There was a time in the not so distant past that middle earners actually felt as though they were making a decent wage but now the tides have turned. Those making what is considered to be middle income or a middle wage now consider themselves amongst the poor and would only feel as though they would be doing well if their wages were doubled.
This information was released as a result of a survey conducted by My Voucher Codes and that those persons earning a wage between £25k and £50k feel that they are not ‘comfortable’ simply because of the rising cost of living and other assorted financial burdens they did not have in the past.
Then there is the phenomenon being referred to as the ‘squeezed middle’ in which anyone who earns more than £40k is being penalised for making a decent wage. These penalties are viewed as ‘unintentional poverty traps’ and they include such things as increased NI, income tax and the withdrawal of former tax cuts that were universal such as child benefits.
In this survey, respondents who made less than £24k felt that they would need to double that amount in order to be counted amongst the ‘comfortable’ and the chairman of My Voucher Codes was surprised at just how many middle wage earners counted themselves amongst those who were struggling financially.
He admitted that he was actually shocked at the number of people who actually saw themselves as poor even though they were amongst the middle income earners. Furthermore, what was even more shocking to Mark Pearson, the above mentioned chairman, is that many low income earners numbered themselves amongst the financially comfortable.
Perhaps it is because they aren’t affected by government cuts? For whatever reason, it is the middle earners who feel they have been hardest hit by inflation, the rising cost of living and government cuts.
