Private educaiton - is everyone really rich that sends their kids?

[Clare123]

We are fairly wealthy, but I still think education 2 kids privately is so much money! I was wondering how most families do it?!

Some basic Maths;

1. Average private school fees per year, for day pupil, = 11k.

2. MPs, on a salary of 64k pa (minus expenses, are in the top 5% of earners.

3. 2.4 kids = 25k per year.

The biggest difference a head of a private school confided to me, who has also worked in the state sector too, is that private school parents ALL work, mums AND dads, to pay the fees and afford a reasonable middle-class lifestyle.

I think this forum, from what I have read so far, does tend to have an exceptionally high propotion of the 'yummie mummy's of media stereotype; aka the blond in a hurry screeching up the school drive in land rover to drop kids off at before school swahili club so she make pilate class in time.

I exaggerate for effect, but the simple answer to your question is that you can afford private school fees so long you BOTH work or you are married to someone who earns in excess of 100k per year, which takes us to the top 1.8% of the population.

Or the, errrmmm, bank of granny and grandpa.

i pay £37ish a day for childminder and don't get any help with that. i expect it is about the same as private school fees but i went to state school so can't do the maths.

That would be about right for pre-prep but double that once you get to secondary age. In ds's year it is about half and half - half the mums work and half don't.

I think people with young children now are in a different position to people with teenagers now: the teenager parents will likely have bought their homes when property prices were much lower, so they have lower mortgages and/or spare equity to tap into or at least use as an 'insurance'.

A family starting out now will be taking on a much larger mortgage with (presumably) less capital growth in the future to act as a financial cushion. So I think the two-working parent model will become more common over the next ten years.

It depends what you mean by "really rich", doesn't it? IT involves finding an extra £10-15K a year, per child, guaranteed, to spend on that and nothing else, with the confidence that you will continue to find it for the next 12 years or so.

For some (middle-class, working) people this is peanuts.

For other (middle-class working) people it is in the same league as owning a Lear jet.

Welcome to "choice."

There's also the stereotypical glam mum who may have 'married the boss' - someone in a senior role, lots of property equity and past earnings under his belt, so it isn't so much of stretch, despite the youthful appearance of the mother!

It is interesting and I do worry that I am short changing our children by sending them to a good state primary school, instead of a private school. We do have the money and it would not have any implications on our lifestyle, BUT I still think it is a lot of money. I guess it's all about if you think it's worth it. Still deciding on that one!

I'm with Pixie. DDs school the same broad mix, nearly all of the mums work as well though and all seem to have very serious jobs. We only there because family paying for it and we had literally no alternative. Don't think we are alone in that.

There are lots of parents in that position. Only something like 5-7% of children go to private school, though, so I don't think you are shortchanging them at all! Esp if your state schools are good. Plenty of other, more important things to beat yourself up about over your parenting career!

I know someone who sends their first DC to private school, and then had another DC who they can't afford to send to private school. What is that about? Their circumstances haven't changed so they are either very short-sighted, or are happy to treat their 2 children so differently. If one becomes a bin-man and one a doctor, I wonder what they will think of the choice their parents made (and I wonder which child will end up doing which job?!).
Can't believe anyone would go down that route unless you were pretty certain that you had more than enough money for both/all your children!

my nephew is at boarding school, and the fees are about #20,000 a year now, and they go up as he gets older. It's not just the fees though, it's the uniform that only comes from one shop and is REALLY expensive, but the school trips etc that mount up. That's being paid by a trust fund now but was being paid by his parents working hard.

I can't afford to send my two but they're at a great state C of E school.

I don't think a private school necessarily means a better education, just access to better equipment.

I know someone who sends one of theirs private and the others state. All about what is right for that child ime. The others are doing well at state school, the one that wasn't got moved for a number of reasons.

Not everyone who sends their child to a private school is loaded - some get grants for some or all of the fees and many go without until their children hit 18 and leave school.

My brother received a huge grant because of his musical talent and my parents still struggled, but he just could not have received the same level of musical training at any other school.

At ours some have a garage of Porsche, Ferrari and 4wd s , others drive more elderly functional specimens. Majority would be well above "average" household income, even if mum stays at home. Some are already fully paid for by grandparents until they are due to leave. Top tier boarding fees are around 30k pa before "extras"

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Parents at DSs school are pretty mixed. Quite a few are service families, so their fees are subsidised.

There are also lots who are doctors at the nearby city hospital.

There are also a few city types who could afford to buy the whole school if they wanted to!

As LIZS says it is the next stage up that is truly scary! I did once meet the Bursar of quite a big public school, who said that virtually all the fees were being paid by grandparents (that was about 4 or 5 years ago though).

hmm, can I just point out that having a clapped out car doesn't mean you're not loaded. Some of the wealthiest parents at my girl's school drove old bangers when they could easily have afforded a porsche