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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think British people just hate anyone making good money

195 replies

Newusernameeeee · 07/10/2025 15:11

I have seen countless posts where a poster who is high earner and will mention struggling and then they will get barrage of hate on being a high earner.
Most people on MN support the fact that anyone making over 100k shouldn't get free funded hours or child benefit as if their DC don't deserve anything.

Similarly seen so much hate on landlords and landladies as if everyone should give away their homes for free to other people. Even if they did sell it all, then there won't be much houses available for the renters.

Have seen hatred on big corporation and tech and even small businesses for charging £5 for a coffee.
Why do British people hate anyone making decent money or doing entrepreneurship? Are we in a race to bottom? Why can't we take inspiration from others who are doing well and try to do better for ourselves than the endless envy?

OP posts:
Allthings · 07/10/2025 16:39

I think you mean people who post on MN, which is not representative of the British population.

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/10/2025 16:40

Problem is with this country, if you are successful and make a wedge through graft and taking risks, you should always give it away to those less fortunate.

FriedaMer · 07/10/2025 16:40

Newusernameeeee · 07/10/2025 15:23

I have lived in US and the culture is so different there, entrepreneur and money is celebrated there and they have such different relationship to wealth and success.

Mmm yes, some not so great stuff 'celebrated' in the US as well.

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/10/2025 16:42

Horsehow · 07/10/2025 16:03

Why do people earn badly though? Did they not prioritise working towards a high paying career while in secondary school? Some people grew up in chaotic households where study was genuinely tricky, others just couldn’t be bothered to apply themselves as teenagers. Some choose low paid work that they find satisfying- artist etc - but they can’t really complain about not having enough money.

Er ... teachers, nurses and other people working in the public interest. Not everyone sets out just to earn as much as possible but they still need to study and go to university.

Coconutter24 · 07/10/2025 16:45

SadOldLadyOfTheLowlands · 07/10/2025 16:00

Most people on MN support the fact that anyone making over 100k shouldn't get free funded hours or child benefit as if their DC don't deserve anything.

If someone is on over 100k, why should they get free childcare?

Why shouldn’t they? They pay more tax than most, they’re paying into the system so why shouldn’t they be able to benefit from it?

MsMoody · 07/10/2025 16:49

I earn below the median UK wage and I can see why “high earners” get pissed off tbh. They pay a lot of tax and don’t get much in return.

NotSmallButFunSize · 07/10/2025 16:50

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/10/2025 16:42

Er ... teachers, nurses and other people working in the public interest. Not everyone sets out just to earn as much as possible but they still need to study and go to university.

Edited

This!

The reason I hate such posts OP is because of the stupid suggestion that if you don't earn well, it must be because you're too stupid or feckless or just simply not as hardworking as those who do.

I work in the NHS - I am intelligent and work hard and want to do a good job, it's literally nothing to do with any of those things why my pay is so shit

Plantatreetoday · 07/10/2025 16:50

twistyizzy · 07/10/2025 16:34

You have a problem with people making money?

No I don’t
that’s why I suggested a thread

MsMoody · 07/10/2025 16:50

Landlords are hoovering up far too much of working peoples’ income however!

5128gap · 07/10/2025 16:51

The problem is the only way a lot of people 'make good money' and 'do well for themselves' is by exploiting other people. We pay extortionate amounts these days for necessities like housing and food, never mind the extras that make life worth living. That money is going out of ordinary people's pockets into the already healthy bank accounts of the better off. And while most people have no choice but to accept they're scrimping while their landlord lives off the pigs back, and their employer pays them NNW while getting rich off their work, they naturally don't love having that rammed down their throats. Envy is lazy thinking. It's actually injustice.

XWKD · 07/10/2025 16:59

Newusernameeeee · 07/10/2025 15:23

I have lived in US and the culture is so different there, entrepreneur and money is celebrated there and they have such different relationship to wealth and success.

I think the American-style "money = success" attitude is dreadfully sad.

I respect good people, and their wealth doesn't figure in that. I have great admiration for someone who changes the lives of others through their kindness, or who advocates for others.

TryingToBeHelpful267 · 07/10/2025 17:00

Weirdly I think the opposite, mumsnet seem to love rich people and if you aren’t rich and dare to post they generally blame the poster because they’re poor.

However I think rich people are generally rich because of luck or criminality so no I don’t celebrate them. They’ve usually got to where they are by stealing from others and their tax evasion skills.

For example Elon isn’t rich because he’s smart, he’s rich because his family moved to South Africa during apartheid, and got lucky because the land they bought had an emerald mine 🤷🏻‍♀️

mamabeeboo · 07/10/2025 17:04

nomas · 07/10/2025 16:23

Because it's called tact. Why would I talk about buying a new home to my friend who is still renting and can't afford to buy?

She will know about the house in basic terms (we are moving on x date, housewarming is on x date etc) but why would I pro-actively tell her about the details of the house such as cost unless she asks?

