who are the "squeezed middle"?

[ssd]

and don't just say "us"

what do they earn, what do they do, how do they spend their money..the squeezed middle......middle of what?

I guess they are too well paid to get tax credits and have lost Child Benefit, not well paid enough to take a hit on increases in mortgage / rent / utilities / food etc which have risen drastically lately.

Most of us it turns out, ‘here’s one I made earlier’ to explain

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/politics/1968925--Middle-Class-or-just-aspiring-Mr-Miliband-has-a-u-turn-for-you

Squeezed in the middle too are working couples who work crazy hours to contribute financially to support unemployed graduate children in their mid twenties and also poverty stricken elderly parents (especially widows) in their seventies and eighties.

A different kind of squeezed in the middle.

so when do tax credits stop, also child benefit?

and if people are on less than this and still get child benefit and some tax credits are they the working poor or the feckless poor?

Isitmebut,your op gave me a sore head, can you explain it in simpler terms, like a sentence or two?

I don't think you can put an income figure on it. What is a very comfortable income in some parts of the country will be much tougher to manage on elsewhere.

That said, I think it's a very flexible and subjective term often employed to describe those who've seen a drop in disposable income since the recession that has directly affected their standard of living due to aforementioned housing, energy and food costs.

body link calculator here

Body link?! Bizarre ipad.

SSD...wot is an "op"?

Squeezed middle?

Thy are the people who whinge about how poor they are because they have had to give up their third holiday and talk about the "sacrifices" they have to make to pay school fees. They are the ones who complain about people on benefits having Sky TV and get their news from the Daily Mail.

No those are the rich.

I think the squeezed middle has quite a big range and because of this the Condems continual shafting of them will be something they regret later.

Can't wait.

I think probably many people throughout have hefty outgoings which were met with a bit over before the downturn. And with wages stagnant or declining, and inflation happening, and lots of things getting more expensive even beyond inflation (lots of food seems to have gone through the roof in terms of cost), people who were managing before are struggling to service their commitments & keep going, even when they have cut back on their expenditure.

I think that probably applies to people across most of society TBH.

isitme- OP=Original Post )or original poster)

Us (sorry!) according to the calculator thingy.

I think it's very subjective to where you live though. One of my best friends moved to Wales a few years ago and she is a SAHM to 2DC renting a nice house in a lovely area. I live in London. DP and I together earn what her DP does and even if we had free childcare I think we'd really struggle to have just 1DC and rent a 2 bed flat let alone a house.

Absolutely depends where you live.

I live in an expensive city (not London) and would be rich on our combined salary in my home town. Sadly jobs that pay this type of salary are few and far between in my home town, which is an area of high unemployment.

I wouldn't be so crass as to describe myself as part of the squeezed middle, but living where I do I certainly can't afford the things curlew describes.

I actually think though that the 'squeezed middle' is just another sound bite. It's a label all but the poorest & richest could choose to self-identify with, even if objectively they are not. I'd imagine it appeals quite nicely to the champagne socialists reduced to prosecco. It's just rhetoric to compete with all that 'hard working family' shite at the end of the day IMO.

Ssd…I apologise for giving you too much detail/ headache on my fairly straight forwardly explained link, so let me give you the salient points on why Miliband’s policy (not mine) to protect the middle classes from Labour’s past policies, is disingenuous at best – especially as they were implemented when Brown had a choices e.g big fat government quangocracies or higher taxes.

Basically if you earned a salary (around the low £30ks), paid Council Tax for a mid sized home, bought a mid sized home (Stamp Tax), with home prices shooting up due to a few million new citizens, had to put with all the pressures those citizens put on State services, tried to provision for your retirement with a Private Pension, or was lucky enough to have had a Company Final Salary Pension Scheme – IN THOSE ITEMS ALONE, under Brown, you were royally screwed.

I reiterate, don’t shoot the messenger, THESE are the types of issues Mr Miliband must be referring to, what else is there?

it also depends on how much mortgage you have. If you bought at the right time you will be much better off than those who didn't. If you have to pay for childcare. If you have unearned wealth.

Judging how well off people are by their income is ridiculous.

The income figure will vary depending on whether or not you live in London.

But it will be families with someone working, earning enough not to be eligible for benefits, suffering from:

• no pay rises for years
• increasing food/travel/utility bills
• not enough money to afford to downsize as cannot afford the stamp duty/mortgage fees to move, maybe negative equity
• trapped in a job with no options for promotion etc although the senior staff are ok

I know people who'd call themselves the squeezed middle but are sending their kids to private school.

Most of us are feeling the pinch except the top 10%!

People like George Osborne claiming he's "in it together" because he's lost child benefit is, however, fucking ridiculous.

We are, I think.

Joint income around 35k, 2 working parents, one professional and one civil service, both long and unsociable hours, 2 children, outgrown our small 2 bed house but can't afford to buy anything bigger, terrified of increasing interest rates and crippled by childcare, yet barely receiving any tax credits due to our income. Scrimping hugely on food some months, tiny £300 savings pot which will be gone the next time the car needs a repair. Considering curtain to divide DC's room for privacy if we can't afford to move in a few years.

I see families where one works, one is SAHP, spacious council or HA house, two cars and holidays and I try hard not to be bitter but I'm clearly doing something wrong.

Retro - do tell how you are going to stick it to 'em.

I think it's a term that covers a huge group of people, including some that pay higher rate tax because the threshold for paying extra tax is ridiculously low, and some that receive tax credits.

I know quite a few people that I would consider to be middle class because of the homes they live in and the holidays they go on that receive either working or child tax credits. But then I also know lots of professionals who earn a good salary that definitely couldn't be considered as anything other than middle class because their salaries don't stretch to a life of luxury that you would expect from the upper classes.

Isitmebut I think the reason your posts are giving a headache is due to all the squiggles that keep appearing in them and not the content. For some reason it's not formatting properly. I don't think it was a personal dig.

I think of us as squeezed middle. Coincidentally DP does the same job my dad does (a doctor) & I compare to my parents lifestyle in the same city 30 years ago - it's totally different. We are on £30k, don't get any tax credits, live within our income but no chance for extras. £30k of student debt too!

I think we are. As above, joint earnings under 30k but not enough to get tax credits. DH has had no pay increase for years and I've actually had to put my fees down to below 2007 levels to retain business. So less income and much higher outgoings. Add in a DD aged 18 working loads of hours on NMW to try to fund her ballet lessons and uni auditions but who still seems to cost us a fortune. Add a DD aged 14 costiing us a lot in activities we've started and now don't feel we can just chuck away due to the high level she's reached and the investment over the years (working to Grade 8 ballet, Grade 8 singing etc so don't feel we can drop it now). Add a house falling to rack and ruin around us (we had no working boiler for 2 years) and a DH who has to travel an increasingly expensive 50 miles to work.
There you have it, a perfect storm of low earnings, no government help at all and high outgoings. Every year our debts go up and up. I just try not to think about it.

squeezed middle I suppose those who were used to regular pay rises and now they have dried up . (semi professionals perhaps)