Middle earners punished

[Eucalyptus321]

I am feeling so disheartened and frustrated by how middle earners are constantly suffering at the hands of ridiculous government priorities. My husband and I have a greater household income than other families we know but have less cash in hand due to increased taxes coupled with the fact we receive zero benefits like child benefit or tax free childcare etc. ZERO. If they want middle earners to fund the country thought tax then at least support us with childcare costs. It’s a joke that two parents earning £99k each get childcare funding but parents with one £101k salary and one £25k salary receive nothing. I just need to speak to people who understand the burden of raising a family amidst the current financial climate and then the potential of further tax rises!

I feel for you. It really is not fair although many on here would not agree.
You are privileged to be able to work your nuts off and should want to support other people via high taxes.

Can your partner pay the "just over £100k" straight into his pension to take him just under, and then get the free childcare?

Plus, not all tickets are £150. I’ve just paid £100 for two at a top London venue. There were tickets for £15 as well. Sure it’s not in the stalls but it will be a fun experience (as long as the rest of the audience behave). Our income is well under £100k.

I get that must be frustrating and the disparity between people bringing home post tax household income c. 145k receiving handouts between a household income of c.95k not receiving them is Inherently unfair.

but I think YABU When i remember clearly when i went back work and our net household income entitled us to nothing as well… a grand total of c 31k

in fact when we sat down and worked out what my actual hourly rate was after we deducted the monthly nursery bill it worked out I was working in a professionally regulated and registered job for £3.21 an hour -

it still makes me go wtaf?!?

None, frankly.

I want them out and today may well represent the beginning of the end.

90k is a high earner bordering into very/ ridiculously high in my opinion!
I think 40-60k is more middle territory.
But yes I agree limits should be household income now what each parent is bringing in individually.

Agree with every word of this.
It can't be ok to be better off on benefits than working

It's soul destroying to work every day with chronic illness (and many of us do) knowing others are idling about as a lifestyle choice.

And yes, as I said up thread i have seen a lot of bank statements from people on UC and they spend far more on takeaways/starbucks etc than anyone I know.who is in work and earning £60k or less does.

But what do they get in return for that? I don't think most people mind paying high taxes if they are seeing big improvements in their quality of life and investment into their children's future. But expecting people who are already struggling - because people supporting a family on £50k are struggling - to pay more tax to fill a "black hole" and to fund tax cuts for billionaires is unacceptable.

My DD and SIL are in this position. I feel for them because they see people around them getting the free child care and child benefit so they are losing out on thousands a year.

However I do remind them that they do have a nice life, they do go on holidays, theatre trips, lots of clubs for their Dd.
There’s not much you can do about it so stop comparing yourselves to others and enjoy your family.

Yeah - it’s shit. Thanks Labour - oh wait, surely they’re blaming everyone else but themselves?! They’ll blame WW2 if they can get away with it. Everyone said they were liars and would tax us - yet people believed them… so here we are.

Yep

Comparison is the thief of joy.
What you fail to grasp is that you currently afford £2000 a month in nursery fees which when your DC starts school will be available for you to do whatever you want with. You need to look at the bigger long term picture.

Oh course it’s crap. Anyone who voted Labour in isa gullible fool. The increase in The NMW will push more youngsters out of work. And NMW jobs will reduce. The burden on small businesses will stifle start ups. It’s like Rachel from Accounts has has a handbook from the Charity shop titled “[ Ten easy steps to screw up a country’s economy” an is following to the letter.

l have a long standing, previously well paid career. I’ve kept working through some very bad illness, I struggle to actually work at least 1 day out of my 4. I’m seriously just thinking of calling in sick for the rest of my life! Honestly you’re better off on benefits than a professional career these days.

When I get to retirement, I’ll be selling my house, living in a park home and spending the equity I’ve built up so the bloody government do not get their hands on it!

Labour are incompetent- every day is closer to the day they are ousted thank God

On.a day to day basis I agree, better to be zen and not compare and envy

But when it comes to politics and decisions at the ballot box -.thats.daft advice. Of course we should be paying attention to the decisions that are made and how.they impact us

At the end of the day. It really does not matter how much someone earns. High earners people on PAYE should not be paying so much in taxes. They are hitting the same people every time. It is pretty clear they do not want people to get ahead in life. Money will run out and the asshole telling us to suck it up will end up eating from rubbish bins. I hope they make the most of today”s handouts. Clearly putting your life on welfare is not a good idea. This will end up badly for the U.K.

Everyone's blaming Labour but you might like to look back at who was in the government for the previous decade, and whose housing policy has led to the shitshow that is the current housing market.

These days living in/around London you need AT LEAST 150k per annum to live.
im talking about a family of 4 with mortgage, car, wanting to save a bit each month, etc etc

It is worth hanging onto your career for many reasons

your pension pot you will be building
career progression
nursery doesn’t last forever when they’re at school you’ll have a larger disposable income, role modelling to your children being a working mum
most importantly having a career and protecting yourself in the event you get divorced later in life.
so many women post on here about giving up work and being screwed when their high earning partner leaves them.

it is tough to when you feel like there’s nothing left despite earning a decent income but that’s the reality unfortunately.

Mn was very pro Labour pre GE, it’s all on here. Of course we’re at this point. I agree with @Klipspringer

So what do you think they should do? They tried cutting the welfare bill and got absolutely hammered for it. Everyone wants something “for free” and no one wants to pay for it, there’s always someone else who should pay more, or receive more but the reality is we can’t afford high welfare/low tax.

Cutting the welfare bill means someone somewhere is getting less - pensioners, disabled people, carers. Not cutting the welfare bill means someone (tax payers) will be paying for it - can’t have it both ways.

I also agree the way childcare funding is calculated makes no sense at all. However, at least you know this is a short term issue and once your children are a bit older these extortionate costs will significantly reduce. Your household income potential will continue to increase and you will move closer to being mortgage free.

@Cornishclio Agreed with most of your post apart from this bit:

There is also the ridiculous situation of someone earning over £100k on paye paying 50% tax on the marginal rate whereas company directors are paying a lot less on their dividends (salary by another word).

My DH is the director of his own company but makes about £35k a year before tax. So yes he pays less tax on dividends, but his income isn’t exactly high. Plus he gets no sick pay so when he can’t work (like this week) he loses money. I think people tend to assume company directors are raking it in but in fact (and probably in most cases) it isn’t true.

😂I am pretty certain there are many, many tens of thousands of people earning a lot less than that in and around London quite comfortably.

I think the way everything is calculated is wrong and if they make the rumoured changes to caps etc. then it will only be worse. The system is being played by a lot of people and is now relying on net contributors not throwing in the towel, as younger people leave to work abroad who will support the system then?
They couldn’t get changes needed to pip through, they’ve not even looked at uc and instead will hammer people who already get nothing back. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and I think RR and KS haven’t read the mood of those that are funding it.

This Labour Turkey is cooked, let’s all be honest.

Even the Guardian has done a number on them, this morning.