Why do you think mumsnet has a more wealthy user base than average or do you think it’s full of bullshitters?

[Lurkinginthedarkness]

I’ve been reading mumsnet threads regularly for a while now and have noticed the userbase seems to be far wealthy than the general population, based on the income threads and also other little things that give that feel.
Obviously I’m not saying I think everyone is wealthier than average on here I’m personally a broke loser and I’m sure there’s others like me, but I’ve been blown away by the sheer amount of people saying they earn 60, 70, 80 or even 100k like it’s average.

I personally don’t think it’s full of bullshitters as there are other hints like the fact the spelling and grammar used on here is typically far superior to other sites like facebook and obviously you’re unlucky to have a brilliant job if you’re SPAG isn’t spot on.

Anyway I like mumsnet and have nothing against people being better off than me I’m just musing what do you think it is about mumsnet that attracts more wealthier people typically?

Haven’t read whole thread but I think mumsnet skews older as well - I’m always surprised by how many posters refer to being in their 50s with young school age children.

I’m definitely mumsnet demographic for various reasons. I appreciate the well written and often informative posts. I’m highly educated and in a high earning professional role and I’ve learned so, so much here.

I appreciate the generally good SPAG, the specific old fashioned MN emojis, the simple interface, the restrained moderation and the fact that we’re allowed to swear 😀

For an accurate UK picture, you'd need to adjust London salaries downwards to reflect London weighting. If someone here posted that they earned £50k and lived in London, I'd take it as a given they had less disposable income than someone who earned the same amount and lived in, say, Newcastle.

You don’t know if they’re bullshittin though. I’m just a rich girl
trapped in a poor girls body!!

Interesting perspective, @Putneydad7

I agree MumsNet is London-centric.
Thank you for pointing that out.

In the 2021 census only 16% of London households had an income of £100K or more. Growth under both parties has not been very good since. Let’s assume 20% have this income now.

We can assume that some reasonable portion of these households have two earners, neither making £100K. Certainly half, because incomes cluster lower. That leaves 10% of London households where at least one person makes £100K. Again, I am making generous assumptions.

There are many headline figures on Google that in London over 3x as many men as women make £100K. So in 7.5% of households it’s a man and in only 2.5% it’s a woman making £100K. Even in London 5% of women are sadly not at that income level.

Is it because the demographic is older than average, so we’re more advanced in our careers and/or has a partner with a more advanced career? People in that bracket will not only be earning more but probably have small mortgages if any, their kids are adults and long gone, so they’re very comfortable with high income & low outgoings in the run up to retirement. Well, that’s pretty much the position we’re in, one adult DC still in education but leaving imminently.

Actually Starling Bank posted on 9 May 2025 that the top 10% gross income in London was £105,000, so just over the figure of interest.

With a sad consensus that 3x as many male as female Londoners earn at this level, only 2.5% of London women are in the top 10% of London earners.

I always wondered how people could make a chicken last ten meals for a family of five.

On Mumsnet, I've noticed that the spelling and grammar are much better than on Facebook. Also, generally mumsnetters seem more educated, eloquent and articulate. It makes sense that generally, mumsnetters earn more than average. There's bound to be some exaggerating or bullshitting.

I am very definitely not part of the new parent element because my only DC is 27, but I encountered MN 20+ years ago, and I have stayed, sometimes to laugh my socks off, occasionally to ask for information, and for comfort and companionship during dark moments. MN is my social whirl. I come here to talk politics and ask for advice about all kinds of stuff like the best product to degunk the bathroom sink drain. Honestly, I can't think of anything that I would miss more than MN.

I have been on MN a long time when it was still a very small site. This was before smart phones existed and even when they started appearing they were very expensive as was data generally so access to the internet was expensive so at that point the demographic would have very probably been better off and lots of us have stayed from habit.

One of my husbands women friends from University will be earning around 100k, she is manager of a huge chemical site. He has a couple of friends that work in banking, they earn 100k plus, ridiculous amounts really. They all met when studying at Cambridge.

At our earning peak DH was on 70k and I was on 37k. So as a household we were just nudging in to top 5% of earners. The point with intelligence is it is proven by taking qualifications it doesn’t mean people without qualifications are not intelligent.

The way to tell who the user base is is to look at the advertisers. Are they cheaper, mass market? High end ? That will tell you what demographic the readers are. And i am sure mumsnet has all that data broken down. To sell to advertisers. Remember, when the app is free, you are the product.

MN doesn't sell space to advertisers directly any more, they haven't done that for years. They use an ad service which "bids" constantly for different ads to show so each user will in theory get their own personalised ads.

But yes back in the days when they did sell advertising it was all Boden and Bugaboo.

Mumsnet is still saying they do advertising partnerships with a minimum spend of £5k @BertieBotts

https://advertising.mumsnet.com/media-kit-page

Ah OK sorry - you're right, that makes sense why I see those when I have my VPN on (I am not in the UK).

I think a lot of it is bullshit. I’m sure I remember something on here years ago where a very regular poster who bragged constantly and said she and her husband were rich, was outed for lying.

I suspect people who are struggling don't brag about it on here and/or avoid threads with people earning 10 squillion £ a week.

Over on the Premium Bond winners thread this month it all got a bit unpleasant when someone took exception to those of us who have £50K/£100K spare cash sitting around. No idea why they were looking at that thread but it did make me think that MN is probably covering all income ranges.

Just had thought but I'm a Step Granny so should probably graduate over to Gransnet these days. Not sure I'll ever have enough wealth to fit in there 😆.

I just read here on my night shifts and I remember someone saying I was lying about my job 🤣 Why would you even do that on a forum??? 🤣

I think Mumsnet posters comprise people with varied incomes, from breadline or on benefits to fairly well off.

Literally couldn’t give a toss what people earn surely utterly irrelevant on an anonymous talk board?!. As long as they are intelligent interesting entertaining and ideally funny - keep posting!

I guess the anonymity can enable some bullshitters, but I think it is very middle-class/higher-earning. I'm middle-class but don't earn a massive amount (around £25k) but am also confused by those earning triple what I am but are struggling. I've been broke-broke before, but have a pretty good lifestyle on our combined £50k income. It makes me feel I must be doing badly, with posts such as how the child benefit shouldn't be spent but should be saved for their future. But we've finished paying off the mortgage early on what we earn, so I don't think our income is too meagre.

Lots of times when someone says they work hard for their high salary someone usually responds "but teachers and nurses"

Because it is true!

It is well documented that the most stressful jobs of all are the ones where you feel no ability to affect your circumstances, cannot exert any control, etc.

Amazon delivery driver, low to mid tier restaurant wait staff, call service worker, etc.

Teachers and nurses are at least regarded as professionals. When not ground down by exhaustion, they have the training to find better jobs or change sectors. It is understandable that they are frequently too tired and even depressed to pursue opportunities, however.

I would love that woman to rock up to this thread, you remember, the thread where she said that nobody rich had savings, and she just had such a vast throughput of monthly income she didn't even need to imagine or consider any savings put away for a rainy day 😂

Lil kitten one word - tax! Just because a salary sounds high doesn’t mean you get that in your pocket!