DH and I going part time to deliberately reduce wages

Presumably you currently both work full time? So surely you both dropping the equivalent of 1.5 days is not dissimilar to having one full time and one part time parent? Which isn't that unusual, and much more equitable that you can both do it. I think it's a much better system than just one parent going part time, as it makes the relationship much more equitable.

Erm, because council housing is an ethical housing system whereby the rent those good earners pay goes back into the community and the treasury, rather than paying private landlords.
People choose to live in council housing because it's an ethical way to live, contributing to society and local communities.

No judgement here.

You have to do what works best for you and your family. Simple as that in my book.

I have no problem with people making the best decisions for their family. I also don't mind if there are subsidies for parents who remain at home full or part time. I say this a higher tax payer with 2 DC who would not want to be a stay at home mum myself, as I recognise it takes all sorts of family set ups.

However OP, you really need to check the tone of your posts. They are comming across as far too boastful and gleeful. Which is why you are getting some stick. I also take issue with you saying the government must be losing money. To my knowledge the government doesn't have their own money to lose, hence their policy decisons. The money you are referring to comes from taxpayers and in theory should be used to support tax payers.

It’s difficult to see how dropping 2/5 of your income will make you better off, even with the free childcare and paying less tax. I’m also confused why you’d need 30 hours childcare with 2 parents on a 3 day week? I don’t know how it works now but previously the free hours were only in term time and the nursery then charged a higher rate for extra hours/ lunches etc so it was never really as simple as getting them ‘free’. Or do you mean you want to prioritise having more time with your child before they go to school and reduce their nursery hours?

What's right with it, rather. The point of universal benefits is that we're a society and we support one another. Ideally a citizen's income would mean we could all make such choices to have a better quality of life.

I'm on the fence with your post personally.

I'm reading between the lines that you both earn over 100k and by dropping hours, youll be eligible for free childcare hours. Whilst I can see why you're making the decision you are, you're absolutely not in the squeezed middle.

I'm sorry if I've misunderstood your circumstances but no matter where you live, a joint income of up to £200k is not the squeezed middle.

I wish you and your family all the best but perhaps keep an open mind for families who are truly on the threshold of the squeezed middle.

People need to be careful- my friends were buzzing about ‘completely free’ childcare but ours only went down from £1000 to £660 per month even with 30 free hours when evened out across the 12 months after all the extra expenses they add. It won’t be £0 cost for childcare!

Sorry meant to say taxes should be used as a social good.

Huge numbers of people in this situation OP. The Government have been told, it's why productivity is so low.

amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/13/full-time-part-time-work-no-longer-pays-uk-economy

No action from them to remove the bottlenecks in the tax system at £50k and £100k. In fact the recent budget made it worse and if you have children the tax rate at £100k salary is now over 100%. Of course it's better to go part time in that situation! And Labour have no plans to address it, either.

A "dog's breakfast" of a system as the IFS and FT and others have described it. So yeah, like everyone else who has worked out the figures, it makes total sense to cut your hours and spend more time with your children. Instead of working more for pretty much zero extra net pay, or none at all.

Pretty stupid for the Government to continue making it like this though, if they actually want tax revenues to fund benefits and services for those on lower salaries! But there you go.

I totally agree with you.

You’ll be flamed on here though - it’s virtually a crime to be a high earner on mumsnet (and in the UK) despite the fact high earners massively contribute to taxes.

I see that OP is only responding to the "You go gurrrl!!" replies

"It's the system wot's making me do it!"

If someone from the lower class plays the system to get extra benefits, they get called the scum of the earth. They get called scroungers and are spat on. But let's face it, THEY are the people that need help.

When it comes to people that CAN afford nice things and CAN afford to pay for childcare but then play the system in order to get something for nothing, that's ok?

That's why this country is fucking shit.

Nonsense. The state welfare system should be a safety net for those who cannot support themselves. Not a slush fund for people who choose not to.

When did self-reliance and having a work ethic become so passé?

Hahaa the people in this situation are mostly the ones who've been paying all the tax to fund everyone else! When faced with effective tax rates of 65% at £50k, and sometimes 100% or more at £100k, you can't really expect them to keep working full time out of the goodness of their hearts and donating their entire additional earnings to the state. If you want more tax revenue then campaign to fix the tax system so that it's worthwhile for people to work more.

It might be because they're around the 100k bottleneck? You lose the personal allowance and the 30 free hours there. There are quite a few bottlenecks in the UK system, right across the income spectrum, and people do respond to them.

You are assuming it won't be changed if unexpectedly the Tories win the next general election, or postponed.

High earners can of course access the same social safety nets as anyone else should they need to. Need being defined as you are unable to provide for yourself.

Being a high earner and getting arsey about ‘getting nothing back’ is bewildering, since when has tax been an ISA? You get a functioning (supposedly more equal) society that isn’t coughing up their TB in shop doorways, can read and military defence in return for your taxes whilst living a comfortable lifestyle as well.

it’s not exactly a terrible deal.

It's not a crime to be a high earner; I applaud people who work hard.

What I don't applaud is people that play the system. It's not like OP 'needs' free childcare. In fact, if they reduce their hours then they can look after their own children. Simple. No free childcare needed.

👏

Jealous!
My job doesnt exist / work as less than FT.
Woupd.love to drop to 3 days it would.put me just under 100k after pension contributions.

As it is i am aiming for reduced mat leave salary plus pension over contribution to try and access it

Lucky you. Wish I had that opportunity.

Loads of families have been in this type of situation for years. I dropped down from FT to 30hrs over a 4 day week, after I had DD1, we were better off then due to the lack of extra childcare needed and the way the benefits system.

After having DC2, due to childcare costs I have changed jobs and now only work 3-4 days a week (it varies, and some of the extra day is often done across evenings) across a few different jobs. My old job 4 days a week the wages were significantly less than our childcare costs would have been! DH has also just dropped a day to go down to 30hrs over 4 days as both of our net pay on the final day was essentially equivalent to the cost of our childcare. So made no sense for both of us to be at work and lose an entire income to nursery. And as I already worked PT he dropped to PT too rather than me dropping even further.

Yet they should be similar. My childminder told us yesterday she’s got a permanent job and has given us notice! It’s no coincidence on account of the fact the majority of her clientele access the 30 hour funding and she gets very little from it for them (I read this morning it £4 per hour per child which is £8 less per day per child than she would get from us normally which makes it a big loss when added up)

I genuinely need to work full time and so does my fiancé, neither of us have a choice! I don’t think it’s right that people work out ways to take advantage of the system to ensure it works out in their favour!!

This.