Minimum wage vs graduate salaries

[DuesToTheDirt]

So now that the NMW gives you over £25k a year for a 40 hr week, it seems that the gap between that and a graduate salary is tiny. I'm not talking here about the tiny cohort of grads that earn 50k in banking or management training, but about the ones I know personally. The graduates I know, even up to about age 35, are mostly earning not a lot more than that - 26k for one 32-year old friend, 30k for a 28-year old guy in my company, 30k for a friend's child in her late 20s, etc. That's the ones who have actually got a graduate job, as many haven't and are still working in hospitality or similar. Just wondering what the point is of a degree these days!

Yes, I know everyone and his dog has a degree these days, but was I wrong in expecting degrees to help my children get a decent lifestyle?

I actually think that personality and personal qualities such as drive and determination have as much influence on your job prospects as your uni and your course.

I don’t think it has ‘debased the whole thing’

The selective courses at Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE etc are still very much valued by employers and tend to achieve high salaries

Most minimum wage workers will do stuff that’s a lot more useful than people who are just starting a graduate scheme - in a lot of cases it’s effectively being simply paid to train to be useful, so I don’t think it’s a bad deal. Salaries tend to go up quite quickly if the graduate is any good.

Those aren't the courses I'm talking about though. Years ago, only the top handful of jobs requiring a degree paid the highest salaries, and those jobs went to the graduates you mention.

Where we are now is that we still only have that small pool of highly paid jobs, and far more graduates than we need to fill them. Hence the majority finding themselves in the position as described by the OP.

Stands to reason.

Yes, there are far too many graduates doing courses that aren’t going to be worth their money (their own or taxpayers)!

When you add in the unpaid overtime many are expected to do, often they are working for less than minimum wage.

I wonder what the future of the universities will be? Student have put up with high debt (which of course may never be repaid) for amongst other things the prospect of a good career, but with 25k minimum wage and many graduate jobs paying not much more, who will bother? Demand is already going down, with redundancies threatened at several universities.

As for choosing vocational courses, even doctors aren't guaranteed jobs. "In a survey of more than 1,400 family doctors, one in five GPs in England have told the BMA they plan to change their career because they can’t find any or enough work as a doctor." https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/poor-employment-opportunities-forcing-gps-out-of-the-nhs-bma-survey-warns I know people with other vocational degrees who so far have only had short term contracts, or nothing in their field at all.

Do you mean people that are on graduate schemes within a company or people that have got a job kinked to their degree? I'm my industry if you get accepted onto the graduate scheme ou would easily be warning 50k plus within 2-3 years

@Hayley1256 I'm not talking about graduate schemes, I'm talking about jobs linked to their degree, or jobs not linked to a specific degree but requiring one of some kind. I don't know any young people on a graduate scheme. And I don't know anyone under 30 earning 50k+ either (I appreciate not all would tell me). 25-30k is much more common. What is your industry, out of interest?

Yes, I know a GP who is leaving the profession. He initially started locuming as he wanted to buy property and develop that instead of being a doctor, which he is doing. But he said that even if he wanted to go back to ft GP he most likely wouldn't be able to as there aren't enough jobs.

I've just been looking to see if there are any statistics available on what young graduates are earning.

https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/graduate-salaries-in-the-uk (bit out of date as it's 2021-2) says that "Institute of Student Employers (ISE) research indicates that the average graduate salary in the UK sits at £35,170.1 However, with ISE research primarily focusing on large businesses and graduate schemes, this figure is significantly higher than the average graduate salary reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
According to data from HESA’s most recent Graduate Outcomes survey of 2021/22 graduates, the average salary reported by first-degree graduates in full-time, UK employment was £28,731 fifteen months after graduation."
It's not clear to me whether this only refers to graduate jobs, or to graduates in any jobs.

From the same article, " research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the impact of an undergraduate degree on lifetime earnings reveals that the discounted difference in lifetime earnings between graduates and non-graduates is £430k for men and £260k for women. However, once taxes and student loans are taken into account, the earnings premium declines to around £130k for men and £100k for women. This represents a gain in average net lifetime earnings of around 20% for both men and women." Bit of a gender pay gap there for a start! £100k graduate premium over a lifetime isn't much really.

