£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

[Gobbledigook]

Speechless!

[piffle]

I totally identify with that I'm afraid - certainly obtaining a decent standard of living in London costs a lot more than anywhere else and paying for childcare would cost them upwards of an extra £500 per month... Broke at a higher level - they may not be able to afford an extra bedrom or whatever.
Plus if you intend on paying for them through uni and stuff in the future.
We're certainly not on 100k but in London if we were and trying to obtain what we have up here in Lincs, we'd be in the same boat...
I know it's sad and I know it seems incomprehensible and offensive to people who struggle to meet basic day to day needs financially (And I have been there), its simply being broke on a higher level
WE've not been able to afford a holiday in 3 yrs, we cannot afford ds to have priavate music lessons, yet many would judge our lifestyle as affluent.

[monstersmummy]

heres the solution for that family in the article...stop paying a nanny and for private schools and actually look after your own children...ridiculous moaning about having no money when they spend that much in childcare alone. I would LOVE that kind of money, i could buy a house instead of renting and i would actually manage to pay my bills on time..... makes me so mad things like that

will prob get parped at now but i don't care

[teeavee]

I have revently been considering returning to Wales from France, but my childminder costs are reimbursed to the tune of about 80%, and the child benefit here is so much better. It is much cheaper to kave kids here.
Makes me think I might wait until ds is at school age before returning....

[katymac]

Isn't it to do with choices tho'

There are cheaper places to live - you may not want to live there - but it is a choice.

There is a possibilty of getting a job in another place - you may not want the lower wage - but again it is a choice.

You may decided whether or not you go back to work after having children, housing costs, and childcare costs feature heavily in that decision but for anyone on 2 wages - in the end it is a choice.

I have a really good standar of living, because I moved are, bought a cheaper house and changed my job for a lower paying one. I see my DD much more and am able to do things with her.

If we were still in london - we would be living in a very small flat, running myself ragged to work in a job which allowed me no time to spend with her

I made my choice. It is about choice and compromise and I would find it very hard to feel sorry for anyone on more than about £35K jointly claiming poverty. Their priorities are different to mine - but they made their choices

God I go on a bit don't I - sorry

[teeavee]

I agree with the private shcools comment though - but those people do ssem to be in a financial trap.

[ggglimpopo]

Message withdrawn

[teeavee]

Oooh, thanks ggg! Don't worry, we're incapapble of making any coherent plans for the future - always have been. I'll probably still be here in 20 years' time!

[misdee]

but you dont have to have private education do you?

am i missing something, about people moaning that tthey are broke but spend fortunes on private schools and have a nanny, cleaner, gardener etc. ( i know the family in teh article only have a nanny and private school)

[colditz]

Be still my bleeding heart..... Why are they paying for childcare before she goes back to work part-time?

Absurd to expect people to feel sorry for this couple.

[LaScummettaMummetta]

Boo f**king hoo. What pathetic human beings.

[katymac]

If they don't like the local school, then they should move. They may have to have a smaller house but that again is a choice

[colditz]

Oh Lord, Oh PARP PARP PARP in the true sense of the word, this will make me cross all day now!

[Caligula]

oh god, hoot hoot, parp parp and hyperventilation coming up. will run away now!

[LaScummettaMummetta]

Colditx- that's exactly what I feel! Started reading the article aloud to my partner but we felt too enraged to continue. How dare this couple present themselves as impoverished? Unbelieveable.

[SoupDragon]

They didn't present themselves as impoverished.

[tabitha]

I didn't particularly sympathise with the couple in the article, but I can see where they're coming from.
I think it's incredibly difficult to have children in this country unless you're very rich or very lucky. It's certainly a real struggle to have more than 1 or 2.
We have 4 and despite having a relatively small mortgage and very few 'luxuries' (I know some people might thnk having four children is a luxury) we invariably run out of money well before the end of the month.
All I can say is, I wish I lived in France.

[Nightynight]

I dont think it is a real couple, surely the journalist just made them up for the article? nobody could be that dim surely, as to be stuck in the 100,000 a year poverty trap like that!

[LaScummettaMummetta]

Sorry, I think they did, Soup.

eg: ?Financial concerns are the number one thing hindering me from having another baby,? said Claire, a commercial property agent. ?It is a very depressing situation.?

Or: ?It?s very difficult for our generation,? said David. ?You have to be very rich to live in England now and give your children the kind of education you received. But because you had the advantage of it, you feel you owe it to your children to give them the same start.?

Really found his comments about local state schools utterly objectionable too. Untrue as well but I don't suppose he has bothered to check that out.

[Nightynight]

interesting - perhaps the French policy will backfire by just attracting more immigrants from other European countries.

[teeavee]

like me!

[colditz]

Quote David "It's very difficult for our generation"

For some people, yes. Not for him.

[Nightynight]

me too teavee - and looks like tabitha may be joining us!

[tabitha]

It probably is difficult for him (poor lamb ) when he compares his life to his parents.