The cost of being ‘middle class' is now extortionate

Telegraph

07-05-2025

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It used to be that if you excelled at school, went to university, got a high-flying job and worked your way up the career ladder by your late 30s or 40s, then a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle would reliably await you.
Having a large house with two cars outside, private school for the children and going on at least two foreign holidays a year were once the hallmarks of a middle-aged professional who had achieved a high level of success in their career.
But times have changed, and a lifestyle involving all of the above is now a pipe dream for all but the very highest earners.
There is not much 'middling' about it, when even those whose salaries are in the top 1pc can no longer afford to live this way, that is, unless there is a sizeable inheritance subsidising it.
The lifestyle that the current generation of professionally successful 30- and 40-somethings can now afford on their higher-than-average wages looks very different to the environment they grew up in as children.
In many ways it is richer, with a vast array of entertainment, fashion and technology at their fingertips, and at relatively cheap prices.
Superficially at least, affluent people's lifestyles may never have been better. Whereas the boomer generation would have been content with a Friday night in, watching only what was on the terrestrial TV guide and a home-cooked meal, my generation would consider anything less than Netflix and a Deliveroo takeaway to be thoroughly depressing.
But let's be honest. This constant stream of little treats, new 'stuff' and short attention span-inducing distractions to which people with any amount of disposable income have become accustomed, bears no relation to traditionally 'middle-class' lifestyles.
Instead, the 'cushiness' of it all it provides a welcome distraction from thinking for too long about how prohibitively expensive the big, important pillars of a comfortable, middle-class existence have become over the past decade or longer – and how the tax burden on high earners has soared, too.
By far the biggest differentiator between the old and new middle class has been the stonking rise of house prices which have soared far beyond wages, therefore placing the sorts of homes bought by previous generations of high earners firmly out of reach for today's equivalents.
The street I live on provides a good example of this in action. It's a quiet but ordinary residential road in a not very trendy area of London. On it are the sorts of terraced houses which two or three decades ago might have been considered as relatively small, narrow and certainly not the preserve of high earners.
But according to the Telegraph's new calculator, it is now considered to be 'upper middle' class.
House prices have now climbed to such a degree that anyone who has bought there recently is more than likely a professional couple both earning well, and with a vast mortgage they'll be paying off until into their silver years.
When someone decides to leave the road, their house – and its asking price –is publicly listed on Rightmove. Messages often follow on the street WhatsApp group from older residents, who bought theirs for approximately five shillings goodness knows how long ago, and are therefore feel bemused at how much the younger folk are now shelling out.
'Who would pay that much for a rabbit hutch?', said one recently. Awkwardly, a middle-aged man replied, saying, 'Me, actually, and it's not a rabbit hutch, it's actually very spacious.'
The man in question works in finance and probably earns far more than the commenter ever has. Yet, he is likely mortgaged up to his eyeballs while the commenter may well sit mortgage-free in a similar house across the road.
Burdened by these giant mortgages, as well as the stealth raid on higher-rate taxpayers by successive governments, there simply isn't enough left over for the middle-class staples of the past, even for those lucky enough to be on six-figure salaries.
Thanks to Labour adding VAT to private school fees, day fees for schools in many areas now top £30,000, and £45,000 for boarders.
For two children, this is the equivalent of £60,000 of post-tax income, which assuming the parents pay higher rate-tax, is equivalent to £100,000 of pre-tax income, or more if they pay at the additional rate.
To afford this on top of the mortgage, bills and everything else, you'd need to be earning within the top percentage point compared to the rest of the country – as a bare minimum.
Then come the cars and the holidays, which for many feel as though they're slipping out of reach, too.
A flash poll by Telegraph Ski found that 70pc of readers think ski holidays are becoming unaffordable, and as I reported in March, the most sought-after luxury summer resorts targeting 'middle-class' families are now charging £10,000 for a family during school holidays.
My generation is left wondering whether the phrase 'middle class' is an outdated relic which no longer applies, because nowadays, there's nothing remotely middling about the cost of the things the phrase alludes to.
Whereas once attainable for those who worked hard and did well, the truth is that the traditional middle-class lifestyle has become so extortionate that it is now the preserve of the elite.
But while the true middle are busy enjoying their relatively low-cost luxuries like Netflix subscriptions, fancy brunches and Zara clothes hauls, daily life feels good enough for them not to fully notice how far the financial goal posts are shifting before their eyes.