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.

I’m sure plenty of people have pointed out to @SheineOn that lots of families have more than one child which then makes it out of reach for the majority, other than those in the most affluent households.

I do think it’s weird that you know your BILs income and presumably their household income is greater with child benefit and potentially another salary to fund the £24k

Unlike your bil most people don’t have small mortgages though OP most people with school age children have massive mortgages or rent to pay!

I find it a bit sad that some people are saying they choose not to have holidays with their children to pay for private school. A lot of my favourite (and my children’s favourite memories) are of time spent exploring places together & I appreciate we are fortunate we can afford to do that.

👆

Mortgage rates also depend on the size of deposit you could put in. Some people have very low overall mortgages.

You think that a 'decent education' can only be found at a private school??

So am I! I fixed it as it is because it could have been worse! And everything was so up in the air at the time it was a risk I willing to take at the time. I used a mortgage advisor as well.

Fingers crossed it all comes down.

But you said it yourself OP, your BIL was helped with a hefty deposit and therefore has very low mortgage payments. It's not that he is making a sacrifice, he has had significant help that means he can afford to live off £800 a month. I am not aware of anywhere in the country where you could pay rent/mortgage plus all bills and food costs and have a lot of change out of £800 a month. If he hadn't had his hefty deposit paid he would have a higher mortgage and not be able to pay the school fees?

You know as well as I do that the only outcome is that a load of children who couldn't cope in mainstream will be back in mainstream anyway, and the houses near the outstanding schools will skyrocket in value.

My little terraced house backs onto the playground of a heavily oversubscribed outstanding school which allocates places on an "as the crow flies" basis, so on a personal level it's great news that this area is going to be so in demand and my house value is going to rise so much.

So you are a parent that could do private but lives in a catchment of a great school, so they do exist.

Im not sure where you live but I don’t think somewhere with such low house prices (based on £600 mortgage) and already great schools will see prices rocket because of VAT increases.

The house prices around my local excellent schools are far more prohibitive than an extra few grand a year….

a normal family cannot afford 24k fees for a private school. What utter nonsense. Many 'normal' people don't even earn that much despite working full time. Not sure what planet you are on, op

I knew it! Hefty deposit. Rich people are good at telling us their budget and leaving out pertinent information.
£600 mortgage in most places in a standard deposit would get you a shit hole.

I'm hoping interest rates come back down in the next 3 years

To what, very unlikely to go lower than 3/4%

No, you are wrong. As a widowed lone parent, 24K a year is more than my GROSS salary so yes I do consider people who have this NET excess to pay for school fees to be well off.
I went to private school and nearly all the children there were well off (eg being able to afford a lovely house in a nice area of London) or very wealthy (eg as in foreign royalty). There were a few who were on scholarships/grants who weren’t well off but I can only think of 2 children who were in that position.

'Having accepted the Low Pay Commission's recommendations in full, on 1 April 2024 the National Living Wage will increase by 9.8 per cent to £11.44 an hour, and apply to workers aged 21 and over.1 Apr 2024'

What's that, just under 24k a year?

For our two children to go to our local private secondary school would work out as approximately £4400 a month. Anyone who can spare that amount is wealthy.

Scrimping and saving and going without holidays etc wouldn’t save us £4400 a month.

If you can save that amount a month by not going on holiday etc, you must be a high earner.

But you said it yourself OP, your BIL was helped with a hefty deposit and therefore has very low mortgage payments

Now it makes sense but you can afford it if you make sacrifices too. 😆

SheineOn · Today 13:38

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.

@SheineOn as someone who struggles to pay the bills, please tell me how i can save 24k on my less than average wage (£23k). Please, I must know how this works. not to send the DC to private school but maybe we could go on a holiday or have a meal out if we scrap other stuff such as heating or eating. I must be missing a trick.

Yes, loads and loads of parents could afford private but don't have to because schools are good and their child can cope in mainstream. I'd say that applies to most families where both parents work full time, especially if, like us and like many families nowadays, they just have one child. There are 2 very well-regarded independent schools in our area which I know have a lot of parents who can only just afford the fees.

One will almost certainly shut if this policy goes through, the other will not be able to take the overspill- currently it's very competitive with around 6 or 7 applicants for each place.

So there's a very good chance we're about to see families who suddenly have £15k more pa in their pockets and nowhere to send their children.

So his pay after tax would be about £34.5k. So minus the 19k he’s got £15.5k left. (Less money than the fees!)

So each month he has £1300 for bills. Let’s say council tax, gas and electric is £400, so £900 left.
£50 water and £50 phones/tv/internet. £800 left.
Food perhaps £100 a week so down to £400 a month.

So now left with £400 a month pay pension, life insurance, clothes, days out, house hold expenses, a car or bus etc. let alone holidays.

So that’s going to be gone. So we’re now down to zero.

So how is the mortgage or rent being paid?! As I’ve not even included that!

Because the average UK salary is £30K which after tax wouldn't even pay for one kid at a private school. To pay for more than one, and afford a reasonable standard of living, would mean your income would need to be well above £150K a year. Which isn't 'enormously wealthy' but it's still five times wealthier than most people.

Ahhh the sacrifices are being explained.

I often find people leave out important information.

"We drive an old banger to save money" turns out to be a 4x4 car they bought in cash that's about 5 years old. What they really mean is, we don't have a brand new car.

" We don't have fancy holidays and go camping" turns out to be in the South of France in campsite that is more like Centre Parks.

"We have very average incomes" for the people we know, statistically we are actually in the top income decile.

Most of us really don’t give it much thought

@SheineOn you mention your brother sending his daughter on £44k a year - I may have missed it but what about her mother? Is he a lone parent - or do they have 2 incomes?

Also, for a child it could end up a 'stately homes' future if they don't become super successful - that's some pressure - I sacrificed holidays, treats, days out etc for YOU - I'd hate that as a kid.

Single parent of 3 on £36k with a mortgage I struggle to help my eldest 2 at Uni never mind paying private fees for them - thankfully I wouldn't even if I could - mine went to a RI state school and managed fine! They also made great friends local to them and didn't have to be afraid to have play dates. Not paying fees meant I could just about manage to pay for them to go on school trips/holidays.

Before tax, national insurance, student loan/ any other pay deductions.

Nope, we paid a 15% deposit which we saved up ourselves- unless you count the 25% add on the the HTB ISA gave us. Maybe you would think our house is a shithole but maybe that says more about you than us.

Same. We had amazing holidays and went to various places around the world. I’m so glad my parents didn’t waste money on school.
If I could afford it I’d still rather keep the cash and give them money towards a house not spend it over the years when they could have gone to a free school.

Yes, loads and loads of parents could afford private but don't have to because schools are good and their child can cope in mainstream

Ive seen lots of posts on these threads saying people who pay for PE don’t live in areas with good state options though. I mean I know that’s not true but good to see it confirmed by others.