To reduce hours when labour win election

[Parttimeplay]

I fall into the “60%” tax bracket. With the upcoming elections and knowing the government always hammer the middle ground….woudlnt it make more sense for me to cut my hours for a more relaxed life, eligibility for childcare, reduced tax?

You are totally out of touch OP, and that shows from a lot of your posts.

Where I live 35k is a decent salary and it's not so easy to hold onto a career (whether it's a convincing career to you or not) when you take a few years out to bring up your children. If it was such an easy decision to make, as you appear to think it is, do you think the majority of working parents would choose a to go back to work?

If your issue is whether you may have to pay a bit more tax and wondering if you can send your children to private school or not then I think you're doing much better position than the majority of the UK.

Yes that’s my point about the layered effect of these policies, but that doesn’t mean it’s better to give all higher earners double the tax relief compared to lower earners. Good thing is that by doing it they’ll raise a huge amount of money, so there will be some available to offset any cliff edges like this.

Personally i think the easiest way would be to reinstate the personal allowance and cut the tax relief on pension contributions.

Personally I think many of the issues we are facing transcend party politics. I think it’s going to continue to be tough no matter who gets in because I don’t think there are any quick fixes anywhere. More a choose your hard situation.

OP, what’s coming across from your posts is a general dissatisfaction with the gap between what you’ve achieved in your working life and the lifestyle that enables you to achieve. It’s a common complaint, especially for people in London ( where I also live) where you can earn a six figure salary and so be “rich” but only just able to afford housing and a lifestyle that 30 years ago would have seemed average at best. (I can remember one of my colleagues putting it this- “if you asked the average person where someone earning £120k lives, they wouldn’t think of a mouldy one bed flat in Mile End”.) I think these days the starting salary for the sort of lifestyle that feels well off in London is probably more like £300-400k).

I don’t often say this but in your shoes I’d move out of London. Find somewhere commutable and more affordable, near a good state school.

I don’t think your grumble is with the Labour Party. It’s a general decline in the country’s wealth which is probably more to do with the Conservatives (especially Brexit and their failure to develop a modern industrial policy) but is ultimately the result of global economics not national party politics, plus the way that salaries in certain sectors have moved ahead of the rest, largely where competition for jobs tends to be international rather than national.

Sounds like you want to do it anyway and given that labour haven’t even put out a manifesto yet just own your choice and do it anyway. You don’t need the reason of anything else other than you want to.

Why don't you move out of London @Parttimeplay ? You could have a lovely detached house, cleaner air, access to the coast and countryside.

There is no point earning £100k if it means you have to live in a small house in a built up area. You can earn £50k elsewhere and have a better quality of life.

I don’t buy into the argument that higher earners get preferential tax relief. The reason they get more is because they pay more in the first place.

Its like claiming a higher earner benefits more by working less because that avoids more tax than a lower earner who may work less.

That’s not how tax works. Anywhere.

If it were, then they’d have the same personal allowance as everyone else (which would still be a smaller share of there overall salary).

@MidnightPatrol you choose to live in London. You pay for the advantages that bestows. They include much better employment opportunities for you and your family and on the whole much higher wages that cannot be bettered anywhere else.
Move north and yes things can be cheaper like houses and private education but without doubt you will earn far less money. Just imagine how folk on an average wage in London and SE are managing for whom private education is an unachievable dream. And let’s be honest some of the state schools in London are amazing, you don’t always need to pay for private….

It's happened under the tories because they've had 14 years to change the tax bracket and haven't.

It's scraping the barrel to blame Labour for something the tories haven't done.

Yes Labour seem to be rather coy on what they actually will do. Whenever they are asked they divert to what the Tories shouldn't have done.

OP - I get your point but almost all of these crazy cliff-edge policies that disincentivise work have been brought in by the Tories. So the removal of child benefit, stagnating personal allowances, nursery help capped at 100k.

The Tories have massively increased taxes on workers while having low taxes for those relying on capital (hi Rishi) , pension increases much faster than inflation to reward their elderly voting base. All paid for by those in work.

and the Tories chose to trash the economy by voting for hard Brexit to keep themselves in power, even though they knew the damage it would do.

Why, just why do they deserve another 5 years?

I hear you OP. It's interesting how many posters are completely missing your point.

We currently have a situation where a few are supporting the many. There are only so many ways a government can get more money. Labour will not want to reduce benefits and their history is to increase the size of the state. Middle earners are going to be hit, the very people this country needs, the very people who don't feel they are having the life they thought given their qualifications and experience.

Globally the gap between the 'middle classes' and 'working classes (including those on benefits) has narrowed. The net result is people like you who are sick of feeling like a cash cow. These people will exercise the control they have by reducing hours or giving up altogether for a different lifestyle. This is bad news all round.

I'm left wondering where people think Labour are going to get the money from to improve things. I can't imagine they will introduce wide spread reform but I might be surprised. I don't trust them one bit and I suspect many people and businesses have been/are thinking how they are to protect themselves.

You're earning over £100k and you think you'd be better off on UC?

Go for it. The workforce does not need that level of stupidity within it.

Both points are true.

Tories have screwed the economy and squeezed workers.

Labour have no clear policies, look like populism is a key objective, and are unlikely to have the political will or economic nouse to correct many of these problems.

God we are screwed.

Attacking private pensions is inevitable. Anyone nearing retirement should be afraid, very afraid. Labour will expect to continue funding its policies by squeezing the “higher earners.” The only problem is that that pot has long been dry and many people who are in the 40% tax bracket really aren’t wealthy; we too are struggling to make ends meet. There is no more
blood to give 🥹

Oh dear.im so sorry.i have to leave London because I can't afford to live here.you are entitled.you have done well but it isn't a level playing field.pay your taxes and accept to be asked for more.

This post is a perfect example of the challenges facing this country - in more ways than one.

You're not a middle earner at over £100k.

That is the top 5%.

pay your taxes and accept to be asked for more.

That's the point, people don't need to accept it - they'll just cut their hours

If you’re in such a high tax bracket, you’re not ‘middle ground’. Why do very high earners always complain about being poor? Cut back your hours if you want-or not-but your complaints are hardly the fault of a government which hasn’t happened yet.

Life for most people is weighing up how much to work and balancing that with wellbeing. It sounds like you'd be happier working less, so go for it? Being a high-ish earner these days doesn't guarantee a nice life, so if the extra earnings aren't worth the extra work for you, don't bother.

Not sure about blaming Labour, though 😅 It's been a long time since they've had any influence.

Ok, so to be clear. You are happy to work full time under a Tory government, but if Labour come in you plan to stick your hand out to claim benefits instead. Oh dear.

Your problem is fiscal drag not (imaginary) future tax increases. The tax bands have not be raised for years, years by the way when Tories were in charge.

As for VAT on private education, I would consider state schooling. There are a lot of very good state schools in London.

I think you are a bit muddled in your thinking...

The Tories have been in power for 14 years so any current issues you are having with tax, high childcare costs and ridiculous house prices have been happening under their watch...

You don't know yet what Labour will do yet in term of specific policies so it would be silly to reduce your hours now just for that reason.

You need to look at more broadly whether cutting down your hours:

• is best for your quality of life and your kids'
• it makes sense financially to cut down on childcare.

You have a house in London, a job, a family and no major financial issues so you are frankly not in a bad situation.

Most people can't afford private school fees for their kids.

I assume that the idea for Labour will be to improve state education/schools in general, not to focus on what would benefit only a few people (private education).