How are people surviving

[Truthseeker456]

I don't get it. One income and I am on a what was a good wage 53,000. My mortgage is likely to double next year I have nursery fees and 3000 take home and always in my overdraft. How are people surviving, we don't hear anything in the media. Rents are also though the roof

Absolutely. Someone was saying they only have £800 to live off after rent is paid and OP shouldn't be complaining with her 50k+ salary. But OP likely has less than that left once you take off mortgage and childcare costs

Not "this". Take home pay for £50k would barely cover our mortgage and childcare bills let alone anything else. Everyone's outgoings are not the same

Exactly, at the moment my earnings are tiny, my outgoings are also tiny so it levels itself out.

How come you get so little? I'm confused by our benefits system, some families are doing by ok and some are not. What factors affect how much you receive? I'm
Curious and trying to learn.

You're single income, mortgaged with childcare costs. You're pretty much guaranteed to struggle as you've got all guns firing at you.

Those of us not struggling either have no kids/no childcare, own homes outright, have two incomes or are higher earners (possibly all four). So Ofc it's easier.

You'd have to juggle some numbers about on here:

https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/

There is no no help if you have a mortgage and lose your job. No housing benefit.

There is Support for Mortgage Interest. But that is a loan charged against your house. You have to wait 9? Months to qualify and its a small amount. My friend recieved £120 for a £800 mortgage.

You're stuffed if you have a mortgage and can't work.

I do think the way of salaries been given as gross but benefits as net needs to change.
Salaries around 40/50,000 sound a lot but once tax, ni, student loans, pension gone out take home can be low plus all associated costs of working childcare, wrap around/holiday care, clothes, commute.
It’s a huge issue with recruiting and retention in jobs at this level especially jobs often done by females as it just doesn’t pay enough to be viable.

This

it really isnt a lot - it probably does sound a lot to people on benefits but there’s so much that eats into it, if I was on my own with this kind of income and two kids and rented, I would prob be better off taking a very low paid/school hours job and receiving benefits. It’s not just the actual amount received it’s the additional help like school meals help with childcare etc, it soon adds up

This! It’s embarrassing. If I was a high earner and was really struggling I would be too embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t been financially savvy or responsible with my money. You bought your massive houses with your massive mortgages and now you have to lie in your massive beds. No sympathy here I’m
afraid.

I just played around with that - and in my area for two non-working parents with two kids they would get a total of £2700 a month (UC, child benefit, 2xJSA).

That is the same as a salary of £45k

Exactly the point I was trying to make, 53k seems a lot but it really isn't. A single mum not working with 2 kids likely has a similar income after essentials to the single working mum on 53k, but she just sees the 53k and wonders how someone on "so much" could be facing hardship. It really isn't much money after tax etc, then you have so many outgoings including childcare to allow you to work in the first place, not much is left.

Can you house share?
Many single parents are having the same issue and a househould gnerally needs 2 incomes now so sharing with another single parent makes a lot of sense.

Also may reduce childcare costs depending on shifts

In a sense it is the number of single people that want a house each that contribute to the low housing supply and therefore high cost.

There isn’t enough cheap housing for everyone to move to cheaper houses so it’s not really that simple is it.

The biggest variable is childcare and when that is getting close to £80 a day that really is very significant. If someone is paying pension/student loan they’d need at least £30k to clear nursery per day.

id be interested to know if the people on £35k joint income criticising the higher earners are paying nursery fees at full cost. There are lots of posts that have illustrated how people are being squeezed at higher incomes than you’d expect and predominately they are people with high childcare bills.

But people presume, like you said there, government support for low wages
What support? If you're single and have a mortgage and are on min wage then there is no government support

I guess if I had children there might be but I've never been able to afford them so not sure what

I’m thinking about jobs like social worker (so many vacancies on my local council website) start at £32,000. Often done by women who trained later so carrying full student loan deductions. Need a car. Need wrap around childcare/holiday care. Stressful/long hours so associated costs with that to survive like cleaner or more convenience food, online shop not Lidl.
£32,000 sounds a lot if you are on benefits but actually in reality I suspect disposable is far less than the clients on benefits they are helping.
Lots of similar jobs in that bracket - nursing, teaching etc.

Ah these posts never go well op.
Fwiw we have a joint income of 35k in my household.

So little?

£800 AFTER her rent is paid…. How is that ‘little’.

@Dixiechickonhols This. A lot of mortgages are paid off across all age groups. Of those that do have mortgages, some will be very small, close to the end of their term, or they have big mortgages on low rates, offset by savings on higher rates, meaning the mortgage could be paid off at any time, but it's beneficial not to. You have another % of mortgage holders hit by higher rates but with the slack to manage ok. You're right in that these people nod along but don't start threads entitled "Im not struggling with my mortgage, anyone else?" or comment. The % of people going under water with higher mortgage rates is relatively small, and is by no means everyone, but it appears larger as these people naturally discuss it.

This is a separate subject, and cold comfort I realise to those that struggling.

But that's the point of the OP's post - she feels presumably that she shouldn't be struggling, but she is. Lots of people on middle incomes feel like that and she's by no means alone. And plus she probably doesn't get her income topped up with benefits (and I'm not benefit bashing at all) and presumably isn't entitled to child benefit either.

It isn't a race to the bottom. It's not like she's moaning about affording school fees or how to pay her gardener. Her struggle is just as valid as yours.

I use savings to help. Thankfully I have some that I put away when things were better and saved a lot when Covid lockdowns were on. I am dipping into them to the tune of £200 a month currently so not great.

Do you have to pay for full time childcare with no government help (other than tax free childcare)?

@Cherrytree77 I can see immediately from your budget you can free up at least £200 pm.

Our energy bill for a 2 bed flat in London is £109 pm and we are always in credit - you should be more than able to cut it down to £150 pm

£70 pm for 2 phones is crazy - buy a reconditioned smartphone outright and go SIM only. I have a 4 year old Samsung and pay £12 a month to Three for a SIM only deal.

Our childcare in SE is £96 a day and will probably rise in September by 10%

The cost of childcare halves the average household income. Either one parent has to give up work, or the cost of one person's salary is wiped out by childcare costs.