Families need £36,800 to live acceptably.....

gigeorge · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:20

realBabelfish said:
not sure i would want to be right wing and send my son off to boarding school for the next 16 years

Yeah could be costly

you'd need to be on at least 100k then !!!!!

elmarko · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:21

shoes said:
I was privately educated

I'd ask for a refund.

The Halk said:
I'm glad you're here to socialist it up a bit. I end up looking like a socialist when some of the populists on here get going, even though I'm all for laissez faire.

Indeed.

But I'm more aligned to Left-wing ideology in the sense of - "In politics, the Left, left-wing and leftists are people or views which generally support social change to create a more egalitarian society".

I support this view because it corresponds with our current scientific understand of human behaviour on how to create a more pleasant society for all.

XeNoN89 · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:23

shoes said:
I'm not sure what it's like where you are, but at 26 I don't know anyone my age who is earning as much as me around here, except one bloke who had to move to london for work, he earns 15k more than me and has less disposable income.

Anyway, watch this space as I was head hunted earlier in the year for a new project starting at the beginning of august - significant increase in salary and a new bonus scheme, so if all goes to plan then I could be well on my way to my having kids income... but with no kids. Now that would be an epic win

I left school, did one year of college and then got a job at 18 started on 20k now on 24k age 22 and am looking for more now!

LordSplodge · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:24

krooton said:
I didn't say to take the support away, it's the mentality of already needing help to support your family, and then increasing your family's size.

Surely it's more responsible to not have more kids if you already cannot support the ones you have?

The support provided allows his wife to raise the child. That is better for the child and society as a whole. Thus it is worth the state helping in cases like this.

You are suggesting the state imposes a limit to the number of children they will pay child benefit for?

realBabelfish · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:30

shoes said:
I have a lot of friends with children. Their lives look like a chore.

My life is freakin' sweet tbh.

To quote layer cake, life is so good I can taste it in my spit.

if your life is so good why do you sound like such a horrible nasty ****?

cwhitehead · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:30

love the poor people shouldnt have kids comment, that is some **** right there. I do agree with more than one with no intentions of supporting yourself wrong though.

The Halk · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:31

cwhitehead said:
love the poor people shouldnt have kids comment, that is some **** right there. I do agree with more than one with no intentions of supporting yourself wrong though.

Ironically it turns out Shoes is poor people and by his own rules should be sterilised.

realBabelfish · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:32

The Halk said:
Hmm. I earn more than him and his partner combined. I went to (probably) a better private school. I'm better looking, I'm wittier. I dress better and I'm better endowed. I'm also considerably more modest, and in no way conceited.

How's that superiority complex going Shoes?

Oh mate, i do enjoy some of your posts

realBabelfish · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:35

The Halk said:
Ironically it turns out Shoes is poor people and by his own rules should be sterilised.

seconded

krooton · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:35

LordSplodge said:
The support provided allows his wife to raise the child. That is better for the child and society as a whole. Thus it is worth the state helping in cases like this.

You are suggesting the state imposes a limit to the number of children they will pay child benefit for?

I think 2 is a fair enough number to have with support, so yes.

DAIR · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:36

RazrLite said:
Maybe if they stopped banging kids out left, right & centre, they'd be able to life on less.

I dont think I could agree more.

DAIR · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:39

shoes said:
I'm not sure what it's like where you are, but at 26 I don't know anyone my age who is earning as much as me around here, except one bloke who had to move to london for work, he earns 15k more than me and has less disposable income.

Anyway, watch this space as I was head hunted earlier in the year for a new project starting at the beginning of august - significant increase in salary and a new bonus scheme, so if all goes to plan then I could be well on my way to my having kids income... but with no kids. Now that would be an epic win

What part of London do you live in?

I have a number of friends who earn decent wages and like me, are still working to get more.

What will you do if this new project/job doesnt come through?

zootfloot · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:41

After splitting with my wife i have had to really reassess my finances etc and generally my out look on things.

I work monday to friday and dont earn a great deal, but due to my circumstances i have have to pay for and run a home which is suitable for me to live in full time, and the kids to be there half of the time (3 nights one week, 4 nights the next)

I get no help whatsoever because my ex is classed as the primary carer, i get a 25% reduction in my council tax.

I live in a 2 bedroom terraced house and after all bills and expenditure is calculated etc i have approximately £300 left a month to feed myself and the kids when they are with me, run my car (a necessarry evil which costs about £150 per month all in with fuel, insurance etc) provide clothing etc for myself etc etc

The wife on the other hand works part time, gets working family tax credits, more council tax help, 85% of her rent payed, family allowance.....the list goes on.

But i think we are happy, yes it would be nice to get more money but i dont.

