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Original poster

Average UK salary. How you getting on?

303 replies

RedSquirrel111 · 07/01/2022 22:17

Thought it would be interesting to hear off the average, and not the mumsnet six figures- can't afford to live Grin

Average UK salary for full time workers 2021 was £31,285

I'm very slightly higher on £33k with potential end of year bonus up to £2k

  • live in North West
  • insurance broker
  • no partner or children
  • own home (with mortgage)
  • comfortable but a bit worried about increased cost of living.

Generally I feel quite lucky. I can't afford luxuries, but I don't worry about basic necessities - don't really budget for food costs etc.

How does your average wage look? What's the job sector? Do you struggle? What area?

OP posts:
Loveand · 07/01/2022 23:24

£96k personal income, my own business in Finance. I work part-time about 20 hours per week.

The only luxuries that we pay for is tutoring, sports and hobbies for the children. We also spend time abroad quite a lot when we are allowed to.

Original poster
RedSquirrel111 · 07/01/2022 23:25

@imnottoofussed

Full time £25000 Single parent to one dd who is now an adult This means I've not been able to save for a house so currently rent with family. Doubt I will ever own a home as am mid 40's and can't see ever being able to save enough for deposit/other costs of buying. Also single person mortgage on my salary wouldn't buy me much of anything
Yes, I found this. It's very frustrating that even though you can prove you've been paying 2x rent, you can't pass the affordability checks for a mortgage. 'Average' pretty much means no chance of getting a mortgage unless you're in quite a cheap area. (3x salary. Around £120 000?)
OP posts:
WheresTheLambSauce · 07/01/2022 23:26

Earned about £19,700 up until very recently, but as I'm dropping from 40 to 30 hours I imagine it will be considerably lower. Rent is cheap and I don't have any dependents, plus I don't need a car due to work being close by.. So I'd say I'm doing well. I'm certainly comfortable Smile

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Cost of living Employment advice Jobs
Original poster
RedSquirrel111 · 07/01/2022 23:26

@ChannelTheCalmaLlama

100K isn't 'average' even in London. People have been rude and attacking but also because they feel you commented on a thread which was specifically not for the likes of you. Should have just ignored your reply tbh

The likes of me? Wow.

I never said my salary was average. The OP asked what people's average salary was each year, what they do, where they live.

I really don't understand why so many posters are being so unkind.

Give it up. No one here is impressed.
OP posts:
Badhairday101 · 07/01/2022 23:27

Salary around 48k, I work full time as a teacher. Single parent of 3 children.
As the only wage earner with 3 dependants I feel our household income is the equivalent of 2 adults earning just under the national average. It’s quite tight most months and I’m worried about the increase in cost of living.

Mummy1232016 · 07/01/2022 23:27

@ChannelTheCalmaLlama

100K isn't 'average' even in London. People have been rude and attacking but also because they feel you commented on a thread which was specifically not for the likes of you. Should have just ignored your reply tbh

The likes of me? Wow.

I never said my salary was average. The OP asked what people's average salary was each year, what they do, where they live.

I really don't understand why so many posters are being so unkind.

Because she didn’t ask that!!!! Look at the replies and you’ll see she didn’t ask that hence why someone has decided to make a more relatable six figure earning thread! So it’s frustrating for you to say that’s what OP asked, she didn’t. Read them properly just like the post you also misread about the thread more suitable for you. There’s a poster who just given the reality of average income and how quickly shit hits the fan when suddenly wages reduce, so it gets people going to hear struggles they’d snap up in a heart beat such as yours….as opposed to starving. So please read them properly
jb7445 · 07/01/2022 23:27

