£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

that'll be no gripes

Yes point taken , not quite sure why i posted either.

I suppose the point is that really if you thought about it you probably thought that 100K made you a lot richer in real terms than it does in actual terms.

Sorry that was me, under a different name not quite sure why.

a few people have mentioned that in France the child benefit rate is higher. So how much do they get in France? And does the second/third etc child get less than the first like they do here?

I'd also like to know how long you have to live in france before you can get benefits/paid for a third child! ggg?????

Think I might talk dh out of birmingham into france

my kids have more disposableincome than me!

This is a bit rambling ...Many people on £100k have private health care, dentists etc, pay more community charge, pay significantly larger amounts of tax and ni, have bigger mortgages, pay for private education, lessons etc- it shouldnt be knocked, there is a benefit to them doing this, its the system thats flawed. Every person that pays privately for a dentist allow an extra space on an nhs dentists list and many of us know how hard it is to get an nhs dentist these days, paying for private health free up an nhs bedspace (in theory) paying a bigger mortgage means more affordable house for those earning less than £100, paying for private education should mean more places available state schools for those that cannot afford to pay. it doesnt quite work like this because the government is worse at managing its money than I am, and that takes some doing. Dont know them for earning £100k knock the government for not feeling the knock on benefits of this couple earning £100k

should read Dont knock them for earning £100k knock the government for us not feeling the knock on benefits of this couple earning £100k

yes your right - i shouldnt feel resentment towards someone who can pay for better education, healthcare inc. hospitals and dentists, who can afford good housing and specialists etc but should be grateful becuase they pay a higher amount of tax - and hold no resentment becuase if the govt worked things out properly we would actually get better services.

Ghost

I just can't see that your post represents anything other than a flawed argument

Paying privately doesn't free up services for those who can't afford to pay, it leads to their deterioration and disappearance. Those who can afford to move outside public services cease to care about them and that is part of the reason why the Government can afford to neglect them.

So the family on £100.000 pa could decrease their outgoings by using public and state services and campaigning for them, and their local schools would have a broader mix of students (it's a proven fact that the best schools are those where the parents work hardest to support them)and they could then afford a third child and fourth child who would then help ease the imminent pensions crisis.

PMSL!

I can't actually think of anything to post.... laughing too much.

Some peoples lives are so far removed from mine it seem s like it's a different world.

Thats not meant to be nasty by the way just what i think.

IMHO paying privately leads to inequality and two tier systems.

A couple earning 100K p.a. have choices. If these don't include having a 3rd child, then that's their choice.

Toothache

is it the whole thread that's laughable or the original post or any in between?

Around here, so many people paying for private dentists has made dentists decide its not worth their while to do NHS, so leading to fewer NHS spaces.

Them paying for a bigger mortgage makes it easier for house prices to rise because they know there are people who will pay £750,000 for a house that was only worth £350,000 a few years ago. (That probably doesn't actually make any sense, but I'm bitter about house prices, so can talk cr*p if it makes me feel better ).

quick hijack - flamebat - are you flamesparrow?

Lol, yes - forgot to mention that the other day!

Good to see you back again (even if you didn't completely leave)

Zippi - THe whole concept that on £100k they can't afford another child, yet the kids go to Private school etc...... what they mean is they can't afford another child if they want to carry on living like that!!!!!! BIG difference.
Makes me larf.

Gasp! They have to pay their childrens' school fees?! What's that? Isn't that something one of their trust funds or parents picks up the tab for?

I think if you are on a high income it behoves to reflect on one's good fortune with humility

Or at least a closed mouth, zippiti. Nothing more bourgeois than boasting about how much money you make. Yuk!

Their reasoning is all bollix anyway. There are some outstanding state primary schools in central London, including some which do a very good imitation of private schools, including fancy uniforms with silly hats and caps, French, Latin etc, if that's the kind of thing you're after.

Why do you need to spend on childcare if she's not currently working? She could give up work. Or get in an au pair for the after-school shift. Or a childminder.

They actually have lots of options, but are too busy feeling sorry for themselves to carry out the Serious Reality Check they so badly need. Or a Kick up the Bum administered by one of a long line of queueing MNers...