to remember mortgage rates of 15 percent, rates of 5 percent are normal,

🙄 but house prices vs wages are not normal...

@toulet i totally agree , super low rates have a part to play in this and lenders giving bigger and bigger multiples of income.
When I got my first mortgage I had to go in person with wage slips and prove I could afford the repayments

Formerly privileged? If you have worked hard to get a decent salary, is that privileged? No. No it isn't.

True, but because house prices are so high, 5% on people's borrowing now is probably higher in comparison to their income than your 15% mortgage was.

We all know it's "normal" but saying that doesn't actually help anyone. Nobody expected this.

You do know you have to prove you can afford it now? And they literally check everything. It's far far more stringent now than it was even when I bought my first house 8 years ago!

yeah they changed the rules after 08

I agree. I see lots living like this. Fancy cars, expensive holidays etc, yet if they lived more frugally they could afford to save money if they are struggling.

& again many found mortgage payments cheaper then rents.

🙄 Middle class , the subject of this thread are privileged. Working hard doesn’t cancel out class privilege.

Yep, mine was. Much cheaper. Until about a week ago although I expect rents will follow.

You can access it. It’s how I fed my children. Well that selling all the furniture.

Wait, do you think people don’t have to prove they can afford the repayments now? Lending criteria has never been more stringent. Bank statements are gone through with a fine toothed comb. Mortgages are stress tested with higher interest rates to check for affordability.
However what no one expected was interest rates rising alongside gas and electricity costs more than doubling, extremely high inflation meaning food costs have risen, petrol costs going through the roof… all of those things combined, alongside wages staying stagnant or only rising by 1-2% mean that things that were affordable no longer are.

Yes, but NO ONE is in negative equity NOW. That is a scenario that has not (yet) come to pass TODAY. It did in 2008, but this is 2022. I am taking about NOW.

I don’t think the government should have to give benefits or handouts to people in work. It should be the employers responsibility. They benefit most from the work done, so should pay for it. The government should step in to make sure employers are paying enough though.

I think means tested childcare help would benefit a lot of families though.

So if I put my house up for sale today can I feed my children today? Tomorrow? Next week? Even next month? No. I can't. House sales don't happen over night. Stop being disingenuous.

No one? No one at all? Bold comment.

I am probably at the absolute bottom end of income to count as middle class and we are really struggling with the mortgage and utility increases. YABVVVU.

The state shouldn't be supporting those on middle incomes. State support should be targetted at the lowest earners- doubly so when times are so hard.

What the government should be doing is not fucking up the economy and ensuring wages rise to match inflation so that a middle income is a comfortable living. A decade of underinvestment, pissing away the large amounts that are spent, fuckign up Brexit and recent economic incompetence are the cause of the current mess.