To , just once ,ask is anyone else fed up of being the squeezed middle?

[Wildandallthatjazz]

Thats it really. !

Yes , on mn , its seen as a privilege to have a mortgage, a job etc .

But sometimes it feels hard and you just wish that you got a break . Recognition of the hard slog maybe .

I am not begrudging those on benefits who got the extra payment support, its more about just wanting to have a treat / a bonus/ etc .. a spare bit of money.. a boost .. the heating on … or maybe recognition that the middle can struggle too ?

I totally accept that people can struggle and need help , sort of also feel the struggling middle are invisible ? ( and not seen to have the’ right ‘to have a little moan as it does you good sometimes )

I do think we are incredibly lucky to live in a county with a welfare state, nhs, free gp care I really do .
But sometimes, it just would be nice not to feel you are paying taxes , working as much as possible, and to be able not to feel squeezed all the time and the need to just have a grump about it .

sometimes it is good to let of steam .. when you cant IRL

and then you move on in a more positive fashion .

But how can there be when 75% of pensioners have no mortgage? How can there be a ‘huge’ number of pensioners on the breadline? And compared to whom?

But how can there be when 75% of pensioners have no mortgage?

Owning a house doesn’t make you rich. You need actual money to pay your council tax, bills and buy food. You can’t eat a house. I’m astonished that you need to have this explained to you.

I always thought the 'squeezed middle' referred to those with responsibilities for both young people/children and elderly parents/relatives at the same time not an economic class.

Yes it is an absurdity that many are wealthy enough to 'retire' in their 50s now, but this is only a recent thing and isn't what most people can do, we're now expected to still crack on we're at least 67, I'm only 60 now and know I can't keep up with the pace now, let alone relentlessly until I'm 67.

Unfortunately my caring responsibilities, including two tranches of parental care
and the ongoing responsibility of caring for disabled ds has left my working life in tatters, I get what I can. State Pension fully qualified but not old enough to claim it

So with both parents dead I suppose I'm now squeezed into the bottom - just today I had to make a claim for UC as the work has dried up.

If you’re the squeezed middle and you voted Conservative, what on earth did you expect?? They never target their fellow millionaire pals or their billionaire donors and after every lengthy stint they’ve had in power, they’ve always left the country, working class and middle class - considerably poorer. It’s what they do.

@Blossomtoes You’re right. It only puts us in a situation day to day similar to someone whose rent is covered by benefits. Yes its an asset, but if we sold it, it wouldn’t raise enough to buy private retirement housing, and we’d be at the end of the queue for social rented retirement housing. No doubt it will be sold for care fees if DH or I live long enough.

@Cuppasoupmonster We couldn’t live at a reasonable level on one wage for most of our lives, so I pretty much always worked. Our DC started their working lives in the 90s. Lived in shared accommodation whilst they built their careers. They have far better incomes and lifestyle than we had.

I’m astonished that you think having 350k sat underneath you means you can be ‘poor’.

It’s not £350k, it’s a home. You’re just taking the piss now.

But working people don’t have the luxury of seeing their house like that. If I lost my job and could no longer pay the mortgage the bank would repossess me, they wouldn’t care tuppence that it’s mine and my kids home. Why are pensioner’s homes so sacred? Why shouldn’t they be sold or downsized to free up cash?

£350k for a home is zilch in some areas as many here already know. Where I live it would be worth a bit over the norm, so not quite so zilch.

But then it's all relative, my own home, which I still pay a mortgage for, might be worth less than half that but there is nowhere cheaper I can move to and still be able to care for my adult son. The best I can do is to keep chipping away at the Mortgage and carry on.

You know what @Cuppasoupmonster, you’d love it if everyone over 60 had their house confiscated and workhouses were reopened. You’re obsessed. Envy is a very ugly trait.

If they end up in debt creditors can force sale as well

Do you think the very wealthy should pay more tax?

@Cuppasoupmonster , could you please define "wealth"?

By which I mean, what looks like wealthy to you right now?

Our UC will end as I have a new job (not 0 hours any more) and my salary has just increased to £22,000, my husband is on 0 hours due to surgery/recovery. We have dependent children, have never owned a car, live on the cheap, have lost our home and if it ever sells, face at least £100,000 negative equity costs. Have had major bereavements, life-changing illnesses and endless worries. But we rent somewhere decent, and I will no doubt need to take on a second job for energy costs and to support children going to University as their loan will be nowhere near enough to live on, even if only used for term-time costs.
We have always worked, I am very, very tired now, and after 22 years as a social worker and care work ever since, I have no hesitation in agreeing that healthy adults should have to work, and should not be paid to stay at home indefinitely. The benefits system should be overhauled, and those deemed capable of work should lose their entitlement if they turn down/DNA 3 job interviews.
If I chose to, I could have easily have stayed at home, worked part-time , continued to claim UC and filled in my journal with fictional job searches/enquiries, and been financially much better off.
Something has to change.

.. and of course I'm not including carers and mothers of pre-school children in the should have to work category.

I want to see benefit amounts quoted as what equivalent someone would have to earn before tax and NI. I want to see the value of ‘freebies’ included too.

It’s horrible! We are middle class and get nothing even when it’s needed sometimes!

I heard someone on the radio talking about inflation, apparently a 23k salary in 2000 is equivalent to 40k today & loads of jobs that paid 23k in 2000 haven't seen wage growth like that.

I've paid into the system for 45 + years and now get a pension. I'm pleased to have it. Yabbadabbadu. Plus, I have always saved money since I went self-employed for retirement income. Mostly a little each year and rarely a decent chunk. And I am suddenly "wealthy"? Because I have made provision for the years after working?

And I am suddenly "wealthy"? Because I have made provision for the years after working?

I think the issue is people starting out today won't have anything left over to make provision. The economy is fucked.

Well that’s the million dollar (no pun intended) question isn’t it? Working people today are being taxed to support those on benefits, taxed to support pensioners, taxed to support everyone apart from themselves. Many of them won’t have the opportunity to ‘make provision for the years after working’ yet they’re expected to be happy with their funds going to you?

Many of them won’t have the opportunity to ‘make provision for the years after working’

So none of them are making (tax free) pension contributions or paying NI? You’ve got a mortgage, isn’t that making provision?

Many of us won’t be paying our mortgages off @Blossomtoes nor will we have any money to put into savings. Just how generous do you think the state pension will be in a further 30 years?

@Blossomtoes who are you talking too? Yes I have a mortgage but I'm not young & couldn't afford it today. What's your point?

So none of them are making (tax free) pension contributions or paying NI?

I work with young people, some are opting out of pension schemes because housing costs are too high.

I wouldn't call paying NI making provision, I can't see the state pension existing in 30 years. The age will just keep moving out.