£100000 a year but too poor to be able to afford a third child

[emkana]

I might be mad to get into this again, after that money thread I started the other week, but I just feel like I'm on a completely different planet again, after reading this article. It raises some good points comparing Britain and France, but the first example used is just ludicrous IMO.

article here

I don't think they'd have me, Nightynight

well thats just it isnt it? in the 60s, they had full employment policies, jobs for life, cheap housing, student grants.....

you have to adapt to survive these days.

why not tabitha?

Oh things like lack of transferable skills and poor French - certainly not good enough to get by in the workplace.

Sorry Katymac - dont know how long you have been out of London but 35k joint income doesnt get you sod all these days!

Agree though that 100k seems like plenty to me to have a third child. Private education is not, as implied, a necessity. Although i suppose if you wish to give to your 3rd child what the other 2 have it wouldnt be fair. They should indeed move to France. It would probably be cheaper to commute from there anyway!

Just off now to discuss moving to France with my DP now i have an extra argument for having a third child.....

there are some English speaking work places, depends what you do.

No, that doesn't say they are impoverished at all, LaScummettaMummetta. It simply states facts about the financial implications. It was the jounalist who says a second child would have put her into "serious debt" - that is claiming potential poverty.

I have no idea why you would find his comments about local schools "utterly objectionable". Surely you are not naive enough to believe that all schools are fantastic or even that all are adequate? That none are failing?? If you live in an area where all the schools are decent then you are very lucky indeed. Other than the fact that he lives in the "west end of London" you have no idea (I assume) where he lives or what his local schools are like.

It's not difficult!!

Difficult is when you have to make choices about which bills to pay.

Difficult is knowing you have to have a car seat for your first baby, but can only afford a second hand one.

Difficult is fitting a cot into a 10' by 10' bedroom that already contains a single bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and a toybox.

I'm not in this situation, so it's not bitterness speaking, it's outrage at people with a spoilt attitude

London schools are scary, but so is the snobby attitude expressed in that article.

agree colditz

im moving to france ive decided

having read the article I agree i think it's made up but I also think its about standards - David feels he owes it to his kids to provide the same education that he received as a child. I can understand that.

In reality none of us need our own houses, we could live with parents or inlaws and cut down on the cost of living dramatically. We dont need internet connection, or telephone lines, or most of the things we have. Clothes could be handed down through the family network despite hte fashions. Even the most impoverished among us could reduce our outgoings.

My dd's friend is very materialistic and always bragging about new phones/Armani bath towels/etc etc but in reality she lives with her parents and her grandparents and aunt - we could afford them too if we lived the same way!

Problems are all relative i suppose though arent they.

Shall i may a really sweeping statement? Probably most of the readers of that particular paper agree 100k is not enough!

I live in the borough containing the West End of London, Soupdragon. The state schools are, IMO, good and I accept that residents are lucky that this is so. I found the comments about the majority of children being unable to speak English objectionable.

Vickitiredmum - when we left London in 98 our 1 bedroom flat cost 82k - we have an income of about £20K (after tax)

We chose to move out - because of schools, housing and jobs

I now have a lower paid job, a cheaper house and a better school - I made my choice

But £35k is plenty to live on in most parts of the UK and with a joint of 100K they should be able to acheive at least £35k outside of london - in less appealing areas- with less appealing jobs

Most of us could cut down, but we don't moan to a national newspaper about how we can't afford to do what we want. Cos what it boils down to is want. They can afford to have a 3rd child easily, but they would have to give up something they want, to do so.

I'm struggling to understand where the £1500 a month childcare comes from when she hasn't even gone back to work yet?

It seems the french have got things more right than us, dont think it's gonna convince me to emmigrate though

if she already has 2 in childcare its very possible she has to leave them there to secure their places despite being on mat leave. I did this with dd when I was on mat leave - its not fair to uproot the children

Bet emkana rubbed her hands with glee when she saw this and realised how wound up people would get

I suspect they are not being totally honest about where they really live tbh. To say that most of the kids dont speak english implies other things about where they live. Or am i being a bit too stereotypical?

I wonder if they've actually looked at the local schools? Most parts of London do actually have some decent schools - the problem is they are often over-subscribed.
And have they considered moving somewhere cheaper with decent schools? Lots of places on the fringes of London with excellent local schools where these two could have a lovely house (the sort they think they are entitled to) and good local schools.

Suspect this is snobbery. I can't afford the same lifestyle as my parents - mainly because house prices have exploded. No way we could afford a four-bed detached house or for me to stay at home. But that's just a factor of the way the economy has changed. No-one's going to give me that four-bed house; it isn't a God-given right and there are plenty of people who have far less than I have.

The fact that our local school in london had children (who had attended there for a whole term) who couldn't manage to ask to go to the loo scared us - that's why we moved to find a better school

The fact that my job was less desirable was a by product

Fair point skinny cow, doesn't make me sympathise with them any more though (we live in london with two children and could afford three if we wanted too on less than a third of thier wages)

scummetta,
that was what got right up my nose too. Cant speak english, oh they must be thick and lower class then!

I don't see why they should pay an incentive to have more children. You take your choices, you get on with it. I don't expect anything from anyone.

The article takes the piss. People on £100K and complaining about it want a bloody good shake.