Why do people think parents who pay for private education are enormously wealthy?

[SheineOn]

Is this just the stereotype?

I went to a school that cost 18k a year (15 years ago). It’s now 24k a year.

There were wealthy people there. But also many ‘normal’ people. At least 40% fell into that category. People who lived on estates, drove modest cars, skipped holidays and ate cheaply.

They made a choice to spend their money on private education. For context, two of my closest friends have dc in private. They live off 450 a month after paying fees. They are not high earners.

Not everyone has endless wealth. Some are just happy to make the sacrifice. I find it strange people don’t seem to get that and makes me wonder how lacking in knowledge you must be to have that view of the private sector.

This!

...and if they've already done that in order to afford the current fees, what do you suggest?

Work harder?

We earn more & could afford the increase if we choose PE, people who can’t need to make better choices or more sacrifices like the parents who you are criticising now who can’t afford it 🤷🏻‍♀️

I work across multiple schools - very deprived state schools, state schools in well off areas, lower cost private schools and super exclusive £25k or more a year private schools (and everything inbetween). I don't assume the parents of children at the lower cost private schools are necessarily wealthier the parents of the children at the state schools in the well off areas but actually I'd consider both categories 'wealthy'. I think average is sadly much more deprived than your experiences have led you to believe.

Or join the rest of the people in the state system in your position?

Here is one that I know of:
https://www.olps.co.uk/about-us/school-and-nursery-fees/

They charge £780/month for 51 weeks of the year, from 8am-6pm. Reception to Y6.

We assume that Private school parents are wealthy because, the vast majority are.

The mumsnet myth of the average earner who struggles to send their kid private doesn't really exist.

@twistyizzy poor people who have had a change of circumstances are regularly lectured about how they should have thought ahead and foreseen the unforeseeable.

I just don't like the repeated comments that private school parents make sacrifices to send their children to private school. The underlying tones that we could all do the same if we just made different choices about how we spend.

But some can’t make sacrifices to afford the VAT increase of 4k whilst simultaneously criticising those who can’t afford 20k

As long as my kids have a roof over their heads and food in their bellies I don't care.

I earn £23k a year before tax.

Im not entitled to any universal credit or anything like that.

My husband and I pay a mortgage each month and have a car. I'd say we were doing well. And I feel privileged to be doing well.

Only thing I worry about is we don't have savings.

poor people who have had a change of circumstances are regularly lectured about how they should have thought ahead and foreseen the unforeseeable.

see any threads about interest rate rises

Oh, you thought that was passive?

It's not a mythical situation, it's a situation which a lot of private school parents are in, and you are apparently not in. At no point did I say EVERYONE on a salary of £29k can afford private school, I said that parents in OUR situation could.

However, scaling back to the absolute essentials these are roughly our essential bills (school fees included as illustration though we do not actually pay them):

Outgoings:

School Fees 1200
Mortgage 600
Home and life insurance 60
Council Tax 150
Gas and Electric 130
TV License 15
Internet 32

Total: 2187

We also made the decision to have one child, which is obviously cheaper than having more children.

From £4000 that's leaving over £800pm to pay for childcare, food, transport and anything else which is essential for you.

Not possible for everyone, but considerably more possible than it's being made out to be here.

@TeenagersAngst full time lecturer pay where I am is £34k for my band. Which absolutely backs up your point that finances are totally different now as that is not a comparable rise to the cost of living since the 1980s.

Sorry, post in haste, repent in leisure and all that

@ItsFuckingBoringFeedingEveryoneUntilYouDie that is an exceptionally cheap school. Even their fees are way below average.

We could make sacrifices and still not afford it at all.

But with a little more and remortgaging house and a few other tweaks we might with an extremely plain life.

I think it's obvious it's clear we can't all make sacrifices. However in our modern society a lot is taken for granted.
A standard of living is taken for a granted.

So on 44k he takes home £ 34,571 (no extra pension etc)

How much is his mortgage?
How much are his bills? Council tax etc?
How much are her extra curriculum items, like uniform, trips etc

Okay so everyone can pay the extra vat on school fees then? No problem at all.

@SheineOn how much do you think a full time retail assistant earns per year?

Your lucky with Mortgage!!

Mines £1056 a month!!

I was one of the unlucky ones whose remortgage fell during the time they went up. 😬

Before that it was like £700 a month.

You will not find anywhere a criticism of parents who can't afford private school, for a start because I don't send my child to private school.

As I've said, I don't have to, because we have good state schools nearby and because she's NT and likely to cope in mainstream.

There are parents out there who have already made all the sacrifices they can to choose private school (even living with parents to reduce accommodation costs) because they don't have those advantages.

I have no dog in this fight anyway, my house is going to rise in value due to being located next to good schools and the school I've chosen for my daughter has plenty of spaces so she won't be getting pushed out.

It's just a silly, populist policy that will end up costing the state a lot of money.

If the OPs brother earns 44k, he earns more than national average- therefore is more wealthy than most people. Am I misunderstanding? He's called wealthy, because relative to more than 50% of the population he has more money? He IS more wealthy?

'SheineOn · Today 13:38
LizzieSiddal · Today 13:36

I don’t assume they are “wealthy”. I rightly assume that anyone who can afford £18k a year, after tax, is not on an average wage.
@LizzieSiddal you are wrong though. People on less than average pay can and do pay for these fees because they choose to make the sacrifice.'

Are you aware that 18k is a full time wage for some. 24k, ditto?
What on eath do they sacrifice to pay school fees?
Are you telling me that on 30k, you can make sacrifices that will pay for private education?
That's either very cheap school fees, or an incredibly low cost of living!

The median salary in the UK is £34,000, after tax and national insurance that works out at about £27,000. So unless they can also live on thin air this is very much not true....

Yes, we fixed it for 5 years when we bough the house 2 years ago, I'm hoping interest rates come back down in the next 3 years. I will be voting Labour, despite thinking this policy is misguided and will backfire, and I do anticipate the economy will improve under them.