Are we on a low income?

[biganlittle]

I earn 33.5k pro rata’ to 4 days a week.
DH full time of 48k, I know there’s some high earners on here but I’m guessing the majority earn less, maybe not as little as us.

We have a little one in nursery still which I think makes us feel that much more skint!

Are we low paid? Both in jobs that we needed qualifications for and I have a degree but part time for years and 2 maternity leaves I think has held me back.

No but i understand. We're on similar money, never earned so much in our lives and are worse off than we were 15 years ago. Money doesn't go as far as it should.

Im on 23000 (36 hour contract for 4 days). Husbands a carer. We only get carers benefits, no UC. We feel like we're doing well. I think this is because we have a small mortgage; bought ages ago and never moved. I'm quite thrifty by nature so that probably helps.

It's true that the cost of living is so sky high I can understand why you feel you're not doing as you "should". But there have been studies that say money only improves your happiness if you didn't have enough to live a comfortable life in the first place. If you are living a comfortable life, and can afford niceties every so often, maybe have a look into your own insecurities. I wish you all the best!

Well after tax this isn’t a huge amount, but not by any means low. It’s pretty average I’d say for educated professionals.
The issue is the cost of living is so high. Once upon a time that would be a lot of money.

But you don't need to live in expensive parts of Scotland - that's my point 😬

Definitely not low earners!
Our joint income is the same as your husband’s and we live in the Home Counties.
There’s no way we’ll ever be able to buy a house or rent privately.

Oh leave her alone ! It’s great to get different perspectives but that’s such a sarcastic narky comment. It just wasn’t funny if it was meant to be. Can you not just be more constructive? She is allowed to ask just like anyone else. We all have different perspectives of our income based on where we have come from in life. Surely the fact she is asking shows her trying to understand and become more informed. I don’t think her intention is to brag. Everyone’s position is relative. Perhaps because you have a chip on your shoulder about your own income? All your comment does is make someone feel like rubbish.

There’s a thread where the op was saying 170k isn’t high for mn, Id say that’s where this might have come from. Tbh I hate that people worry about their income and lifestyle diminishing and people on lower wages bash them for it- my highest wage ever was coming up to 35k euro but I’d never have gotten higher than that even had I stayed on and I was so proud of it. Now on mw but no regrets, love my job, got to be with the kids, we had some hard (hard hard) times but when I see high earners I just think wow, not don’t moan! And it must be crap to get to a high wage and your everyday things that were a part of your life having to be cut right back

People are mean!
I kind of get what you are saying. Our household income is about 80k. I only work 3 days as the extra I would earn would be swallowed up by childcare (5 and 2 year old).
We are not on the bread line by any means but most of our friends earn significantly more, or don’t have children. We always have to be careful and calculated if we go out while they splash the cash. Also I worked full time before the kids so with a drop in income, childcare costs and increased cost of living we are definitely worse off than we were, although I’m sure most people starting a family feel the same. Our mortgage is about to shoot up as ny 2020 deal is ending soon.
Having said that with the 30 hours childcare coming in from the government little ones nursery has gone from over £80 a day to £17. So I think that we are hopefully going to see better times ahead. May be sticking to caravan holidays for the next few years but hopefully can start saving to get them on a plane!

Why is that a good reference point for someone younger and of working age?!

Totally agree. OP post wasn't braggy at all and lots of people earn a lot more than OP. Nothing wrong with her asking questions about it.

That’s the median disposable income after taxes and benefits. So you’re not comparing like with like. OP has provided pre-tax salary.

In the real world no you are not poor. In the Mumsnet world yes you are. They are some very very well off people on this forum.

It isn't helpful to you to compare yourself ro family. You've chosen to have 2 kids so you have childcare costs and wages have been affected by maternity leave. Those are hits to your income that you signed up for. It's better to make peace with where you are and currently your cloth accordingly. Ypu wony have childcare costs forever. You are not low income by any stretch of the imagination. Unfortunately because of increasing costs your wages just don't go as far.

I don’t know about the cost of living down where you are OP as I am in Scotland but I just wanted to say I think you’ve asked an ok question. I don’t understand the shitty responses. People will earn more and people will earn less. That’s life. No need for the shitty answers given. It’s just a question.

Maths clearly isn't your strong point. No you're not low income.

Honestly you are on a very good income especially for part time. A household income of 80k is about double most households.

The poster on 170k is delusional and is suffering because they have over stretched and now paying thr price with the mortgage interest hikes.

Just because your DH earns 20k per year doesn't automatically mean OP is "definitely not low paid". Whereabouts in the country are you? 20k seems very low assuming full time work?

It pops you in the top 10% of households however I am surprised where the bar sits for that. A lot is relative though. If you have much higher outgoings, it can make a big difference to disposable income and the availability of an emergency fund in savings.

I do also think that some of the comments made are not comparative as there were a number of part time and one adult working incomes. Your husband works full time and you work 0.8. That’s not far off you both working full time and whilst you may earn more due to that, the consequence is less time with your kids than if you were a one salary household

This isn't low. A lot of my friends are on similar and live a lovely life with days out nice clothes and holidays

Although this thread would suggest otherwise with lower earners piling on when OP asked a reasonable question.

That's very short sighted. You'll have an asset at the end of your mortgage. You won't be paying rent as a pensioner. I say this as a mortgage paying single parent myself. I'd never want to swap places with a renting single parent.

The threshold until this year has been 50k.
So every year I have earned more than 50k, I have had to pay however much I am over the threshold back through self-assessment, and over 60k, all of it back.
A household with two parents earning £49999 each could keep it. The threshold has gone up but the principle remains. It’s completely unfair because the costs of a child are not less if you are single.

Then also in Scotland, where I am, over £43000 or thereabouts, you are paying 42% tax (45% over 75000); in England, the threshold is £50000, I think, and 40%. So basically, two people earning say £36 000 each, are also being taxed at the basic rate and not the higher rate.

So my salary looks good on paper but once you take all that off, it’s hundreds of pounds less than a couple who earn it jointly. It is because people are taxed as individuals regardless of marital status which is arguably how it should be, but I used to wonder how everyone could afford things and I couldn’t and then I realised it was because they actually had hundreds of pounds more than me because there were two of them. Even if they earned a good deal less.

(edited to add: of course I would rather have my job and salary, it’s just an eye-opener and my point is that it is not just the figures on paper for salary)

We are on a household income of 192 K combined, both work full time in jobs that needed masters degrees, luckily both sets of parents helped with education so no student loans as such. I had a loan for my masters but have finished paying it.

With regards to people on higher incomes struggling, the point is with the high cost of living even people on higher incomes feel the pinch as they can’t continue the lifestyle they once had. You have to be on even more income to sustain your lifestyle. Not that they are pinching pennies for everyday necessities!

Depends on

• where you live
• your age
• prospects for promotions/for earnings to grow faster than inflation
• whether you receive other valuable perks like a defined benefit pension, or an unusual amount of holiday that reduces your childcare costs

Is that gross or net?