£100k Break-Even Calculator

If you earn around £100,000, this calculator shows whether a pay rise, a bonus or a pension contribution leaves you better or worse off once childcare counts. It works out your break-even salary: the income you'd actually need to be no worse off than you are today.

Above £100,000 of adjusted net income, three things happen at once. Your personal allowance tapers away, creating at least a 60% marginal rate up to £125,140, Tax-Free Childcare stops and the funded hours for working parents are cut or lost. None of it tapers gently as the childcare rules are a cliff edge, tested on each parent separately, and they are based on adjusted net income, not salary. A family with two children in nursery may need to earn over £150,000 to get back to where they were at £99,000, but every family's number is different, which is what this calculator helps you with.

Enter your income and your real childcare costs, and you'll see your adjusted net income, your take-home pay before and after, your break-even salary, and the pension contribution needed to get back under £100,000, plus what that contribution actually costs you. Model the decisions people in this band really face: how much to sacrifice into a pension, whether a pay rise or bonus is worth taking as cash or as pension and whether dropping a day leaves you closer to level than you'd think. If you'd rather have someone model it with you, that's what a consultation is for.

Run your figures through our annual childcare costs calculator first (open in a new tab) and add your total funded and unfunded annual costs here, so the break-even point reflects what your family actually pays. Built for parents in England; works on mobile, but desktop is much easier.