Household Income Strategy

Plenty of UK households are stuck in the middle: too well paid for meaningful support, not well paid enough to stop worrying. Take on extra hours and the gain quietly disappears into Income Tax, National Insurance, the Universal Credit taper and childcare costs. This free tool makes that invisible maths visible. Set up your household once, and it shows your true effective marginal rate, compares both adults pound for pound, and ranks the practical moves — overtime, a pay rise, pension changes, lower childcare — by what your household actually keeps.

Who it's for

• Dual-income households deciding who should take on extra hours
• Parents weighing childcare costs against a bigger salary
• Anyone caught by the Universal Credit taper or a benefit cliff edge
• Households considering pension contributions to stay under a threshold
• Employees offered overtime or a promotion who want the real net picture

What it does

• Models both adults' salary, overtime, bonuses and pension contributions
• Calculates net pay with Income Tax, National Insurance and Marriage Allowance transfers
• Shows your effective marginal rate — what you truly keep per extra £1,000
• Factors in rent or mortgage, childcare costs and Tax-Free Childcare eligibility
• Ranks your best next moves by annual household gain, with instant what-if scenarios
• Flags the income thresholds you're approaching before you cross them

How it works

1. 1Set up your household: adults, children's ages, postcode, housing and childcare costs.
2. 2Enter each adult's salary, overtime, bonus and pension percentage.
3. 3Read your household strategy summary and effective marginal rate.
4. 4Compare who should earn the next £1,000 and review the ranked list of best moves.
5. 5Test scenarios — a £5,000 rise, more pension, less childcare — and apply the one that wins.