to be fed up of hearing 'I've worked hard for my money'

[newbluesofa]

Lots of chat on MN recently about taxes on high earners. So heard lots of 'we have this money because we work bloody hard for it' and honestly I'm sick of it and think the people who say it are selfish.

Nurses work incredibly hard, long shifts, difficult job. Carers provide absolutely essential service, again shift work, difficult hours, difficult job. Teachers provide essential work, I know multiple teachers and they all devote evenings, weekends, school holidays to the detriment of their own families. All of these jobs also have huge emotional tolls. So 'I've worked hard for my money' means nothing to me, because a lot of people work a lot harder for a lot less.

Thank you! The rhetoric on MN really seems to be that most wealthy people have pulled themselves up from their bootstraps, as if there isn't an entire class of people whose families have been rich buddies for generations

I didn't say it did.

My 'hardest' job was basically minimum wage. I left and am now earning significantly more. I don't think my 'hard' job should have been paid more or been devoid of tax, I'm not sure what the OP is suggesting... My current job is highly skilled which is why it's paid more. I deserve to earn more in this job and I do work hard!

OP - do you pick your hairdresser based on how 'hard' they work, or based on how good the haircut/ experience is? I'm not entirely sure of what the point you are trying to make is.... Maybe it's annoying to hear people say 'i work hard for money' - maybe they do, maybe they don't. But in the majority of cases people are paid more because they have unique skills and deserve to be paid more because of that.

Seems to be a lot of jealousy on MN these days looking at us high earners. So many people gleeful our tax bills are going up.

I think it’s difficult to take each job in isolation.

I am a higher earner which I have achieved through running my business. It’s hard and stressful and I feel a huge weight of responsibility because everything comes down to me. But the financial rewards are good and overall I enjoy the autonomy I have and the content of the work that I do.

My cousin spent many years at university doing PhD realising towards the end that there weren’t many academic jobs out there and that she couldn’t really be bothered to do all the journal writing and post doc research needed to make it in academia. She ended up working in a retail job which she has now been doing for many years. It is tedious, repetitive, minimum wage work with little autonomy and she has to work at Christmas every year. Customers are rude and she’s on her feet all day.

I would find it crushingly boring and soul destroying. But she seems happy enough and lives very frugally to make her money go further.

My point is how really other than different things suit different people and what is hard work to one person is not a hard work to another person because they enjoy it!

So why pick up on it? What was your point.

I only have a problem with the people that don’t work at all for their money. It’s not a competition on who works harder, just who works.

I love that attitude to be proud to pay your taxes. To be proud to earn enough money to be able to contribute to society so much.

You are right, it does not mean that.

A meritocracy from my understanding is the idea that people are rewarded or chosen for positions based upon their merit, that everyone has the same the same opportunity to succeed through hard work and achievements...and there is plenty of evidence to show this is clearly not the case. Open any A level sociology textbook and you can find it. So poster was correct we don't live in a meritocracy.

And this is where some of the problem comes from - those who have "worked hard" to get the jobs that pay the most often have done this because of advantages that others have not had, e.g., private schooling, tutoring when struggling I could go on..

I think that's a good point. A lot of what bothers me about the 'well I worked hard for my money' is the lack of acknowledgement of the factor privilege paid

Which ‘entitled rich people’ have been complaining?

Can you post some examples, please?

Marriage is a partnership. DH and I have joint accounts. Whatever he has is mine. Whatever is mine is his. And yes I want my husband to be able to take more of his pay.

Agreed.

But listen to the haters squeal when Reeves jacks taxes again, and it really begins to bite them.

My mother grew up one of six kids with rats running across their beds, faces and what little food there ever was in the house. Her father was an absent alcoholic and her mother never even got out of bed to get the young kids off to school in the morning. She got her first job at 10 weeding gardens, lied about her age at 14 to work in a pub and was a secretary from age 17. She did end up earning very good money as an executive assistant in her 50s and 60s, and she and my dad (who never even finished school, was a labourer) became world travelers before they died at 68 and 73 respectively. Were they "privileged" or did they work hard?

Nobody actually WANTS to pay tax though. It's normal to not want so much of your hard earned £££££ taxed.

Pretty much everyone who works, works hard for their money. It's not a competition as to who worked harder, who is more tired etc.
People are saying "I work hard for my money" because the government want to take more of their money to fund stuff they don't want to pay for, like increased benefits. They want to take money off people based on the value of their house, or the type of car they drive, or if they rent out properties. They are going to tax lattes. Every single thing we earn or enjoy is being stripped away by our government and spent God knows where.

Another person not paying HRT but has an issue with their husband doing so.

Well this is a lie then.

“us high earners. So many people gleeful our tax bills are going up”

Us high earners and our tax bills doesn’t imply it’s your husband’s name on the payslip. I don’t think they come in joint names.

Exactly. And anyone who does want to pay more tax can. Just log on an pay. Funny nobody ever does though, it's always somebody else's responsibility.

I agree. There is a lot you can't tell about people and what they've been through. Your Mum deserved all she earned and the lovely life it earned them.

I’m a middling earner and I feel I work hard but I think high earners often work “harder” in terms of stress and responsibility. It’s often also about appetite for risk - true wealthy people (unless they’ve inherited / been given a family business) are normally the entrepreneurs who have taken a big risk at some point.

I don’t begrudge anyone their wage that’s doing all that - I acknowledge I’m not capable of it and that’s fine.

Tbh lots of people work hard but it doesn’t matter what they earn if they aren’t careful with their earnings.

Over the years I have known people who have out earned everyone in their group who end up with less than the minimum wage worker who has been careful with their money.

I'll offer up a comparison here of 2 people.

Person One is born into a dysfunctional family who goes into care at age 15 after already mixing with the "wrong crowd". They have an ND which wasn't diagnosed for whatever reason. They are also simply not very intelligent, and rather unattractive. Parents didn't help with their homework or encourage them to read, and may have been some of those people who "lived off taxpayer's money all their lives" as many on MN are sure make up the majority of poorer people. The school is overwhelmed, underfunded and has discipline problems due to being on a sink estate. The parents also either drink or take drugs, and look on the child purely as a source of income from benefits, and treat them as an annoyance which is why they have ended up in care. They will have absolutely no chance of going to Uni, in fact it's dismissed or denigrated by their family & associates as "not for the likes of us".

Person Two is born into a "middle class" family. They go to a decent school, and may get a tutor so they can get into a Grammar school. They probably would have anyway, as they won on the genetic lottery and are intelligent naturally as well as good looking. Parents have encouraged them to read and have an inquisitive nature, and take them on holidays which are educational as well as fun. They are taught that hard work is rewarded by treats or money, their parents help with homework, they are encouraged to study things they are interested in and/or have a natural aptitude for. They are encouraged and rewarded for exams at school and to go to Uni, and their parents financially help them while they are there.

When Person Two lands a great job in finance working for their dad's best mate, whereas Person One ends up as a semi-skilled manual worker, would that REALLY be just down to Person Two working harder?

@newbluesofa YABU. And you know you are. Both things can be true. My mum is a nurse so I understand both sides of the coin. Just because mum worked hard doesn’t mean I didn’t work hard. I was also a sales assistant and whilst physically that was more demanding - my job now is more emotionally stressful. You don’t like people whining… people are entitled to their feelings and opinions. This is not (or at least shouldn’t be) a race to the bottom. Both positions are valid. Because people have different capacities to handle pressure and at different times in their lives. I think we should focus on attempting to create solutions that benefit the whole of society not constantly bickering between ourselves.

That's not what I think it means, I don't know why you would think that? What a weird comment