The big issue with this is geography. Out of London, Henry is on a cracking salary, and would easily be able to make progress. He should move to the North East, buy a three bed Tyneside flat in a decent area for 200 grand and learn to surf. Obviously his company need to up sticks, too, though.
Great insights in this article. I left London almost 30 years ago as a young corporate worker and managed to land in the US. I see the problems you raise in the UK and the US. ‘Middle class’ used to imply some level of steady comfort, and while it is a very broad socioeconomic strata I have experienced a real sense of middle class squeeze over the years.
The housing situation in major cities can be crippling and combine that with missing out on the long term compounding effects of saving and before you know it you’re in your 40’s and time has burned away!
There are certainly disparities between the UK and US but the squeeze is real and I do think it’s hard to see a near term path to solving it for the next generation of city workers.
I think anyone younger than 35 on average salaries, not the HENRY’s, is acknowledging that striving for more pay, more status on a linear career path isn’t paying off in real terms. The financial reward of climbing and directing the best of your energy, ideas, creativity, and perhaps your wellbeing, won’t give you the life you wanted for yourself or a family when you did your (recommended) degree. Our parents and grandparents 30/40 years ago could afford the basics that they were promised, housing etc, with some sacrifice. You now can barely afford housing even if you scrimp and save aggressively. Now those things are arguably luxuries.
Eliza, your piece is excellent. So many of my friends are in this category and they’re all considering leaving the country, reducing their work hours, or just going off grid. It’s all part of the same depressing story for me - the decline of what was once Great Britain. It’s shocking how much Britain has collapsed in the past 10 years.
In fact, it wound me up so much, I started writing fiction. Not as a rant, but as an attempt to understand and diagnose the underlying psychological and moral drivers behind a society that seems wedded to managed decline.
I published the first signal (serial) this week here:
You are 100% correct and with the chancellor looking to extend the tax threshold an additional two years it really leaves the question of, “what is the new 100k?”
The big issue with this is geography. Out of London, Henry is on a cracking salary, and would easily be able to make progress. He should move to the North East, buy a three bed Tyneside flat in a decent area for 200 grand and learn to surf. Obviously his company need to up sticks, too, though.
Great insights in this article. I left London almost 30 years ago as a young corporate worker and managed to land in the US. I see the problems you raise in the UK and the US. ‘Middle class’ used to imply some level of steady comfort, and while it is a very broad socioeconomic strata I have experienced a real sense of middle class squeeze over the years.
The housing situation in major cities can be crippling and combine that with missing out on the long term compounding effects of saving and before you know it you’re in your 40’s and time has burned away!
There are certainly disparities between the UK and US but the squeeze is real and I do think it’s hard to see a near term path to solving it for the next generation of city workers.
I think anyone younger than 35 on average salaries, not the HENRY’s, is acknowledging that striving for more pay, more status on a linear career path isn’t paying off in real terms. The financial reward of climbing and directing the best of your energy, ideas, creativity, and perhaps your wellbeing, won’t give you the life you wanted for yourself or a family when you did your (recommended) degree. Our parents and grandparents 30/40 years ago could afford the basics that they were promised, housing etc, with some sacrifice. You now can barely afford housing even if you scrimp and save aggressively. Now those things are arguably luxuries.
Eliza, your piece is excellent. So many of my friends are in this category and they’re all considering leaving the country, reducing their work hours, or just going off grid. It’s all part of the same depressing story for me - the decline of what was once Great Britain. It’s shocking how much Britain has collapsed in the past 10 years.
In fact, it wound me up so much, I started writing fiction. Not as a rant, but as an attempt to understand and diagnose the underlying psychological and moral drivers behind a society that seems wedded to managed decline.
I published the first signal (serial) this week here:
https://signalflarelondon.substack.com/p/signal-001-the-scales
You are 100% correct and with the chancellor looking to extend the tax threshold an additional two years it really leaves the question of, “what is the new 100k?”