Are other full-time working families finding there is nothing left?

[fatface001]

Alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, then an hour stood on a packed train into London for the commute. We are a normal family: one child and two full-time jobs. I’ve always enjoyed working and have always worked hard, and I don’t mind that at all — but I do expect that full-time work should still mean there’s something left at the end of the month for a normal life.

But that really doesn’t feel like the case anymore.

There’s nothing left at the end of the month. Everything has been stripped back, all non-essentials have gone, and even basic things around the house are being put off or done ourselves because there isn’t spare money for trades. It’s just constant cutting back.

What’s hard is that we’re both working really long hours and doing everything we’re “supposed” to do, but it still feels like we’re going backwards rather than getting ahead.

When I hear talk about “those with the broadest shoulders” contributing more, I honestly don’t recognise it anymore in real life. It doesn’t feel like anyone in our position has anything left to give — it feels like the pressure is entirely on ordinary working households just to stand still.

I’m not looking for luxuries — just the sense that working still gives you a bit of breathing room. Right now it doesn’t feel like that at all.

Is anyone else feeling the same?

I’ve doubled my income since I had DC1 8 years ago and yet our standard of living is slightly worse if anything. We live in the same house and cannot afford to upsize. Our mortgage is about to increase significantly when our fix expires.

I’m a high earner and pay a huge amount of tax but have nothing to show for it except declining public services. When the top 2% of earners feel hard done by there is a serious and fundamental societal problem with taxation and something is going to have to change.

I'm not angry, i'm saying the policy is wrong. The benefit bill could be massively reduced by that threshold not being in place.

If you don't have a job and something happens to your house or your car then it stays unfixed or broke until you do have a job quite frankly. Why is anyone thinking it's okay that they receive benefits when they have thousands of pounds in the bank. If you have money, you should not be going to the state for money, it's as simple as that.

The original post was asking people how they are managing with the cost of living and my point was that many people are struggling to save due to the cost of living that are working, yet the UK government allow people to have up to 16k in the bank who are on benefits, it's wrong. Maybe if they reduced it they would be able to increase the tax thresholds and then everyone who works would have more money.

Plenty do 🤷‍♀️

If you are working and claiming the housing element, you have a lower work threshold meaning you start loosing UC sooner (you can only earn around 450 before you start getting deductions) if you have a mortgage you get a higher work threshold.

A working family would not recieve that much as a top up. Someone who couldn't work, would therfore have disabilities of some kind, yes, but bare in mind with their disabilities comes extra costs involved too.

My experience of working with families on UC in my area is that they are not receiving that much money as a top up, even if they are claiming the rent element, and that the rent element doesnt even meet the amount they pay in rent.

As your point is about people having 15k in savings not deserving benefits, there is no way that anyone with 15k would get that much in UC because they would be loosing £652 a month in deductions.

So are you bothered about ppl on benefits getting that much money or those on benefits with 15k in savings, which is it?!

Maybe it passed me by but I don't remember this level of resentment towards those on benefits. I think it is fuelled by a feeling that there are an increasing number of people on benefits that do not need to be. Many people have mental health issues but continue working (myself included) and feel unfairly treated. I do know people that are unable to leave the house due to mental health but equally I know of people that lead a normal life while not working at all! The most galling thing is when people are already on benefits with no intention of working and then go on to have children! Who do they think is going to pay for them?! And no - I don't have children myself for the reason I'm not mentally resilient enough to have them.

Trouble is this has been the case for 30 years - high bills and cost of living. It has been the same since 1997 ish

I think you are quoting the wrong person re the savings. I’m not bothered about that at all but was just trying to clarify the figures from all of your assertions as they don’t meet what the ONS reports

If you want to lower your tax bill, you salary sacrifice from your gross income (and employers contribute as well this varies on the generosity of their pension scheme but it’s a percentage of your salary) - you sacrifice some of your gross salary into the company pension scheme tax free so you are only taxed on the remainder salary. Up to £60k - meaning you can’t put in more per year tax free.

That pension pot increases and you can draw from it from the age of 57. You then might have to pay some tax as usual income tax.

But it’s a very useful way to save tax efficiently and when you save enough for your lifestyle you can retire on this income up to 10 years before state pension age. And then get your state pension additional.

