Are you a HENRY, a GRACE, or a CRAIG?

HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet) are back in the news and socials. Definitions vary but the term often refers to people in their 20s and 30s who earn over £100K. TikTok is awash with ways for them to be ‘work optional’ within a decade or so. The British versions also explore the tax blackhole for those earning between £100k and £125k.

Tax oddities aside, I have problems with overfocusing on HENRY.

Firstly, because he represents such a small group. Only 4% of workers earn over £100k of which only 3% are childless. So they represent maybe about 0.12% of the population.

But more because of the way that he epitomises the “ideal worker” (for more on this subject Heejung Chung is ace). HENRY is generally male (hello the name), without a partner, dependents or responsibilities beyond work. For him, The Infinite Work Day we talked about last week is not a massive problem and five days back in the office is doable, if perhaps not popular.

Instead, I am more interested in GRACE and CRAIG (see vlog), who may or may not be high earners, but do make up the majority of the workforce and are a better reference for anyone designing work right now.

Which, if any, are you? Or is there another term we should be using?

Christine