How much do you earn if female?

[Pommesdeterre]

Just back from holidays with three other female friends, all in our 40s. We got talking about salaries and future earning aspirations. Am on 65k and might get to 75k on three years but not sure where to go beyond that as am in the public sector. My friends are similar. But not sure whether that's the norm especially as we all live in London.

I am on similar, it varies depending on bonuses but choose the remain in this ball park. I enjoy the work, next step up would be into a more strategic planning role, some travelling and more people management which I am a regularly asked to consider but I don't think I would enjoy as much.

In my 40s I didnt want the extra pressure/responsibility when my dc were teens/in exam years and I wanted to be around more to encourage them and nip any issues in the bud. I also had aging parents in very poor health I wanted to help support. Both of these were my choices.

In first couple of years my 50s teen and aging parents support continued, boy turn tappered off (parents died, teen at uni) but then I got hit with menopause . so again I chose to retain a better work life balance and it is a decent wage for Scotland, west coast where col is much less than london.

Money isnt everything.

My boss (female, similar age to me, in london) is on the next level I would go to and on a well deserved £100k+ ish.

Keep in mind the Median annual earnings for females working full time in 2022 was £29,684.(statists 2023)

Sorry that should read Statista

The norm for which group of people? London based professionals, or the population as a whole?

Because you won't find any evidence of the latter by asking Mumsnet.

Majority of my friends are in healthcare working long hard hours with years of training and in gruelling jobs and they average £30-£40k in their mid 30's.
Not everybody earns what they're worth and some earn more then they're worth. That's life.

And according to the 'my 23 YO earns £60k' thread, you're all woefully underpaid, because £60k is the lower end of a graduate starting salary, which you should expect to double by your late 20s, so in your 40s, you should be on about £200k at least.

"Not sure if that's the norm"?!

Have you checked the NMW or average wage recently?

Safe to say that any U.K. based service staff that attended toy you all will NOT be on £65k.

We are all professionals with at least two degrees each. So probably also not typical. It is definitely true that with primary aged kids and elderly parents, am perhaps not prioritizing my career.

I earn an awful lot more than most men.

You could probably answer your own question by applying some common sense, do you think retail staff earn £65k pa? Carers? Healthcare assistants?

And at the other end of the scale hospital consultants, partners in professional firms, chief execs of public companies?

Whats the thinking behind your question?

I make around £70k late 30's. Hoping to get to a six figure salary before 45.

“Public sector” is hugely varied. There are definitely options for increasing earnings, generally through increasing seniority. There are obviously fewer options for earning £100k+ at a local authority than in a merchant bank, but it’s doable if your goal is to do so.

I earn a lot more than some of my female friends, but that’s largely because of the career routes chosen: I know more female teachers and nurses than I do male ones, and fewer female fintech founders and programmers than I do male ones.

So amongst my friends I am a senior academic, another is a civil servant, head of primary. So I guess not shop assistants. I was actually surprised by how little we were all earning, considering our age, level of education and jobs.

I think you would have had to of prioritised your career at some point to be earning £65k+
Unless you're a surgeon or a barrister or something.

I earn less than £20k in my early 30s working in education.
So apparently a lot less than the average mumsnetter...

I’m in my late 40’s and with bonus and car allowance I’m on 93.5k.
Unsure whether to try for other jobs to increase my salary or not.

I'm in my 40s, I would earn £50k if I worked full time (actually £40k as I work 0.8 FTE). Not sure about the future, it depends if I leave the public sector and go back into the private sector, which would be a work-life balance decision (is the extra stress worth the extra money?). I have significantly reduced my earning potential since having kids but I'm happy with that.

I am a senior scientist. 25yr experience. Big pharma. South east. I am on 34k. So yeah, you are doing OK.

Only on MN would someone describe earning over twice the median salary as 'earning so little'.

Now I honestly thought that 'big pharma' was one place outside law/banking/tech/accountancy etc where salaries were also high, but apparently not.

30k - one bachelors degree, two masters degrees, 15 years of experience. I work in the NHS as a front line healthcare professional.

No. Guess some higher management are probably on a good wage but our graduate starting is around 22k.

Of course it's not the norm OP.just look at stats rather than trawling for people personal details on social media.

Last year, 120k. This year should be slightly higher, maybe 135k.

Absolutely nothing to do with my "degree". What a waste of time that was. I could have skipped Uni, started in the same job and been four years ahead by now.

My work is very "niche", by that I mean that there's not many people doing it, male or female. It's not particularly difficult work, but the "conditions" are far from ideal which is why not many people want to do it. Lots of time away from home, a lot of travel, a lot of responsibility and huge potential for delays and set-backs, which I don't get paid for, regardless of how long I have to wait around.

That's very low for pharma, my mum retired from big pharma 25 years ago and was on a fair amount more even then