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?

re the observations that so many PPs seem old. That's because over the past 25 years, the age of first time mothers has been increasing and, secondly, many of the older aged posters have been on MN a long time, since their DC were young.

People don't realise - there are hundreds of thousands of people in London/south east earning over 100k

About 155000 women earn 100k plus which is pretty small.

@TheHateIsNotGood bur people aren’t having dc in their 50s. And of course the users have grown with the site, I just don’t think the site attracts many new mothers due to other platforms.

I think it's hard to be sure, but go and read the university entrance threads. All those posts from mums, waiting to see the offers of places for their children and many, many mums talking about their own uni experience. So, I think we probably are a fairly well-educated bunch.

I don't think you can compare to Facebook though, when talking about spelling and grammar, as that will be a reflection of your own friends. I'm a teacher, the vast majority of my friends are also teachers, so everyone has a similar level of education.

As for the salaries, I think some people don't have a clear idea of just how high salaries are in some areas. My husband is an engineer and one of my sons is head if intelligence and analytics for a multi-national company. They're on eye watering salaries, especially my son. He's not alone though and his friends tend to be the same. The amount these people were earning by age 30 is just something a teacher could never dream of.

I think also, the gender pay gap is closing somewhat and more and more women who work in areas where pay is negotiated are now learning to value themselves in the same way a man would. So, there are a lot more big salaries out there than people realise.

That doesn't mean that anyone not on those salaries should feel like a loser though. Some of my favourite people are on low salaries. For a huge variety of reasons, they couldn't or didn't stay in education as teens. They're salt of the earth type people though and really hard workers.

@Chasingfairies im 40 ish & it’s not specific threads/boards as you say. It’s references to certain films, songs, historical events etc.

I am not sure where else to go though!

I really don't think there's a load of people sitting there writing posts and threads in private schools or other sections talking about their high end earnings and possessions if they were in fact living in a tent.

But I could be wrong. I'm open on here about being broke and don't get who you'd be trying to impress by alleging wealth when you have none. You'd be talking about things that you don't have and never will? I guess maybe it's some kind of fantasy.

If I say it on here it makes it true?

But yeah there's plenty of odd people online who get a kick out of telling fibs.

Some of it may be true. A lot of it will be fantasy. That’s forums for you. 🤷‍♀️

Billy Bullshiners abound!

I stopped bothering with facebook in favour of mumsnet a while ago and started to feel a bit weird I had my first when I was 16 which I know is much younger than average and my other two I had in my early twenties. Seeing people on here saying 25 is too young felt strange.
I recently started using Facebook a little more and seeing stuff like the day in the life of a 21 year old mum of 6 and now I feel less strange.

Although obviously neither of these extremes represent reality.

There are mentally ill unhinged people who make up entire false personas but generally I agree most are probably telling the truth

Hm mums net is very wordy. No pictures of visuals so probably appeals to people with more of an attention span, more interest in reading reams of words. Whether that tracks to higher income who knows

Lots of the posters seem to live in London and the South East so both the value of their homes and their salaries are often higher than the national average. However, I definitely think some bullshitting goes on in terms of posts around both wealth and education. More recently there seems to be a rash of folk who now earn in excess of 200k on here which seems a bit disproportionate to life outside of MN.

There is probably a lot of quite well off folk on MN. But the ones boasting about their DH's massive salaries while no point in poor little them working as. they are quite busy enough will school runs and coffees. Hmm not sure I beleive that. The rich ones won't be the ones boasting IMHO.

Also 100k isn’t necessarily wealthy now when you account for inflation & fiscal drag

It’s the equivalent of 40k in the early 00s

I’ve been on here since around 2002. (Constant name changer). It was much less busy then and much more ‘middle class’. It’s been by far the most useful forum for me and I still visit every day even though DC are grown.

There were noticeable changes a few years ago when the site set out to make more money from advertising and I’d say the demographic of users changed at the same time to be more representative of the UK. It’s not about money so much as education levels but the two are closely correlated.

I’m probably Mumsnet’s core user type. London ish, higher earner, fussy about SPAG!

True... A bit like a TV drama... Everyone loves a bit of escapism and the posts about a saga from a wealthy person is often more enticing than a post about struggling to afford stuff in this cost of living crisis - the majority are experiencing that day to day, so it isn't anything gripping ... Wealthy people's drama on the other hand... 🍿 👀

This ^

Yes - particularly the last two paragraphs. Most posters appear reasonably educated, which can often mean better paid jobs.

People who become mums in big cities are more likely to be higher income. The median rent in my area for a 2 bed flat is 2k, 3k for a house..average flat 450k, house 1.4 million. My mortgage is 1252 and its only this case because I have owned it for 7 years and overpaid 30k and started with a 58k deposit. I own the cheapest non council 2 bed flat in my area and it's a nice leafy suburb in london but nothing special. Frankly on such numbers, 60k barely breaks even before you add in cost of childcare. Its not that there aren't lower earning women having kids but they dont tend to have them in london unless on benefits or have a ton of family help

Mums in big cities might use forums more as they are less likely to have a village.

Also the big hullabaloo about normal names like lexi or lily may sounding “common” and posters on here prefer ottilie. I’ve never heard anyone say lily may was a bad name irl. And never met a baby called ottilie

@Lurkinginthedarkness I'd never heard of Otillie til last week - one of my friends is a community midwife, she obviously gets to hear a lot of baby names, and she commented that she'd heard Otillie for the first time.

There must be BS on here but Mumsnet has always skewed towards middle class or higher and better educated than average. Netmums and Facebook have been more attractive to other demographics. That doesn't mean nobody on MN is working class because they definitely are but less so than other sites in general.

I don't know what influences that kind of thing except perhaps it's just how it started out. The founders are pretty middle class.

Its not that there aren't lower earning women having kids but they dont tend to have them in london unless on benefits or have a ton of family help

fewer people are having dc & fewer younger people are coming to London or staying here. It’s the only big city that’s ageing.

I would agree. There's no need to be untruthful on an anonymous forum, however I do sometimes change the odd detail just in case a thread I've started ends up in the Daily Mail!

I'm more shocked about the persistent low wage earners. Those who (alongside their male partners) "can only dream of earning £30k plus"

Like entire working life just not even hitting £30k.

I understand it's different for women who took time out to be SAHPs, but then if the DPs as well....

Yeah we can only live in hope! Though some threads are clearly goady and either entirely falsely generated or generated using AI with a person for bad intentions.