All I can say is, it doesn't last forever. The cloud will lift, just hang on in there

It’s been years though

This is false. If you quit a job for no reason and refuse to work you are not entitled to anything
On UC you can only not work if your child is under 3.
You either need to be very poorly, caring for someone a lot, or have a qualifying disability to not work.

The old system tax credits was the last time people could just not work and also cheat the system as it was paid in basic guesswork over a year and then "checked" after the year.

UC is tied to yoir national insurance number so you cannot lie about how much you are earning or not earning and you cannot qualify for things like prescriptions or free school meals by lying.

You cannot choose to not work and get UC.

And each year the work threshold for couples and single people go up meaning you have to earn more to qualify for a top up

@JasmineTea11 why do you pick on the pensioners yes some are wealthy they probably had good high earning jobs, but some like me when I get my pension next year will be living on the state pension only, so what is that around £240 a week ? I suppose I will have to work till I drop as I've been told that is not enough to live on.

I wouldnt rely on the ONS.

It doesnt tally with what I see.

I see children in poverty, families struggling to make ends meet, more so now less qualify for free school meals and prescriptions.

If you are low skilled you are stuck, not through lack of trying, but stuck because you haven't got the qualifications or experiences to make a huge jump in earnings to pull you out of benefits.

Life for these families is a struggle.

It is sad that families who have mid to high earners are now saying thdy struggle too

Not sure why ppl turn it into a competition. Those on benefits are struggling too and they have been for much longer. No idea why people hate on them.

Yes there are a minority that might be playing the system but it is so much harder to do now. It wasnt on tax credits. There are minorities that avoid tax and paying their way higher up the ladder too. Funny how less people direct their anger at them and come down on the ones who earn so little.

WW2 lasted 6 years, rationing another ?10?

The potato famine lasted ?7 years . that comes to mind as the rich had food and wouldn’t share. Something never change

yes I understand how pensions work.

I just dont understand where I can magic up this "up to £60K" to top up my pension with? I dont have enough income to be able to lavish my pension.

As for retiring at 57 what a joke.

It is foolish to ignore the ONS and focus only on what you see because you will tend towards o only see part of the story

although it is fair to raise in profile the real hardship at the lower end of everything

People get themselves on to LCWRA or carer’s element pretty readily though and then all work commitments switched off.

I think the point is that you're lucky to be home at 5.30pm. I work FT and if I'm in the office I am out from 7am to 7pm.

@midgetastic we never recovered growth wise from the 08 crash, 08….

I know many people in families with both adults working who don't have 16k in the bank, who are unable to save due to CoL so from that point of view, yes it seems very unfair.

There needs to be seen to be fairness in the social contract, and most people don't think there is any more. This leads to dangerous ground.

are you a single aprent? That would be logistically unmanageable for single parents - I couldnt find childcare beyond 6pm when I worked in London

I'm fed up of working hard and feeling more poor each passing year. Less than inflation pay rises, the frozen tax thresholds, council tax increases of higher than any incresed pay, food bill increasing massively, petrol gone up huge amount, gas and electric up .....it just seems never ending. Feels like the average family is working hard and feels utterly deflated. How can it be right that we seem no better off for working a 40 hour week than those who don't?

I work part time own my own home i don't have a motability car as I use my motability to get taxis as all my appointments are half way across the country and can't drive distances. So we bought a cheap runaround. Why on earth do you think disabled people wouldn't own their own homes a lot of disabled people have been working full time for decades before they become disabled or to disabled to work full time

Allowing for inflation 67k is akin to 35k in the early 00s & yet many jobs have not increased salaries. Add in fiscal drag & it’s not a surprise so many feel poorer.

The ONS is generally considered more reliable than what random people on the internet see, but I take your point.

The anger isn’t at benefit claimants per se, it’s aimed at the attitude of entitlement and aggression in things like tax cliff edges towards those who actually fund their benefits. I understand it comes from a place of envy and shame, but it’s unacceptable. It doesn’t just stop with the net tax payers themselves, but Labour are now also seeking to limit children of net tax payers applying to universities, civil service and other public sector apprenticeships:graduate schemes. It’s utterly crazy.

Ah sorry, I was not saying we have nothing left. But that even on what is on paper a good income life these days feels impossibly expensive and quite insecure.