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Original poster

If you have a good degree from a good university but have NMW, why?

143 replies

SisforSoppy · 31/10/2021 19:41

As per the question. Following on from another thread, but also because I have a relative who got a 1st with distinction from an RG uni who post children chose a NMW job because she said she couldn’t find anything else that fitted with childcare. (Although mostly, I think, because she wanted to be a SAHM, and couldn’t be arsed with the challenges of combining a career with motherhood but needed a little bit of extra money). I was a bit Shock, but it seems there are a lot of people like this, so I’m trying to understand why.

OP posts:
KathyWilliams · 31/10/2021 22:00

Not sure quite why you are so concerned, OP.

I have a First and a DPhil, dating back to a time when a tiny proportion of Firsts were awarded. I then became a SAHM, and took a job paying the NMW when my DC went to secondary school.

The short answer is: because I wanted to spend time with my children while they were young, and don't regret a single minute of it.

KathyWilliams · 31/10/2021 22:01

OP, I was also independently educated from 5-18. I don't think my parents regard it as a worthless investment, despite my lack of a high-flying career.

Charliealphatangorara · 31/10/2021 22:04

I have a first class hons degree and earn just slightly above NMW (still less than £10 p/h).

I graduated, took a job as a "filler" while I ttc with my then husband. Had a baby, didn't return after maternity leave as my husbands job was in the forces so took priority and meant he was often abroad or across the country, didn't live near family to help. This meant I couldn't exactly start off in a career where I'd need to put extra hours in or be at all flexible. Had my second baby, by then we needed extra money as had bought a house, so I started my own business. Moved to a new area and got a "little job" to earn that little bit extra money to have a comfortable lifestyle on our two incomes.

2 years later husband left completely out of the blue, meaning my (our) choice for him to be the main earner and consequently his career building over 15 years while I stayed at home and then took a low level job, suddenly became a problem (for me!)

I have 2 DC, one still in primary with SN and I am extremely frustrated that I can't just apply for a role that would be a) full time and b) leading to a well paid career. It just isn't possible with the amount my DC with SN needs me, as well as the huge gap in income that taking a slightly higher paid job and consequently losing tax credits would bring.

So while I would say that some of my own decisions have resulted in my situation (choosing to have DC before I'd built a career), others were out of my control and not the way I had planned (husband leaving). I am an ambitious person and have always intended to build a career when the time is right, but now I am a single parent its going to have to be much later in the future than I had hoped.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families
TractorAndHeadphones · 31/10/2021 22:04

@DOINGOURBIT

My son has a BA from a good UK university and a MSC from an international one.

He's putting tomatoes on a shelf in a supermarket because that's the only job he could get with no experience. Sad, but what can you do?

If you DM me i might be able to advise
Iamanicepersonreally · 31/10/2021 22:15

I got a 2:1 from Cambridge and am on NMW. I could undoubtedly earn more if I wanted to, but I do a job that few people want to do, but which makes a massive difference to people’s lives. When someone tells me that they can see a way through their problems because of me, it’s worth more than any amount of money. I may not earn much, but I make a difference.

Kummerspeck · 31/10/2021 22:19

It can also be down to lack of opportunity. Friend and I got similar good results at school, both went to the same RG uni and got the same level of degree but mine was in a course that led to "a profession" where hers was in a pure science. After graduation her career went up faster than mine and when we had our children she earned more but, after that, I was able to continue in the same profession part time where her job had involved long days and travel which was not compatible with the family life she wanted and, in our part of the country, there was nothing else she could pick up.
Over the years, while I plodded away part time but reasonably well paid, she has been a classroom assistant, cake decorator, dog walker and found other jobs she applied for e.g. doctor's receptionist, rejected her as overqualified. She spent years on low wages or not working until her children were older when she requalified in a complementary health role

immersivereader · 31/10/2021 22:30

It's interesting how many people are citing childcare as their reasons. One again, it's women that are paying the price.

^

Yup.

The UK needs subsidised childcare from birth.

Babyroobs · 31/10/2021 22:52

I had a Nursing qualification and a degree 2:1. Not sure if the Uni I went to was classed as a good one. I work in the job I do as I'm mid 50's, don't really need to earn an awful lot and just want to be stress free.

ShaneTheThird · 31/10/2021 22:55

How in the name of fuck is a working mother lazy?!

