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It's grim/worse in the UK: - Median individual income: £31,000 (£598/week[0]) - $40K USD - Average house asking price £360,000 [1] - $450K USD - For a couple

by nly 5y ago

It's grim/worse in the UK: - Median individual income: £31,000 (£598/week[0]) - $40K USD - Average house asking price £360,000 [1] - $450K USD - For a couple both on a dual median income that means the national average house price is 5.8x typical household income. - Banks aren't allowed to offer mortgages of more than 4.5x income to more than 85% of their clients, which means such a couple are tasked at finding 1.3x their joint income (£80K or $100K USD) to get started - Affordability isn't bad if you can cobble together the equity/deposit. An 85% LTV mortgage on a 5 year fix is around ~2.4% right now, so a £360K average home will have a mortgage of ~£1,200/mo ($1,500/mo USD, which is around 30% of such a couples take home pay). - The bad news is interest rates are currently rising, at the same time as house prices, and the cost of living - Worse news is if this fictional couple want kids they're likely going down to a single income, which puts it out of reach completely. [0] https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/latest https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwor... [1] https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index/

coward123 5y ago
Here's something that I perceive the UK has going for it that the US doesn't - health care and child care. In the US, you could easily be spending > $1000/mo on child care, and for those families of child rearing age, a health insurance bill > $500/mo is pretty normal. So there's basically a mortgage into just those costs. Plus, with the design of US cities a car or two are practically a necessity, so there goes another > $500/mo too where in much of the UK you might get away with only one car or no car in a household depending on your location.
- nly 5y ago
  Child care isn't free in the UK. At all. And while it's true we have free nationalized healthcare, people in professional roles in the US will take home way higher salaries (50-100% more in tech), with slightly (~5%) lower income taxes. Not to mention the cost of living in many categories, like fuel and food, are cheaper in the US.

by nly 5y ago

coward123 5y ago

Here's something that I perceive the UK has going for it that the US doesn't - health care and child care. In the US, you could easily be spending > $1000/mo on child care, and for those families of child rearing age, a health insurance bill > $500/mo is pretty normal. So there's basically a mortgage into just those costs. Plus, with the design of US cities a car or two are practically a necessity, so there goes another > $500/mo too where in much of the UK you might get away with only one car or no car in a household depending on your location.

nly 5y ago
Child care isn't free in the UK. At all. And while it's true we have free nationalized healthcare, people in professional roles in the US will take home way higher salaries (50-100% more in tech), with slightly (~5%) lower income taxes. Not to mention the cost of living in many categories, like fuel and food, are cheaper in the US.