BBC are saying you need a joint salary of 70,000 to avoid poverty

[bridgetjonesmassivepants]

I find this such a high sum. How are most families meant to reach this figure? It doesn't include pension contributions so you would probably need 80,000 by their reckoning.
They are saying that you are in poverty if you can't manage a UK holiday every year and 70 a month on cultural experiences.

Oh dear, BBC. Totally out of touch.

Exactly

It’s maddening actually as the term poverty isn’t right here

pp asked for a link to the article, not sure if it has been put up

I don’t understand the minimum income calculator. I put in the same details as the family in terms of outgoings. But apparently a single parent would need in excess of £100k to be comfortable with her 3 kids. The couple with the same outgoings needs less than half of that.

It’s likely the figures are coming from the UK minimum income standard calculations.

www.minimumincome.org.uk/adjusted_results/

WTF? That is over two times our combined annual salary and I would say we are happy, have holidays and a dog, butt ll very careful to save for emergencies as don't have that money lying around, and never just buy a drink or meal out or new clothes

We are on more than 70k. We bought a flat in 2019, took out a mortgage. I don't think you can even get a mortgage in London earning less than 70k unless you have family help (but that is not helpful).

Theoretically, a single parent could probably live very well on 35k if she had parents help with the kid and her parents helped her buy a flat. I know people like that. They can be better off than the person on 100k who has to pay childcare. But useless in terms of stats because not everyone has the parents who live nearby, provide free childcare and are also in a position to fork out 100K for a deposit.

That calculator is awful. It has unrealistically low weekly rent, council tax and utility bill costs.

Oh… wait a minute…

it’s a shit user interface. And works on the assumption that you’ll both earn equally. So the ‘you’ is individual for the couple. It’s not referring to the household.

The single parent needs to earn more though because she’s only got one personal allowance.

Yes. You can put in more realistic ones though.

Then the required earning figures sky rocket.

I think this too. The rent on a 4 bedroom where I live (and where 4th bedroom is a box room) are averaging £1700/mo. Council tax is over £300/mo. And we all know gas/electric/water bills are skyrocketing.

@SoggyPaper yes its per person. according to our location (outer london- zone 3) and our mortgage of £1k per month, we need to earn 21k each. Of course, to even get the mortgage, you have to earn much more. And if we were paying private rent, we would have to earn £600 more after tax per month to have the same standard of living, so more than £10k extra.

That calaculator is rubbish. It wont allow you to adjust anything other than housing costs, council tax rates.

It’s a terrible interface. It should make it clear that it’s household income (or that figure times two).

childcare costs plus mortgage make a big difference to the amount you need to earn.

You can adjust childcare and bills too.

I assume this is the article using the MIS report. I had a look and there is no way we spend as much as they suggest on some of those categories. Over £45 a week on clothes!

Yes, I put in averages but zero childcare costs, and it did come up with £69k for decent standard of living for family of 5 renting a 4 bedroom home.

Well I'd be off to the work house with that unachievable figure as a lone parent. 🤣

I'd estimate my income is about £27k annually.

But because I am a lone parent and live in social housing my housing cost is small. I have pay as you go smart meters and my life is dictated by it. I will literally sit by candle light in the evenings to save the electric.

But DS does 3 clubs (2 sorts one activity club that all require subs and payments), we go on holiday abroad once a year and we often go for cinema or museum trips on weekends. (museums are free in Wales)

Life is what you make of it, and children can have as much fun down the beach with a £1 pot of bubbles as they do on a all inclusive holiday.

where is “the BBC” saying this?

We're a two adult household that earns 30k after tax. Holiday abroad every year and eat out once a week. Also have a decent amount of savings. No kids yet but not expecting many child care costs so I think we'll continue to be pretty comfortable.

Feel like we could live quite luxuriously on 70k.

That is so expensive. I really feel for the younger generation if house prices/renting doesn't go down. Also the cost of living going up.

@SoggyPaper 2 personal allowances?

maybe more childcare needed as single parent.

it's about 5k after tax right? so £1500 on rent, £2000 childcare, £400 bills, £400 food... leaves £700 for clothes, entertainment, any debts etc. So no, not poverty at all but also not the extremely comfortable lifestyle (holidays/ savings etc) it would have bought you say, 10 years ago

The article is on the BBC site under the heading that families need 400 a month more. If you scroll down there's a graph that states you need over 4000 a month to be considered to have a reasonable standard of living.
Must admit I missed off the two kids bit, have two kids myself, that's why I thought the figure was so unreasonable.

It is relative and all that but to the people who say that they earn way less than £70000 and make it work with holidays abroad , kids, and a mortgage etc, please can you provide a break down of how you make it work.

@ObjectionHearsay not everyone is able to get social housing. In london where i live, the waiting list is several years long. I have seen ex council flats rent out for £1800 where I live. My mortgage is £1000 and I live in a 1930s private flat. Even outside london, i have seen very ordinary flats rent for £1k and this is nowhere near london,, you would need to pay £500 or more per month to commute to london and there are few local jobs.