Does anyone here have an ‘average’ job with an average wage?

I have an M.A, a B.A and a diploma in a specific mental health category, I do a professional role.
I earn 26k. It's disheartening and makes me feel like an utter failure.l am the most educated in our family and I live in a small terrace whereas my sibling who left school at 16 lives in a (practically) mansion and has no money worries whatsoever. Boomer parents are very wealthy and siblings adult children both earn more than I do, one has one degree but picked the 'right' degree one left school at 17.

I earn 25k doing 34hrs a week as a data admin, it’s quite technical system based admin work and the pay is pretty standard for our industry in the charity sector. I’m doing a secondment for 6 months which will mean £300 a month more and that feels like a huge amount more, in reality over the 6 months it’s £1800 which in real terms isn’t much is it for a lot of extra responsibilities and upheaval. My dh has a good steady income in financial services, whereas I have committed career suicide several times by having extended maternity leave and time off with children, then career changes etc. I’ve started at the bottom of lots of ladders. I’ve never been particularly driven in terms of career.
everyone we know seems to have a lot more money than we do, fancy holidays, clothes, immaculate homes and extensions and 50k kitchens 🤷‍♀️

I would add also that the majority of my friends live in an 3 bed semi which they own - but as we are in our 50s/early 60s we got into the housing market at a better time. And although we were at a time before student loans, mostly we went straight into working at 17 or 18.

This poster also makes a good point.

Talking about 'average' wage lifestyles isn't terribly meaningful if you're in a multi-person household and you're the only person earning.

Location is obviously also an important factor since someone on £38k in Bolton will likely see a lot more bang for their buck than trying to live on £38k in London.

I work in a boring admin role, the people are nice but the work is dull, I am 50 and earn between £31K-£34K per annum, I know only two people who earn £100K + one is my boss and the other is my cousin who is a lawyer. We get by but I wish I had a healthy pension pot, I don't and I know I will be working full time until I drop which is a depressing thought but there you go, it's just how it is. Also whilst earning more money would be nice I wouldn't want the stress that goes with it as often I feel those positions come with a lot of responsibility, I am glad I can leave the office at 4pm and switch off until the next day.

As a PP said, NMW isn't 'average' - it's well below. And £50k a year is well above.

Someone who ears in the mid to late £30ks would be 'average'.

I earn 38k (before tax) and have about £5 to £6 additional income per year ( after tax) from another source., so about £2800 a month after tax. Have 2 kids and a non-earning husband and we are poor compared to everyone else I know where we live ( affluent here). Its a struggle. We used to be much better off so its hard to live like this now.

I think that the average wage figures are bought about by the large number of people on minimum wage and a very few on extremely high salaries.

But yes, DH and I are retired now but previously our salaries would have been my admin job at the lower end of this scale (although I earned less as PT) and DH’s job in manufacturing just above the higher level of ‘average’ noted here.

Most of my friends earn(ed) similar to me as they tend to be people I worked with at one time. Their parters mainly earned similar or a little more .

I work in admin earning £29k, DH works for a builders’ merchant earning £40k.

We’ve only just got to those pay levels though in our mid 40s. I worked many years in retail on min wage and DH has worked his way up.

We privately rent and have given up any hope of owning our own property.

Minimum wage isn't average, it's below average. Average is about 36k like a pp said.

Average wage is what (for example) a teacher or nurse typically gets.

Don't forget salaries aren't a bell curve. When we talk about average salary we usually mean median, so half the population earns more and half earns less. But many people who earn more earn a lot more. So if you earn median salary you might feel poor.

To illustrate: if you take 5 random people, the spread might be 28k, 29k, 36k, 70k, 200k.

36k is the median salary but the mean is way more. So if those 5 people know each other, 3 of them would feel poor, the 70k earner would feel like they're in the middle, and the 200k earner would feel rich.

This all explains why the 50k earner upthread thinks she's "average". She's way above median but doesn't feel rich

I'm a sahm but when I worked (in a job that required a Masters!) I didn't earn more than £38k. It was a factor in deciding to be a sahm given childcare costs.

I did buy a house, because I was lucky to have a friend in a similar situation. I could never have afforded it alone.

This is a refreshing thread!

I work 20 hours a week from home doing admin, and earn about £15k. I love it, total flexibility and very minimal stress.

DH earns £30k as a bookkeeper.

We have a three bed terrace in a lovely area (but reasonably cheap part of the country), a car each and a UK holiday each year. Two primary aged DC. Not loads of spare cash but very much comfortable, and we save about £500 per month.

We are actually the anomaly in our group of friends, who mostly have large detached houses and high flying careers - but also a lot more stress and less free time. Absolutely nothing would convince me to swap!

Meant to add we are both on around £27k so very average

I worked an average job, more than NMW but nowhere near 100k until my son became disabled due to a complication of an illness and now I'm on UC and don't work at all.

I used to rent privately but now in social housing. No hope of buying.

I am in my fifties and earn around 27k full time. All my friends of a similar age earn similar. maybe that's why we are all still working as I guess most earning significantly more retire earlier. In my friendship group the higher earners have already retired with good pensions ! Ido get a bit upset when I see my 24 year old son earning 20k more than me( not sad for him ! ) as that is a salary I have never ever earned. To be honest though I feel lucky that I have lived in a time when it has been possible to buy a house on two modest incomes ( dh has never been a high earner either ).

Such an important job, and woefully underpaid for the work you do, like most public services / charity sector.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut are there any jobs going with your company? I’ve worked in admin for years, would love to wfh

This is such a tricky question because I also consider myself to be “average”. I make £55k, DH makes £35k so neither of us are on mega bucks. We own a small three bed end of terraced house with a garage and carry about £6k of debt from some kitchen finance. We are hoping to move in the next year however.

I consider that to be pretty bog standard - incomes aren’t particularly high, house is modest. Looking around most of my peers and siblings/cousins have similar or are doing better than us.

What true “average” is, I’m not sure.

I’d like one of those wfh 50k admin jobs!

I know one family who earn well into 6 figures between them. They are lovely, and very down to earth. They have a lovely house, nice holiday's etc. But they do work incredibly hard and long hours.
We are average earners, could possibly earn a bit more by working more hours but we prioritise our free time. Some people are lucky to have both money and free time, but for most it’s one or the other.

Us too! I was a SAHM and had PT jobs while working around hubby.Now early retirement .I dont know anyone earning this either! I think this is a home Counties /London based site. and attracts high achieving Career women so not typical of much of Britain really .Still excellent site for everyone though

I do - specialist admin wfh, 35k.

We do own a house, purely possible because one of us got a PPI payment, and the other got made redundant, so we had a deposit.

Really stood out to me how different a lot of posters circumstances were, when I asked for advice on how to stick out the awful job I was going to be made redundant from until I got the money. I was told that £5k wasn't worth anything and it was pointless and dishonest to stay!

50k is not average by any stretch😅

Me too. I work 2 days a week WFH in insurance and earn about £18,000 a year, my other half works in retail and earns about £40,000 x

Yep, I work for a women's charity helping women who have experienced DV. I work part time but if I was full time I'd be on £28k which is pretty standard for the charity sector.

I'm a sahm at the moment but when I do find a job it will be minimum wage. My DH is a forklift driver on 27.5k. I don't know anyone who earns £100k plus either. I think because of the demographic on here, there are a lot of high earning posters. Though I'd imagine there are a lot who are exactly like us too