But do Londoners feel well off?
asserted
Londoners → feel → ?
Here’s what 12 capital-dwellers — from taxi drivers to tech workers, bankers, teachers and TfL staff — think about what they make.
asserted
they → ’ → what
Taxi driver, 55, female
How much you earn a year?
asserted
you → earn → much
I save £600 per month, and have £25,000 in a savings account.
asserted
I → save → account
Did you go to a state or private school?
asserted
you → go → school
How much were you earning five years ago? £50,000.
Do you earn more than your parents did at your age?
asserted
parents → earn → age
Do you feel well off?
asserted
you → feel → ?
No — I’m surviving.
asserted
I → survive → ?
2. Commercial property manager, 34, male
How much do you earn a year?
asserted
you → earn → much
£350,000 plus bonus (last year this was £150,000 but the year before it was only £105,000, so it varies).
asserted
it → vary → ?
I save around £5,000 a month.
asserted
I → save → 5,000
Right now I have about £145,000 sitting in an easy-access account.
asserted
I → have → account
I invest the rest, mostly within global index trackers plus equity in a couple of my own projects, totalling around £400,000.
asserted
I → invest → 400,000
I own a three-bed Victorian house in Ealing, with a £4,200 monthly mortgage.
asserted
I → own → mortgage
Did you go to a state or private school?
asserted
you → go → school
How much were you earning five years ago? £265,000 per year.
Do you earn more than your parents did at your age?
asserted
parents → earn → age
My father was a GP and my mother taught at UCL.
asserted
mother → teach → UCL
They owned a bigger house than I do, though.
asserted
I → own → house
Do you feel well off?
asserted
you → feel → ?
I feel comfortable rather than rich.
asserted
I → feel → ?
3. Actor/tour guide, 22, Male
How much you earn a year? About £17,000.
asserted
you → earn → much
Savings portfolio: I save between £50-£100 a month.
asserted
I → save → 50-£100
I have a pension with my tour guide job, which I’ve just started paying into.
asserted
I → have → which
Housing costs: I rent a room in a four-bed house on the zone 2/3 border in north-west London, which costs £750 a month.
asserted
which → rent → 750
Did you go to a state or private school?
asserted
you → go → school
How much were you earning five years ago?
asserted
you → earn → much
Do you earn more than your parents did at your age?
asserted
parents → earn → age
Do you feel well off?
asserted
you → feel → ?
I tend to have maybe £50 or less left at the end of the month.
asserted
I → tend → month
4. Cloud engineer, 37, male
How much you earn a year?
asserted
you → earn → much
I’ve been contributing to the company pension for a few years, but I don’t believe it’s very much.
asserted
it → contribute → years
I don’t invest as there’s nothing left over
Housing costs:
asserted
I → invest → ?
We bought a house last year for £770,000, and anything we could save is destined to go to the mortgage for the foreseeable future.
uncertain
we → buy → future
We don’t feel we’re getting wealthier, just climbing out of mortgage debt.
asserted
we → feel → debt
Did you go to a state or private school?
asserted
you → go → school
Childcare costs: We don’t have any children yet, explicitly because we don’t feel we can afford them.
asserted
we → feel → them
How much were you earning five years ago? £130,000.
asserted
you → earn → 130,000
Do you earn more than your parents did at your age?
asserted
parents → earn → age
I have no idea.
asserted
I → have → idea
They were deeply in debt until they finally sold our family home, which I’m pretty sure was the only way for them not to be in debt for ever.
asserted
them → sell → debt
…and 105 more, not listed.
The Aporia