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

ChannelTheCalmaLlama · 07/01/2022 23:27

@NeedAHoliday2021

Anyone struggling on £150k, even if you’re a single parent, needs to have a word with themselves and sit down and look at what they’re doing wrong. Do you think those on average salaries don’t have childcare costs? You’d think someone intelligent to earn that much would be better at budgeting.
People on lower salaries pay far less in total and get a far higher percentage of their income in their bank account after tax, get a lot of help with childcare costs (funded from tax that those of us who earn more pay - even the single parents who have to both provide and look after the children alone) and generally don't have to live in such expensive areas to be able to earn the salaries they do in the first place. Areas where childcare and food and council tax is also generally more expensive.
1frenchfoodie · 07/01/2022 23:28

I earn almost spot on average. With a partner who has lost their job due to serious ill health (they can hopefully stabilise and find something part time), and a child in school. We have never had a foreign holiday and rarely eat out or go to the cinema but we are a lot more comfortable than my single parent mum with 3x kids (our dad moved overseas beyond CSA’s reach and never contributed). Our family a tivities are walks with the dog or playpark trips but we can cover our food and energy plus other bills so all is well.

RoseSays · 07/01/2022 23:28

I'm ok.
On about £38k (single parent of one, no maintenance).
I am concerned about future price risings and potentially losing my job, I have a biggish mortgage and a teen who will be off to Uni in a couple of years.

Original poster
RedSquirrel111 · 07/01/2022 23:28

@Loveand

£96k personal income, my own business in Finance. I work part-time about 20 hours per week.

The only luxuries that we pay for is tutoring, sports and hobbies for the children. We also spend time abroad quite a lot when we are allowed to.

Fab for you. Read the thread please.
OP posts:
ChannelTheCalmaLlama · 07/01/2022 23:28

@Loveand

£96k personal income, my own business in Finance. I work part-time about 20 hours per week.

The only luxuries that we pay for is tutoring, sports and hobbies for the children. We also spend time abroad quite a lot when we are allowed to.

You're not supposed to comment, sorry. You're misread the OP. Await personal attacks. 😕
EllaVaNight · 07/01/2022 23:29

Didn't take long for the "I earn more than double the average salary" or "I earn very little" but then mention their partner is a "very high earner" (like the majority of MN then). OP was very clear what the thread was about ffs.

Matterti · 07/01/2022 23:29

This thread is like a magic eye picture where some see one thing and some another. I’ve decided it’s because the beginning of the first post is ambiguous due to ‘hear off’ and then the questions at the end in bold not really matching the beginning. On first reading I thought it was another thread asking how you get on with your average wage and had moved on from national average in the first bit: So maybe that’s why it has taken a turn?

These (salary) threads never end well..

ChannelTheCalmaLlama · 07/01/2022 23:29

Give it up.
No one here is impressed.

Why are you being so unpleasant? I really do not understand.

clolo · 07/01/2022 23:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bettybantz · 07/01/2022 23:30

30k full time, single parent, two teens. Oldest is NEET through no fault of his own (SEN) so that’s hard financially as he isn’t eligible for any benefits.
Their dad still pays maintenance which helps but it’s the basic level.
We do ok. All the bills are paid. There’s food in the cupboard. Recent gas bill has been a shocker so I’m playing chicken with the central heating (how long can I go till I need to switch it on?) and cutting back on takeaways and treats, but I don’t have debts or sleepless nights.

It’s the little bits - replacement phone chargers, mascara, haircuts, which all add up and I have to try and watch. We can have them but 5 x £20 soon makes £100 and that’s how the cash trickles away.

I got paid early for Christmas and I cursed out payroll department because it makes January a very long month.

noideabutstilltrying · 07/01/2022 23:30

I earn £38,000. My car is provided by the company and I get a bonus each quarter.

Single mum of two teens in Suffolk renting a property.

There always seems to be too much month at the end of my money.

I'm having sleepless nights about my rent going up.

I'm already paying £131 a month electricity and really can't stretch further

Moomoomonkey · 07/01/2022 23:31

FT NHS worker with a degree but not HCPC registered so band 4. Earn just under £25k and have to houseshare to afford to live!

