AIBU to think many Mumsnet posters seem to be high earners?

[Jane143]

AIBU to think that the majority of people on MN seem to be high earners? As a guide, income over £60k? Most people I know in real life earn closer to average wage which I think is around £35k

I take these posts like a pinch of salt. Interesting to read, but quite unlikely to be true. There was a thread for those earning £100k+ once and it disproportionately had posters on it claiming that they had had babies when they were 14, had been kicked out by their parents for getting pregnant and had "just worked really hard" to earn this salary. Not impossible of course, but slightly Walter Mitty-esque.

I’ve just retired and was on 400k. I’m 51 and pensions will kick in at 55 and 60. I have more than enough savings to cover the time in between. I bought a small farm last year and I’m going to play at being a farmer and enjoy living rurally😂.

But if this was you, you'd want to tell your story, right?

There will be tens of thousands of people in the UK with similar stories. It wouldn't be strange for three or four to make their way to Mumsnet.

I'd be happy to buy the book of a 14 year old mum who got thrown onto the streets and made £100k+, and I'd rightly champion them. I'd be expecting to hear more than "I just worked really hard" though. On that thread these numerous posters were asked how they had managed, what qualifications they had got and what position they now held. None of them had answers to any of these questions, which led me to believe it might not be true.

Dh and I both high earners. Realistically, if I was busting my ass cleaning for barely minimum wage, I wouldn’t have time for posting on mumsnet! But I have a flexible job where no one is standing over me (I’m self employed and I set my own hours anyway), so I can waste two hours on MN if I want. People actually struggling to survive don’t have that privilege.

The majority of women I know - at work and socially - earn over £100k.
My mum who is in her late 70s earned over £100k at the time of her retirement at age 65ish.

It’s mainly confirmation bias. You won’t get an average spread of circumstances being discussed in response to a specific question or set of circumstances.

I earn an extremely high salary so will on occasions comment on threads about issues relating to being in such a position. I’ll never comment on UC or benefits threads as I don’t know anything about it.

I think much of the disconnect comes from some people believing that high earners are a different species. In reality there really isn’t that much difference between someone earning 50k and someone earning 250k. I’ve earned below the lower limit and above the upper limit of that range but was still the same person throughout. I’d argue my lifestyle didn’t even change that much either.

It’s all relative. In the SE, an income of 60k would not be considered high and 35k would generally be considered very low.

My 25 year old son and his gf earn about 100k between them, but they live in London so they’re perpetually skint.

I am unfortunately not on £400k but work with numerous people on £300k plus, but then that’s part of my role.

I don’t think £60k is especially high earning these days. Although when I earn £30k I would have thought it was.

I know several women who earn over £100k. The idea that you have to be a unicorn, ball-busting banker type to earn this is completely for the birds.

There are masses of professions where even a mid-career woman could be earning money like this: law, banking, media, PR, venture capital, tech, teaching, pharma. There are women who sit on multiple boards (private or public sector). Senior doctors earn comfortably over £100k. They will be in a minority, but they're not a tiny minority.

I think its ridiculous to assume that a woman who claims to earn over £100k must be lying. If you do earn this kind of money you are unlikely to get your kicks boasting to people you will never meet, you would save it for people you actually do know.

It's misogyny and envy, pure and simple.

If there’s enough money in certain sectors to allow swathes of people to earn salaries over £100k plus or £several hundreds and more, it must be also be at least partially because there are sufficient numbers of employees in the same industry paid average or below salaries, including those so low that they need to be topped up by state benefits. Which effectively means state subsidy of profit. Unless you are your own company and have no need to rely on anyone else to make your high salary.

I have no issue with high salaries and good on those who can earn them! but the difference between the highest and lowest definitely does appear to have got wider.

I’m pretty comfortable myself, earning over national average with low outgoings, and I’m real.

I also had a very rich relative who was on here for years. There was always a lot of disbelief and accusations of lying when she described even the basic facts of her life or things she could afford, but every word of it was true. In her own circles she was completely normal. I think it’s good. The point of being on here is that you read about people whose lives and beliefs are different from your own sometimes. And it’s also good to read stuff that’s not written by columnists who don’t tell you they’re on £250000 themselves but aim to earn that by making you angry with Hana on your street who earns £40k, or Bob who is on PIP.

I think it is skewed by the number of posters who live and work in London in finance or law, and the kind of threads you choose to read.

DD is in higher education so I read a lot of those kinds of threads. I also lurk a lot in the Style and Beauty threads, so the impression I get is that a lot of posters can afford to privately educate their children and a lot of posters have a lot of ££ to spend on designer handbags and expensive jumpers.

I know in real life this isn't the case, but yes, it does give me the impression that there is a significant number of posters with a lot of disposable income.

I also see a lot of threads starting with "I am a high earner" in AIBU.

Probably because higher earners have more time to fanny about online. Also depends loads on where you are in the country. Average salaries vary by region so you might know lots of comfortable families on average income and I know lots of people on double or triple that in london who feel skint cos their london mortgage is 3k and their nursery fees are 2k a month.

Why not start a thread asking about income and charity instead of this hostility?

Marry me

If people were just making it up, why wouldn't they just make up their qualifications or their jobs?

You’re joking about the farm … surely?

Mumsnet largely represents the average middle in every way.

Nah, they are just the ones who have more free time to waste online 😉

A lot of posters say they are going to or have given their kids deposits for a house and paying their kids uni rent or fees. Anyone who can afford to do that must be a high earner as they must have a lot of savings to be able to do that.

This. My husband is in finance and has a structure similar to this. I earn probably just about average in my line of work/area!

I think you have to split MN users into two categories - those who are here to read and scroll and those who are actively willing to post and tell you how much they earn. When a person is so willing to post their income and lifestyle on a message board, you’ve kinda got to ask why.

I'm a low earner in a caring profession and part time. I'm above min wage but when you take into account the lower hours I'm equivalent annually of less than min wage. Dh is a high earner, 250k approx. I hate saying 'my husband is a high earner' cos it makes me sound a bit silly but we are collectively a high income couple. I suspect if someone stalked me here they would accuse me of being a liar because on some threads I'm talking about the frustrations of my low status work and on others about city breaks or bathroom renovations. Throw in my ND kids and it's MN bingo. But I assure you I am very real.

I see a mix on here... from people on £150k and people on benefits. However, I do notice the high earner threads more because they are more humble bragging. One that stuck out to me was OP on £100k+ and saying they were having to cancel Netflix.