Because she earns nmw she is lazy?!

Silenceisgolden20 · 31/10/2021 22:56

[quote SisforSoppy]@MorganSeventh she hasn’t told me that it’s because she wants to be a SAHM, I’ve presumed that. She’s naturally very bright and quite lazy. She benefitted from a moderate inheritance and married young. She’s left herself in a very precarious position if her relationship doesn’t last….which is what really worries me. With a tiny bit extra effort she could be earning a reasonable salary which would safe guard her against a long list of life events.[/quote]
Woah, judgy much. Sahm is not being lazy. It's her life, this may change in the future anyway. Not very nice post. Lots of people on nmw have degrees, it has nothing to do with uni.

Silenceisgolden20 · 31/10/2021 22:57

@ShaneTheThird

How in the name of fuck is a working mother lazy?!

Because she earns nmw she is lazy?!

Exactly. I don't get the connection.
ShaneTheThird · 31/10/2021 22:57

I got a degree 8 years ago. I'm in a nmw job because it's literally the only one that accepted me. Everywhere else rejected me despite me having a normal CV and a good amount of varied experience. I'm always told I don't have specific experience which I can't get as no one will employ me in these roles.

tedsletterofthelaw · 31/10/2021 23:32

I have a first class degree and I'm very close to packing in my job and going to work at a supermarket cause I am really struggling with the stress of it on top of family life.

And I only work PT.

Perhaps you should just respect her choice, whatever the reason.

londonmummy1966 · 31/10/2021 23:50

Oxford 1st - postnatal depression - too ill to work at all. I do voluntary work on various charitable projects - basically bringing them on and finding the funding for them to replace me with paid for support.

CherryBlossomAutumn · 01/11/2021 00:01

Child with severe SN. Have post graduate education, and also built a good career.

Also unsupportive Ex, and no husband to juggle children with or take any of the pressure off. It really sucks and I’m trying to get back in, hoping the pandemic will open up more positions where I can work from home.

LoisWooookersonsLastNerve · 01/11/2021 00:01

The benefits of higher education aren't just about earnings. I've had well paid jobs and not so well paid jobs. Being well educated doesn't guarantee a high salary. I hate career snobbery, it's my business why I do what I do.

DemBonesDemBones · 01/11/2021 08:12

I wanted a big family more than a career. I do a huge amount of volunteering and charity work and find that really rewarding.

DuckWithOneWing · 01/11/2021 12:12

Because I have a disability.i had to leave my previous career, and can't find a new job that will accept my previous experience and my new limitations.

Cam22 · 01/11/2021 15:08

[quote SisforSoppy]@Amundo thanks for the link, although when I put ‘good’ although I didn’t specify RG I’m talking in that league. I don’t think anyone will be surprised that a degree in frog grooming from the university of the arse end of no-where only leads to a NMW job.[/quote]
You did specify Russell Group in your OP.

Hen2018 · 01/11/2021 17:10

RG degree with non-RG MA.

Living well below NMW in pretty abject poverty as there is no help in the entire universe if you have a violent 6 foot 3 ASD son.

Hen2018 · 01/11/2021 17:15

I also think the obsession with RG unis should stop. My second degree (former poly) was much better organised than my RG first degree.

I didn’t even know what RG was until 20 years after I graduated!

DuesToTheDirt · 01/11/2021 17:17

DD is in this position, because although she has a graduate job it is in a low-paid field. If she stays in this job, her salary will go up but will never be huge.

Kite22 · 01/11/2021 17:24

The thing is, there will be as many reasons as there are people in that position.
I agree with the pp who said that getting as good education as you are able, and as high qualifications as you are able gives you more choices - it doesn't commit you to having to use that qualification for the next 50 years.

NotABeliever · 01/11/2021 17:51

@TakemedowntoPotatoCity

Because good grades aren't enough. You need confidence and an ability to sell yourself, in interviews especially and then you need to be motivated to progress rather than follow along. You can get very good grades without doing much of that. Because with higher salaries come a lot more responsibility, hours, and stress. Because quite frankly I like an easy life And of course because I am a mother so nmw/flexible working inevitably suits me better at the moment.
This for me ^
NotABeliever · 01/11/2021 17:52

But you are right, I never thought that being financially independent is so very important too. Never was a consideration when I got married in my twenties.