To be too uneducated for Mumsnet

[est1999]

When I'm on Mumsnet I feel so uneducated.

MN seems to be known for being a bit middle class or maybe that is now a dated assumption

I've made a few threads in the past under a different username and some of the words other Mumsnetters have used I admit I've had to Google the meaning of!

Everyone seems to have a degree or their children are in the process of getting one (if they're old enough)

Most women on here also seem to be very high earners. 50k+

And private schools are a norm for sure.

Maybe that's just my Mumsnet algorithm so to speak lol.

I used to earn between 26-28k per year in a basic admin job. No degree. No A-levels. Now I earn even less after having DC and going part time.

Anyone else feel the same as me at times?

Or on MN- ill becomes I’ll - you have to type it like 3 times and I can’t be arsed 🙄🫤🤬

If a high earner is someone who earns more than 50K, then there are office workers in that category who WFH and can probably fit in a few posts or two during the day. Senior people on 6 figures have more flexibility in their day than 9-5 and can work longer hours or not but they are not chained to their desks. So can mn during the day.

I do more daytime mnetting when WFH than when in the office, as I have too many people coming into my office to be able to read posts!

What's wrong with googling words you don't know? I do it all the time.

I wouldn't worry myself about it.

Most of the six figure salaries they refer to are including the pence, anyhow.

I have the opposite experience and feel like the majority of posters I encounter on here are on benefits of some sort and work very few, if any, hours a week.

I’m not British and not living in the UK and it stands out to me so much as I never realised so many in the UK depend on benefits.

Originally I felt that way then remembered most people make it up and I highly doubt the amount of mumnetters that protray that they are on 100k really exist because I'm sure they have better things to be doing.

Google the average earnings for the country. People can claim anything on the internet and I imagine there is a small degree of that here.

But also its a really useful place-for example if you asked a medical question on here, its great if you get responses from Doctors/Nurses (obviously only ever seek medical care from real life medical professionals, but its good just to hear a few opinions from people in the know).

I earn less than you (also part time after DC) and I also went to Private School…so posh school’s dont equal guaranteed high earnings as our outlook on life often changes😀 But I love having a job that fits easily around my kids, Husband’s work and wouldn’t change a thing.

I’ve been on here donkeys years. It constantly amazes me that so many people think completely differently to me, whilst I think I’m generally middle of the range and pretty sensible, broad minded and rational.

It has changed over the years though. I’m sure more people are just posting to be controversial. There does seem to be more outliers in their thinking. Maybe this is the class thing after penis beaker. Maybe more people just being goady. Either way I trust what I read less, nowadays.

I don’t count £50k as a very high earner. In my circle, £50k plus is a normal salary (after gaining some years of experience, not straight away) and having a degree is normal, but private school isn’t.

My perception (from Scotland) is that everyone lives in the south of England and thinks it’s cheap to live up north! 🤣

I am not a mum, have no kids and one o level to my name. I am a bank worker (I work for the same company all the time but as and when they want me)

So many people on here talk total bullshit about their salaries and degrees, perfect lives and judging others. They can jog on.
As soon as I read I'm on a £100k ayear and two perfect dc and a dh who rewards me for breathing, I just have to scroll by thinking this is probably bollocks. These people in rl are far and few between. I couldn't imagine many posting trival stuff on MN.
OP you are fine as you are and come across as honest in opening post.

Our biomedical scientists start on 21.5k

I agree with this but there are still super intelligent and knowledgeable posters who blow my mind away with the breadth and depth of their knowledge. They are a privilege to learn from. Yes, I google what posters say, not just individual words for meanings, but to research to get a greater understanding of the things being described.

For example, the Ukraine threads are hardly going to attract penis beaker enthusiasts but the sensible and well-informed up-to-the minute analysis of events of the war is hard to find outside of mn. So I thank all contributors who share their wealth of knowledge and experience. Mn would be a poorer place without them.

MN seems to be known for being a bit middle class or maybe that is now a dated assumption

It's obsessed with being middle class. That's not the same thing at all.

This reminds me of an unintentionally hilarious thread from not that long ago. OP had started making packed lunches for family days out instead of always going to restaurants. She was astounded to find that this saved money and wondered if anyone else had ever thought of it. To my surprise, most people actually gave serious responses, but then some wag responded with something along the lines of "oh, I could never ruin my day with soggy, crap home made sandwiches, but then again I am very wealthy and elite, so I understand that the great unwashed might not have any other option". OP was immediately stung into responding that the sandwiches in question were "delicious baguettes with Emmental and farm shop ham" and that someone in the family was a very high earner at a "cute law firm" in London.

I mean, take this kind of thing seriously if you want, but what a way to live!

Never believe everything you read on here (or the net).

If you did, you'd think nearly everyone was rich/successful/educated.

Many aren't - it's fantasy land. 🙄

Th en they are seriously underpaid for someone with a degree seeing as minimum wage is now £20k. I hope they have good career progression. For context, nurses and teachers start at £28k+.

My colleague’s son is an architect and was in the early 20k bracket and my mouth dropped when she was telling me. Massive student loan, all those years in Uni - I had presumed they started on 40-50k! He was working on huge multi million pound projects. I guess its only fair you prove yourself and put in the hard work, but shows how little we know about others earnings.

There are waaaay more 6-figure earners in the UK than some of you seem to think.

Step that down a level and there are 8.8 million people who earn over £50k per year, according to the ONS so I'm not sure why it's so unbelievable that there would be a lot of high earners on here.

Obviously any given person could well be posting utter bullshit about any or all aspects of their life but, given the stats on earning across the population, it stands to reason that there would be thousands upon thousands of high earners on MN even if it was completely class agnostic forum, which I don't I think it is, really.

Some people on here are obviously very intelligent, it shows less in the big words (which is generally just a sign a person reads a lot and enjoys words) and more in the wit, the self expression and the complex arguments made. (On the other hand there are those who couldn't grasp a point if it held out both its hands to them in non slip gloves mind) The literacy level seems high, but given its a place for written communication you'd expect it to attract those who enjoyed writing.
There are boards I'd avoid posting on because I'm out of my depth, either through lack of knowledge of the subject or because I think my contributions would be very basic and obvious to the great minds already on the case, but I Iike to lurk and learn.
I'm considerably poorer than most people purport to be and am working class. I also do lots of things that many on here consider beneath them.

I have a degree, a masters degree and a teaching qualification but I'm currently unemployed as I'm caring for my mother and I've never earned more than 25k ever 😅

Where do you earn 28k for a basic admin job??

I've thought the same OP!

I do have a degree but I was the first in my family and I definitely wasn't a high earner, I was bringing home 25K before I had my DD

@est1999 well I learnt 25k 8 years ago before having to quit to become a SAHP, DEF working class but I don't feel like that must make me uneducated. Education isn't about money. Plenty of free education available. Read more. Keep go ogling stuff you don't understand. Just don't stop being curious.

Mumsnet is FULL of people who seem to be unable to comprehend that other people might be completely different to them and have completely different lives.