I agree that of course you wouldn't say anything for fear of sounding boastful and arrogant, that is exactly what I said in my post. You would just share a "by the way house warming" and the dots would be connected themselves.

Unfortunately there are very few people you can call to explicitly say an achievement you have accomplished.

But realistically, my answer to "why would you say anything" is because you should be proud of yourself. But we can't feel proud of ourselves and share our successes for fear of being perceived negatively, exactly as I have said.

SeaAndStars · 07/10/2025 17:05

It's the millionaires and billionaires who are so greedy that they will leave the country to avoid paying tax who give millionaires and billionaires a bad name.

BrentfordBee · 07/10/2025 17:06

Some people on here resent anyone earning more than the average wage for sure.

However, I think those who post ‘struggling on 100k’ posts would get a much better reception if they reframed their complaints as money not going as far as it used to / should / they expected. Struggling on 100k is silly. Whereas everyone’s money is going less far than it used to, and I find the insistence of some posters that anyone earning more than, say, £50k must be wallowing in it to be equally frustrating.

SeaAndStars · 07/10/2025 17:10

"I have lived in US and the culture is so different there, entrepreneur and money is celebrated there and they have such different relationship to wealth and success."

And yet 37,000,000 Americans live in poverty.

HereAreYourOptions · 07/10/2025 17:12

I think that in the UK we care more about whether we think that the person with the money deserves it, regardless of how much it is, whereas in the States being well off is celebrated whatever the circumstances.

Maybe it's because the US used to be a more meritocratic society where whether you succeeded or not didn't depend on your parents. Of course that is largely no longer the case.

No-one can really argue with the fact that, both here and in the US now, how wealthy your children are likely to be in the future largely depends on how wealthy you are. Why wouldn't most people without money hate that?

SeaAndStars · 07/10/2025 17:15

"Why can't we take inspiration from others who are doing well and try to do better for ourselves than the endless envy?"

Many people find the acquisition of large amounts of money neither inspirational or enviable.

Many people are happy to do a satisfying job and have a comfortable life that allows them to contribute to society and quietly go about their business. Not everyone wants a yacht and tax loopholes.

Neemie · 07/10/2025 17:15

Because there is an engrained belief that no one should get above themselves and anyone who is successful is just fortunate. Even many successful people pretend they drifted into their highly competitive job on a cloud of their own genius. They don’t mention working their arse off for years, weeping over failures or feelings of anxiety that the competition might be better. Therefore people think rich people landed on their feet and deserve to be brought down to earth.

Renoonabudget · 07/10/2025 17:16

Newusernameeeee · 07/10/2025 15:37

I'm fairly sure this threat gets trotted out every couple of years for as long as I can remember. And noone HATES people on £100k. Just as others have said, bemoaning it, and complaining that they don't have access to benefits whilst on 3 times the average income is what people find a bit irritating.

I think its the whingyness, not the wealth, that gets on peoples tits. Sorry you're not getting enough doffed caps and forlock tugging like they do in the states.😉

SeaAndStars · 07/10/2025 17:17

"I have lived in US and the culture is so different there, entrepreneur and money is celebrated there and they have such different relationship to wealth and success."

For such a celebratory, apparently Christian nation the US seems to have forgotten what Jesus had to say on the subject of rich people and camels.

Papyrophile · 07/10/2025 17:18

Because this is a site for people who are parents, then there will be many who are living through the most expensive decades of their lives. It's a time when you can't responsibly decide to live in marginal accommodation because of your children's health (although many have to accept less than they ideally require), or just eat less. Children are expensive, but they are the natural result of a loving relationship, and we need to renew the population.

There are so many older people (like me) who have fulfilled their biological purpose and passed their reproductive sell-by date. However, we can't really just be shot in case we might be useful for the odd spell of minding grandchildren or caring for the really elderly. There is a lot of resentment towards anyone older here, and heaven help you if you were reasonably successful. There will always be snide comments that well-off people only got that way through crime or luck. But most will have worked and paid their tax bills fairly scrupulously, if not all of them.

PrincessASDaisy · 07/10/2025 17:22

Well you've admitted it yourself with the title of your post. Despite some seeming to struggle, you yourself even admit it's 'good' money. It isn't the money itself, but the framing of it as 'struggling' that I think rubs people the wrong way.

Lou802 · 07/10/2025 17:23

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

If they can't avoid tax by paying child care then they'll avoid it by ciphering it off into their pensions.

Maybe you're as stupid as you are rude?

RobertaFirmino · 07/10/2025 17:29

It's about decorum to me. For example, my mate down the street hasn't got a pot to piss in. There's no way I'd talk to her about my finances now things have changed for me. That's just rude and thoughtless.

There's another thread running regarding having no spare cash on an income of 90k. There are plenty of MNers making ends meet on half of that and many more in dire straits so the thread does seem a little out of touch.

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