And then I found this, which I can't read in full but looks to sum up what I'm saying. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/04/14/graduate-wages-stall-after-minimum-wage-rise/

@AnraithAgusCeapaireLeDoThoil it's crazy, we are desperate for more GPs!

Finance - I don't have a degree but have financial qualifications paid for by a previous employer. I do think there are a lot of degrees that aren't worth it. Some of the younger people I know I have pursed a trade and are doing very well

It’s pretty crazy that the minimum wage is only a few thousand less a year than a nurse’s starting salary. Now nursing students leave with 50k plus of debt after a gruelling 3 year degree, and are responsible for life and death situations. No surprise many are considering doing the minimum wage jobs and ditching the responsibility

There’s a big difference between ‘any degree’ and a good degree.

The labour drive last time they were in government for 50% to university really shifted the value of degrees and their employment benefits.

For some roles and careers theyre hugely value adding. For others, entering the workplace sooner is better. It’s about being realistic on which applies. Things with very low entry requirements and no direct career links are unlikely to bring a benefit beyond the equivalent time working.

It depends what degree you do and what job you go into. Lots of grad jobs start at £30k plus, even public sector jobs like teaching and nursing. Graduates in my company start on £32k and we are not banking or in London. I started on £22k in a grad job 15 years ago and now earn over £70k, there’s a lot more progression available for good graduates then there would be in minimum wage jobs.

Exactly. Only go to University if the course is worth it and employers value it. Graduate starting salaries of £35k are very achievable in that case.

Do not go to University for 3 years studying a subject that is not valued much by employers. It’s a waste of all our taxpayers money.

Yes, you were wrong in expecting degrees to help your children get a decent lifestyle. It’s been decades since a degree guaranteed a well paid job! I find it astonishing that people still believe this. A degree may help to get you an interview, but you still need to have a degree in the right subject, and be better than the dozens of other graduates applying.

Companies aren’t increasing the gap between minimum wage and other salaries as much as they used to.
My company used to match the % increase- this year the %increase for non minimum wage was 3% compared to over 6% for those on minimum wage.

Yes, I would say it's a mistake for many people to go to university as degrees have been completely devalued. Encourage your children to learn a trade or do something practical or an apprenticeship, they will earn much more that way. One of mine chose a very physical but skilled job and earns an absolute fortune.

It could be that you don’t know a very wide range of people.

i know lots of under 30s earning over £50k, not all working within the M25 too. It depends what sector you work in & what degree you did, as well as drive.

The young people I know who aren’t earning much are doing jobs like working at kennels, as lifeguards, personal trainers etc but they didn’t go to university & they aren’t high achieving academically. They are further on in buying houses etc as they live in a low cost of living area than the ultra high earners I know (over £150k pa) as they have more time to date, can buy houses which need work done on them & more headspace.

I’m a graduate HCP, started on £29k - full time specialist role in highly specialised healthcare. Now increased to £31k. That’s supposedly band 5 rates. Unqualified staff only earn £2k less than me, and work 12 hours so have weekdays off (whereas I am 8-6pm most days and quite often have to work unpaid overtime) despite the fact that I’m prescribing therapy and have a large degree of professional responsibility.

Not to mention I’m paying £25 per month in professional fees and then a further 3 figure sum every summer to the HCPC, and £50k in debt in student loans.

I suppose there is the option for progression and training to get to a higher band so maybe that’s the difference.

The other thing is that student loan repayments start at around 25k too. So there used to be a sort of buffer - you don't start paying back if you are in a really low paid job. Now if you have any ft job you'll be paying back straight away

Surely that makes sense - why should taxpayers subsidise university courses?

It makes no financial sense to go to university and end up in a low paying job.

It's so depressing. Do we now only value further education if it's learning that will be useful to employers? There's much less incentive for young people to follow a passion for a subject in the arts.