Original poster
RedSquirrel111 · 07/01/2022 23:31

@1frenchfoodie

I earn almost spot on average. With a partner who has lost their job due to serious ill health (they can hopefully stabilise and find something part time), and a child in school. We have never had a foreign holiday and rarely eat out or go to the cinema but we are a lot more comfortable than my single parent mum with 3x kids (our dad moved overseas beyond CSA’s reach and never contributed). Our family a tivities are walks with the dog or playpark trips but we can cover our food and energy plus other bills so all is well.
Really interesting that you mention your parents. Mine had a good 'working class trade' job, no idea what the average would have been in the 70's but guessing around it. I do feel more privileged than them. Or maybe times have changed? Have enough heating that I don't wake up with ice on the windows as I did as child!!
OP posts:
RoseSays · 07/01/2022 23:34

@Rno3gfr

Myself and dp both earn the same amount per year. He works full time and I half time (but I work 65% of full time). We have a child who has just turned 3 year old). We earn 27k per year after tax. We thought we were ok until recently but now we’re staring to feel the pinch. Food shopping, council tax and energy bills have gone up so much in such a short space of time that we are starting to struggle- i.e we can afford bills but nothing else much. There’s not much point in me working more as childcare pretty much matches my salary and we get by as my dmum does some childcare.

We had a bad while after our dchild was born, dp lost his low income job due to illness and I was on nothing thanks to just graduating uni (hence no savings). We had £1000 a month from benefits and our rent was £620. We starved for a while as we both looked for work. No one understood. One time we ate French onion soup, that’s all we had in the cupboard for 3 days. We never turned the heating on. Friends thought we just didn’t want to come out because we had a new baby. No one questioned why I was 6 stone 8 lb at 5’4 suddenly after giving birth. My poor dp went underweight for a while too. We made up our excuses but no one really realised. It was awful. We were seriously lucky that dp had the means to find work soon after. I don’t understand how other families cope after being left without work. It was dire. During this time I decided to ff as I was loosing too much weight to bf when we lived off £25 food per week (you could get vouchers for ff).

All I can say is that families at the bottom end are struggling. Whether you think it is their fault or not, they are. We just feel incredibly lucky that we both found work and now we can afford food.

@Rno3gfr I'm sorry to hear your struggles. If it ever happens again, please reach out to family or friends or get a referral to a good bank. If I knew you I would have wanted to help, so please ask. It's not a failing or a weakness.
Loveand · 07/01/2022 23:35

@RedSquirrel111 not sure what you mean. I am reading the thread. People will have a whole range of income.

I earn more than UK “average” but as someone in my field, I actually earn below average.

What do you actually want to find out?

Rno3gfr · 07/01/2022 23:36

*we also still had to pay £80 per month in council tax so it cancelled out the the £82 chid benefit we had for our dchild at the time.

I really don’t think that people spend enough time worrying about how people without work mange- even if they want to be working! Please look at the work conducted by Frank Field, who has just been rewarded with the Companion of Honour.

Original poster
RedSquirrel111 · 07/01/2022 23:36

@Matterti

This thread is like a magic eye picture where some see one thing and some another. I’ve decided it’s because the beginning of the first post is ambiguous due to ‘hear off’ and then the questions at the end in bold not really matching the beginning. On first reading I thought it was another thread asking how you get on with your average wage and had moved on from national average in the first bit: So maybe that’s why it has taken a turn?

These (salary) threads never end well..

Grin I kind of agree reading it back! Will go back to year 7 comprehension lessons next time I post Grin
OP posts:
EllaVaNight · 07/01/2022 23:38

Being a lone parent isn't exactly a picnic that everyone's desperate for an invite to! Whatever your salary. No it isn't but for me it was a lot easier than being with an abuser. And it would have been so much easier on a very, very high salary than struggling on a carers wage and spending all free time getting qualifications. And before people like up about choices etc my ex raped me and kept me off birth control (ripping my coil out on 3 separate occasions) causing me to conceive so it isn't that simple for some people.

No money doesn't make you happy. But life is 100% easier if you're not constantly worrying about how you will afford food and shelter every day.