Do you begrudge high earners?

[cheerscheerscheerstomeyeahcheers]

Do you actually understand what they do and why they earn so much?
Would you be actually willing to put in the time and effort yourself?

I see so much griping about people that earn a lot, but I also see a lot of ignorance about why they earn what they do.

Totally. I am working towards being one of those high earners, and am in a career where it's certainly possible with time and effort. I already significantly outearn my parents at their peak earnings, but in no way will I be working as hard as they both did. My dad did 12 hour night shifts in a factory for many years. That's tougher than anything I do sitting at a desk all day.

No I’m not. I’m talking about an unfair system - the more you earn, the more you can avoid paying your fair share.

I think unfair distribution of GDP and wealth is one of the biggest societal issues, not just in the UK but globally. That said, I don't think it's those earning a few times NMW are the issue. It's those earning 100s, 1000s, 10000s times NMW and those sitting on fortunes in the 100s of millions or billions that need addressed. Pitting low income earners against middle incomes is just classic divide and conquer in action. Talking of NMW, that's a disaster IMHO. It should be a baseline that is appropriate for only the most unskilled, inexperienced, low responsibility workers. Instead it has somehow managed to become pretty much the default for the majority of jobs that are not professional or highly skilled. It's removed the need for employers to use remuneration to compete with each other to attract and retain good employees.

You aren’t. You’re confusing wealth and earned income from a salary. There is no way to tax dodge with PAYE. They are the ones literally funding the country. Whilst the millionaires are not.

I guess for me it's people who are loaded but literally don't work. Like people with loads of property. I have a family member like that. He just sits on his arse profiteering off being a landlord. He thinks everyone else is a work shy dosser though?

Yeah mine was a miner - started down the pit at 14 but easily the cleverest man I met despite me working in Russell group Unis for two decades.

No, I don't begrudge them. High earners are not (usually anyway) responsible for other jobs being undercompensated. If nurses were suddenly paid £300k, people would make the same snide comments about them.

It’s possible to earn 100k as a PA without a degree if good at what you do. In London & big cities.

DH is not in the mega high earning category. However I earn about 20% of his salary. He absolutely does not work 5 times harder than me, but he does work hard.

I think he envies my ability to refuse any overtime unless it's paid.

I know.

I dont begrudge anyone that earns that kind of salary. My son does and I honestly would not want to carry the level of responsibility he does. I know the pressure his job brings and the sacrifices he made to achieve his career goal and I am so proud of him. And more to the point I love how him and some of his colleagues turn up to my house every friday for home made egg and chips with a loaf of bread and a pot of tea! They sit in my kitchen in my little house (which is so far removed from their lovely apartments) and they make themselves at home and comfortable and its all so natural exactly how it should be ,mind you I am always glad to see the back of them after an hour or so!!

Exactly this. Those on high salaries are keeping the NHS going, just as much as nurses, carers and doctors.

Dh mentioned this morning that he had a whopping great tax bill. He's happy to pay it but he can't understand the negativity toward high earners who are subsidising so many.

I consider myself a high earner but am not a higher earner by this def.

but the high earners I work with earn their money and do long demanding hours.

some of them are absolute toads 😅 but they are all talented in their respective areas.
i would 💯 not want their jobs / lives.

i also think that some of the hardest professions are horribly underpaid.
care work, medical fields, teaching to name a few.

I’m pleased construction salaries have increased in recent years as hard manual work takes it toll on a body and you aren’t going to be working until 70 as a bricklayer or similar.

i think salaries and resenting high earners is a red herring though. PAYE employees are keeping this country rolling… wealth and salaries are totally different and the wealth gap is a huge issue we can’t ignore much longer.

I don't begrudge high earners. I do begrudge when they act like they are not rich and privileged as a result.

I also resent the idea that they work harder then everyone else. That is massive over statement. I know a high earner. He's a barrister. He works hard. He has a skilled job sure absolutely. He doesn't work harder then everyone else, nurses for example work just as hard as him on significantly less money.. he was lucky that he has a natural knack for debate and to be frank for manipulating people and ifs served him well in his career. Nothing more.

No, unless they've exploited others to get to the position.

Not at all.

I do have an issue when high earners moan about low earners getting government help, or when they can't seem to understand that not everyone can be a high earner and it's often a lot more complicated than just "working hard."

So the high earner will have funded their access to the fire service. Many times over.

Nope, I'm not willing to put in the time and effort myself. There's more to life and beyond a certain level of security and comfort, wealth in itself doesn't seem to make people very happy.

Money was never a big issue for me. I always said job satisfaction was more important, I was nursing over 40 years. I did a few other jobs as well. The highest paid was in London surveyor in the building trade, this was in the 70s, lots of verbal sexual abuse (Claire Rayner agony aunt said ignore that and the bum slapping, don't let them see you react) I did, then one day, I was called into the drawing office, and 3 of them tried to get my clothes off. I managed with difficulty to get away, beating on the door, screaming at the 16 year old opposite on the phone, only other female in the place to call the police. She just sat there with her mouth open. I ran out, didn't even stop for my handbag. Started training a year later.

A lot of high earners get paid for the mental strain. I’ve been in an office where the CEO resigned and no one wanted to step into the job despite the high pay packet because they didn’t want the burden. You have to be willing to sit people down and fire them, you have to manage people who don’t deliver, get a project over the line while trying to deal with that one creative person on the team who promised the client a bunch of impossible shit.
Imagine that you’re responsible for delivering a 5mil dollar project, the time is tight, you’re already over budget and your head is on the chopping block. Look around at 30 of your colleagues and ask yourself if you could be genuinely be their manager and meet the delivery targets. Nine times out of ten it’s a miserable ruthless task.

No not necessarily - if they tax avoid which I reckon 99.9% of them do. As I said, on that amount of money you can afford an accountant to get you out of paying tax. Wake up.

Someone on 30k might work twice as hard as someone on 300k, be more intelligent but chosen an industry that pays less.

Some influencers earn over 300k and do not work hard. How hard someone works will vary immensely depending on what job and industry they're in.

I don't begrudge anyone for what they earn because we're all on different paths, but I think people who assume the higher the salary the harder the work are very naive.

Any data to back up this assertion?

No, but I don't believe a lot of the posters on those threads earn as much as they claim to. People on wages £125k + are a small percentage of the population. Interesting how so many of them have time to be on here in the middle of the working day!