Comment by KaiserPro | Hacker News Reader

Comment by KaiserPro | Hacker News Reader

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> Britain does not have better economic mobility for the middle class. This article offers nothing of substance.

I think that is not the case. The middle classes in the USA have been hollowed out, mostly down to decreasing wage and increasing costs of healthcare, property and education.

The UK only has one of those problems: property costs.

University is funded by an (unfair) tax, which is transparently aimed at the middle income earner. We are fixated on calling it a loan, when its not. Unlike the USA its not going to bankrupt you.

Healthcare is funded by taxation, and is for the average person significantly more comprehensive than the USA.

In the UK, if you are middle class, then you are most likely alright. if you are working class, then you're fucked, because your jobs don't matter, and the safety net that once existed acts as a 100% tax for single mums with jobs (universal credit).

> The UK only has one of those problems: property costs.

University education in UK (sans Scotland) has gone from zero to GDP 9k a year in fees, the average debt per student is GDP 35k. I know that this quantity and the associated conditions for Americans, or London IT people, sounds like a joke. But AFAIK the average pre-tax graduate job salaries in about GDP 24k.

Too late cannot edit. Where I put GDP, please read GBP.

The £9k a year figure is mostly smoke and mirrors though. All British citizens are eligible for a tuition "loan" that covers it. That "loan" (and the maintenance loan too) is the equivalent of a graduate tax, as it's a percentage (9% for the current lot of students) charged on income made past a certain amount (above £25,000 for this lot). The loan is wiped 30 years after graduation (this what will happen for the majority of students).

I get that its sold as a "loan"

but its not. Its a ~9% tax that only kicks in after ~25k and disappears at 55(or thereabouts)

the American system are actual loans at commercial rates and terms[1]. apart from you can't bankrupt your self out of them.

[1]well its more complex.

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