I does get on my nerves that my ex is financially in a better situation than i am even though i work full time.

But to answer the OP....we dont have a lot, but we are fed, watered, clothed and we do it on not much at all, the kids dont have an xbox or ps3, we have a cheap tv, our only real extravagance is the internet which is important not only to me but for the kids too.

Its all about what you are willing to sacrifice and what YOU see as an acceptable lifestyle.

HeX · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:41

krooton said:
I think 2 is a fair enough number to have with support, so yes.

TBH the amount you receive does drop with each child.

With 2 I get about £400, with 3 I get about £425 (using the Tax Credits calc).

cwhitehead · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:42

krooton said:
I think 2 is a fair enough number to have with support, so yes.

+1

After having one(which ill admit was a surprise and not planned) not to a fault of non protective business.

It does kind of make you feel you need another one for them to play with, after 2 i dont think theres any reason to have more.

Hxc · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:46

jakspyder said:
My mother said to me (single mum with 5 kids at home and me at uni) If she was on around £22k a year she would have more money than she could spend. These figures to me based on my own upbringing seem huge. I live relatively comfortable on the 5k a year I get in student finance. My only struggle is luxury computer parts. That said I don't run a car as I live in the city.

If I took away all of the extras I earn and was just left with the £5k a year I get from student finance my budget after rent and bills would be £20 a week. I can't live on that, let alone comfortably!

My budgets spreadsheet tells me that my total 'in' for 52 weeks starting last week will be £11,432. I'm definitely living comfortably on over £100 a week, after the cost of bills, running a car, buying a load of luxuries (tv, furniture, etc), but I would not consider 'living' on under about 8k a year even as a student.

Castiel · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:47

shoes said:
I was privately educated, I can be as snobby as I like about state education, it's a crock of ****.

Not being funny, but given you had a private education, the level of education that you actually show in your general responses in a range of topics as opposed to some others who have a state education indicates that a state education might well be preferable, if not superior to the one that your Parents paid for.

Also, is a £45k joint income all you can muster given your self confessed superior education, if relative income is any indication of relative education levels then I would say that you are sadly lacking in that department also, especially if you consider that my wife, who has a state education, pays more in income tax alone than the combined income of both yourself and your wife.

I would therefore contend that you really cannot be as snobby as you like about your education, at least not on the basis of your contribution to the forums and your admitted income levels.

Also I would like to point out that the thread is not about the relative morality of having Children or attacking those that do have Children simply becasue it isn't your choice, but the minimum and acceptable levels of income that a family needs to have Children.

shoes said:
Selective education is where it's at IMO and as far as I know there are no state schools which are selective?

There are plenty of selective state funded schools. the majority of Grammar Schools for a start.

shoes said:
Why do so many of the poor join the army? Because they fail at anything that requires thought, so being a human shield for the americans is one of few options left.

Really, so you would consider me to be a failure and also stupid and poorly educated?

If that is the case, what does that say about yourself, if you measure success only by income bracket?

shoes · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:47

Jez said:
shoes, you live in london and do not know anybody earning better than 20's? Even my little brother who is just 23 and just out of uni earns with a 3 infront of his salary, you either have an underachieving friendship group, or are not in touch with what your peers are earning.

Where does it say that? I live in staffordshire, not London.

DAIR · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:49

OldCoals said:
How do you struggle on £30,000!?

Pft. Consider yourself lucky..... I'm not single.

paradisiac · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:49

zootfloot said:
After splitting with my wife i have had to really reassess my finances etc and generally my out look on things.

I work monday to friday and dont earn a great deal, but due to my circumstances i have have to pay for and run a home which is suitable for me to live in full time, and the kids to be there half of the time (3 nights one week, 4 nights the next)

I get no help whatsoever because my ex is classed as the primary carer, i get a 25% reduction in my council tax.

I live in a 2 bedroom terraced house and after all bills and expenditure is calculated etc i have approximately £300 left a month to feed myself and the kids when they are with me, run my car (a necessarry evil which costs about £150 per month all in with fuel, insurance etc) provide clothing etc for myself etc etc

The wife on the other hand works part time, gets working family tax credits, more council tax help, 85% of her rent payed, family allowance.....the list goes on.

But i think we are happy, yes it would be nice to get more money but i dont.

I does get on my nerves that my ex is financially in a better situation than i am even though i work full time.

But to answer the OP....we dont have a lot, but we are fed, watered, clothed and we do it on not much at all, the kids dont have an xbox or ps3, we have a cheap tv, our only real extravagance is the internet which is important not only to me but for the kids too.

Its all about what you are willing to sacrifice and what YOU see as an acceptable lifestyle.

i made this point earlier, there needs to be something done, to stop the mums claiming to be single, when actually the dads have them half the week too.