Why The Cost of Living Crisis Isn't Yours To Fix

Send me a message!Something happened on social media recently that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.I posted about why music teachers undercharge, and the comments that came back stopped me in my tracks: teachers who hadn't raised their rates in years, defensiveness, and one comment in particular that I keep returning to: "I think you live in a very different socioeconomic area to me."This episode is the extended version of that conversation.Because the cost of living crisis is real, and the financial pressure on families is real. But somewhere along the way, music teachers decided that pressure was theirs to absorb, quietly, alone, without anyone asking them to. And that decision is costing them far more than they realise: not just in income, but in resentment, unsustainability, and the slow erosion of the joy that made them want to teach in the first place.In this episode I get into where the guilt around charging actually comes from, why we're almost always wrong about what our students' families can and can't afford, and what your frozen rates are really saying about how you value your own expertise. I also address the fear sitting underneath all of it: that raising your rates means losing students, and why the evidence for that is much weaker than you think. In this episode:Why music teachers have been absorbing inflation long before the cost of living crisisWhere the guilt around charging comes from, and why it's costing youThe assumption we make about our students' finances, and why it's usually wrongWhy your value is not determined by how little you chargeThe fear of losing students when you raise your rates, addressed honestlyWhat a sustainable, professional approach to annual rate increases actually looks like Resources mentioned:Monthly Billing Transition Toolkit (£12)Access the show notes here: Episode 2 Show Notes