Why won't any political party focus or help the squeezed middle

[Winterday1991]

Off the back of another thread, has got me thinking about the next general election.

Why is there not a party that will focus on the middle earners in the squeezed south east , where both partners work full time, who are struggling juggling mortgages, cost of childcare and self fund everything and are over threshold for any help or subsidies ie child benefit, cost of living payments, free childcare via universal credit?

We are a middle/highish income family and are just so sick of paying into the system and getting nothing back! The amount of tax we pay is insane, certainly not anywhere near value for money. Labour just seem to want to focus on single parent families and those on universal credit.

Any party who focuses on the middle will surely win the election?

Utter bollocks. You may earn 100k between you but you need to learn how to use a calculator.

Sometimes you have to live within your means. I live in a flat with my child, no garden, no parking space, because I'd struggle to afford anything bigger.

Tell that to the working parents in private rentals that don't even have their own bedroom because they can't afford it. They don''t have the option of downsizing to reduce outgoings.

That’s exactly how I feel. Every few years something happens that just makes things worse. It’s so frustrating how the cut offs for paying child benefit back and income tax haven’t changed in years despite inflation which makes things harder. I’m almost certain by the time we get to old age all benefits (free travel, prescriptions, winter fuel allowance) will be means tested and we won’t qualify. Our pensions are significantly worse already than those retiring now and I just feel it’s going to get worse.
I graduated from uni in 2008 and honestly everything just seems worse year on year. I thought by working hard, only having 2 kids, sensible planning etc was E would be comfortable by now but despite on paper earning well things just feel so tight.

Yes this. It's not the middle earners who are carrying the country.

Learn to live within your income. We have never, ever earned even half that and have managed perfectly well. And we live in the South East.

Same. There are 20-something drug dealers who drive round my area openly dealing in better cars than I’ll ever be able to afford.

So then if she's living within her means she isn't squeezed is she?

And if someone on 95k has absolutely nowhere to cut back on then they're absolutely stretched too far. If she was really squeezed she'd be looking at downsizing, kids sharing rooms, parents sleeping on a sofa bed in the living room, swapping to Aldi, cancelling subscriptions. As it stands the OP has a household income in the top 10% of the country and if she was so squeezed she'd cut back in whatever area necessary just as those genuinely squeezed are having to do and just as those on the breadline have been doing for years.

I’m a bit conflicted on this. We are definitely the squeezed middle in the SE and both pay over 1k in tax per month. We also get stung for tax on savings.

But, I’m realistic. We’re doing fine and we’re better off working than not.

Yes I get that, but often people do overstretch with mortgages to get the "dream house" and then end up struggling. I rent but I got the cheapest thing I could despite it not being ideal because I didn't want to end up living hand to mouth.

We are managing, but the point is, we should be doing a lot better considering we are top earners. We just do not get any help from the government but pay a fortune into the system. Why do people on UC get 85% of childcare paid for but we can't? Why can we not claim child benefit or get cost of living payments?

it is just so unfair and causes a lot of resentment. The economically inactive seem to have a lot less stressful lives than we do.

I am grateful for everything we have, we are lucky in lots of ways, but a bit more help or a break from the government would be much appreciated and get my vote.

No way. That isn't true. My dual income household (family of 4) earns around £60K. My single income next door neighbour (family of 3) earns 3 days a week minimum wage plus benefits. She is always stressed about money, really stressed. We're not massively into stuff, but I know her kids don't get as many 'experiences' as mine, she worries about how to afford things like swimming lessons, she has to use the food bank sometimes.

No way is a squeezed middle family having as tough a time as a family on benefits. Not a chance

Exactly. But you also see that effect lower down the income scale because as people's pay goes up, their real gain after reduction in tax credits is very little.

So the tax credits system provides a huge disincentive for people to better themselves or even to increase their working hours.

It became fashionable among the political thinkers to regard welfare as 'redistribution' rather than 'safety net'. Which is fine if that's what the majority want. But you have to accept everything that goes with it. In a complicated system you can't change just one thing without causing lots of unintended consequences. If you subsidise low wages and low output jobs then you end up with an economy dominated by those sectors.

In the south east, our income does not get you a dream house!

That isn't the OP's point though is it?

And no, two working parents shouldn't have to do those things but the reality is many are, but it's certainly not those on 95k a year so maybe OP should read the room and realise how fortunate they are. They are not the squeezed middle.

Jesus OP you don't know you're born! 2 parent, 2 kids household and our total including tax credit is 25k! I'm so sorry your diamond shoes are too tight!

The Tories win with the gray vote. They don't care about working people, they just need to get the votes of the old. The old only care about their pensions, inheritance tax and house values. There are enough people in their 30s and 40s who have benefitted from inheritances/ gifts (50% of first time buyers and rising) which has meant that their mortgages are lower even on family sized homes so the childcare costs, commuting costs and car costs are more affordable even on a middle income. So they are fine too.

And they are scooping up the remaining voters using culture wars like boats and transgender policy. Its a math thing, they don't need to be universally popular.

so please don't vote tory.

As for Labour, they just need to say that they are not the Tory party, and there are enough struggling people who would vote for them. Its a two party system. Lib Dems and Greens are nowhere near power so therefore in a way it doesn't matter what their manifesto is, they tend to win on local issues or if enough people vote for them as a protest vote against the two party system.

If you want more diversity of thought in parliament, you should help campaign for proportional representation.

it is just so unfair and causes a lot of resentment. The economically inactive seem to have a lot less stressful lives than we do.

That's quite an odd thing to say when it's the unemployed who have the worst mental health outcomes.

We are also in the 40% tax bracket!

I hate to say it, but unless you’re a (very) high income family, that won’t be the case. It’s the other way round. Statistics show that the top 10% of taxpayers basically subsidise everyone else; middle income earners are just subsidised less than those who are on low incomes. And - unpalatable though it is - if we want better public services, then those people need to pay more tax, not less…..

We're not very high income but we have worked our asses off for 50 years, and read the business and money pages assiduously since we were 40. And so, at 67, we are thinking that the UK is not the greatest place to live in retirement. There are places with much lower costs of living.

🙄here we go again....

I don't believe in the "squeezed middle" tbh, I think it's a bogus concept intended to allow the relatively comfortable but rapaciously aspirational middle class to claim oppressed status.

The people really being squeezed are the ones on or below the breadline, sitting in cold damp homes - or sofa-surfing, or homeless, with insufficient food, poor clothing and no access to opportunities to make their lives any better. They're generally of little interest to Tory governments unless it's as a source of penny dreadful-style hate-mongering to titillate their Daily Mail-reading followers.

This is so silly.

You know, really, that what you're saying is nonsense - the 'economically inactive' are in deep poverty with a predicted lifespan many years shorter and complex health/mental health problems.

A functioning state would benefit all of us. You know it is due to 13 years of Tory underinvestment and lack of progress we all feel poorer.

Stop turning on those struggling even more than you are and look at the facts.

We need a change of government. The Tories have done a shit job for all of us. My wages have been basically flat since 2010.

If you fall for the 'benefit scroungers' line yet again, you're a mug.