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Actually at a previous job (at the front page of HN today for CEO severance) I started developing sympathy for politicians who say things like that. I saw how o

Actually at a previous job (at the front page of HN today for CEO severance) I started developing sympathy for politicians who say things like that. I saw how out of touch upper management was with what was actually going on, and in something like government it's at a much higher order of magnitude. Doesn't excuse them, but I can understand how they say such things.

michaelt 10y ago
Saying that a £70,000 salary makes you rich sounds like sensible politics to me. In the UK the median pre-tax income is £22,400 with £72,000 putting you in the 95th percentile [1]; £70,000 is in the middle of the pay scale for a salaried GP/family doctor [2]; and MPs receive a base salary of £74,000 [3] (plus a bunch of extra income through a variety of opaque means) I think you would look pretty out of touch, from the perspective of someone earning £22,400 if you claimed earning £70,000 didn't make you rich. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/percentile-points-from-1-to-99-for-total-income-before-and-after-tax https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/percentile-points-f... [2] https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/pay/general-practitioners-pay https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/pay/general-practit... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaries_of_Members_of_the_United_Kingdom_Parliament https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaries_of_Members_of_the_Uni...
- vilmosi 10y ago
  While I agree with your point, that 22400 number talks about household income not median income of an individual.
  - user5994461 10y ago
    That's misleading on purpose. "Houseold" accounts for children, single income families, and ignore benefits and unemployment. Last but not least, it's scaled for the UK, not London. If you are a male in your 20-40, living in London, being the source of income for your household. 70k couldn't be further from rich.

michaelt 10y ago

Saying that a £70,000 salary makes you rich sounds like sensible politics to me. In the UK the median pre-tax income is £22,400 with £72,000 putting you in the 95th percentile [1]; £70,000 is in the middle of the pay scale for a salaried GP/family doctor [2]; and MPs receive a base salary of £74,000 [3] (plus a bunch of extra income through a variety of opaque means) I think you would look pretty out of touch, from the perspective of someone earning £22,400 if you claimed earning £70,000 didn't make you rich. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/percentile-points-from-1-to-99-for-total-income-before-and-after-tax https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/percentile-points-f... [2] https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/pay/general-practitioners-pay https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/pay/general-practit... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaries_of_Members_of_the_United_Kingdom_Parliament https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaries_of_Members_of_the_Uni...

vilmosi 10y ago
While I agree with your point, that 22400 number talks about household income not median income of an individual.
- user5994461 10y ago
  That's misleading on purpose. "Houseold" accounts for children, single income families, and ignore benefits and unemployment. Last but not least, it's scaled for the UK, not London. If you are a male in your 20-40, living in London, being the source of income for your household. 70k couldn't be further from rich.