How much did you earn in 1993?

[CrushedPistachios]

I was reading a book set in 93 and the lead character is said to have a salary of £55k a year. It’s obviously suggested to be good, but I’m curious as to what that relates to in real terms.

[NuffSaidSam]

I think I was on about 50p a week pocket money.

[DaisyDozyDee]

I was on a full student grant at that time, which was about £2.5k per year.
Worked in the holidays for £2.48 an hour. £55k would have been a pretty huge wage.

[BarbaraofSeville]

That's an absolutely enormous salary. That was the year I got an entry level scientific job (GCSE or A-level, not graduate) for £6.5k pa. We paid our new graduates about £11k, which seemed like a fortune at the time.

[Chasingsquirrels]

I started my accountancy training in 1993 straight from uni. I started on just under £11k with the expectation it would get to around £20k by the time I qualified (approx 3 years).

[FlorallyBankrupt]

Blimey, I was in my first job (aged 21, A levels but no degree) on a basic salary of £5,000.

[StCharlotte]

About £25k which was quite good for a non-professional (although skilled) role.

[AvaCallanach]

I was in my first year as a teacher on 12k.

[felulageller]

The min wage came in c. 98 and was £3ph iirc.

[Ipanemama]

I started work in sept 1996, straight after I finished my Msc on £21,000.

[Ozberry]

My salary was £9,500 pa. A quick google tells me the same job for the same employer is now £19,500 so approximately double.

Your character was very well paid. What’s their job?

[pootleforPM]

About £7k. Full time working in a bank

[Shmithecat2]

About £11k a year full time working for a book publishers.

[Redcrayons]

First graduate job £9.5k.
What was the character doing for that?

[Hboo31]

An inflation calculator online suggests it's worth £96,000 today. I'm a bit surprised because I thought it would be more than that.

[SquirryTheSquirrel]

My first job was in 1995 and I got £3.50 an hour.

£55k would still be a good salary now IMHO - it's a lot more than I earn.

[PerhapsCarriageGreen]

18k. It was an admin job but London based, which probably bumped it up. DH was on about £50k at the time and we thought we were rich beyond our wildest dreams.

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

Teaching. 12k.

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

I was in my first professional role, for which I needed a Masters Degree. I started on £17k in Central London, think London Weighting was about £1k pa so outside London about £16k. DH is older than me, he was earning just under £30k but had been working for 6 years since he finished his PhD. We were able to save up money for a house deposit and also have lots of meals out, nice holidays etc.

[laselvar]

I was a student and had a summer job in a department store in NE. Hourly rate was £3.01 ph, I came out with just under £113 pw. For lots of the employees that was there full time wage for working 37.5 hours per week - it works out at under £7k per year. I also remember some departments had YTS workers who were working the same hours for £35 per week. It made me determined to work hard at uni, my first job out of uni paid almost 3 times that!

[Seventimesaday]

North West. £14000pa

[EBearhug]

My first job then was just over £8000. Even with a very frugal lifestyle, it wasn't quite enough to live on. I used my overdraft and credit card a lot. The next year, I got a similar job on £11K, which included London weighting, and I still couldn't afford anything much on top of rent and food. My boyfriend at the time was in his first job after uni, in IT, and he was on about 14000.

[Jasmine11]

I was on £2.18 an hour as a part-time lifeguard!

[Summerhillsquare]

£1.40 an hour washing dishes in Debenhams cafe!

[ChilliChaos]

£9000 purchase ledger clerk in a private hospital. First job after GCSEs.

[resipsa]

£15,000 in London as an articled clerk (trainee solicitor these days). I thought I was so rich!