If you have a child in their early twenties: what do they earn?

[PuppyDay]

DD wants to finish her degree, do a masters, then a PGCE to be a history teacher. Starting salary will be approx £32k with 5 years of student debt. It’s less than her cousin who didn’t get A-levels or go to uni and is doing marketing for a gym chain for £33k.

It got me thinking: what are the options out there and how much do they pay.

so what does your young adult child do and how much are they paid?

Ds is 23, he left school at 15 with no qualifications and worked his way up to earning around 40k per year now.

Other ds is 20 and he earns about 20k per year but is currently at uni and working part time. He will be on significantly more when he finishes his degree.

DS (22) is on 32K as a trainee residential surveyor - he graduated last year. Goes up this year to 35K when he qualifies.

DC1 (20) £26k. In 2nd year of 3 year apprenticeship. Should go up to £35k once they've qualified & they will be 21 at that point.

DC2 (19) £27k. Only started work in August straight after A levels. Permanent position & already has been promoted. Will go up to £30k within 3 years if they remain in this specific role but will be looking to move upwards within the next 18 months.

Neither had any interest in going to uni & had average a level results.

I'm very proud of both of them.

They are both saving hard for a house deposit & are both pleased they didn't attend uni as it wasn't for them & they have prefered going straight into work with no student debts.

DS (23) self employed musician. Earns very little at the moment ...about £20k

Teacher employer pension contributions are much higher though - not sure exactly but around 25% I think?

Whereas a company pension - employer contribution could be 3% - 10% max I would imagine.

So 25k - that's really more like a 30k if you want to compare.

Obviously it's not money that can be spent but will compound a lot over time.

What I notice is that friends on higher salaries tend to favour property - larger property or paying off mortgage early on property - then decide later on to live on more frugal pensions.

@PuppyDay DD is 27 and and a secondary teacher. She qualified via the apprenticeship route and having completed her two years post training is off to a much better school in September. With LW and an allowance for SEN specialism, she's on £42.5k and does about four sessions of private tutoring every week. Loving it. Long term plan is to do a masters specialising in speech and language therapy.

A masters in a STEM subject, graduated last year, in a start up research job: £24k.

Sorry, aged 24 on this.

wow, some of your DC are doing amazingly well. DS is 22 and is only earning £24k in his grad job. He has had recruiters getting in touch with positions paying £30k but he loves his team and wants to do at least a year there (& get his bonus)

Degree in maths.

Job in computing for a large US company, based in UK. Works from home.

A silly amount.

PP have said but for clarification do the PGCE (or Teach First which she would get paid for albeit a low wage but no debt) first, and you can study for a Masters whilst teaching, if done within a certain amount of years there are credits from the teaching qualification that will count towards it. Equally, and we're talking 20 years ago now, my Masters was funded, it's not looking likely that will come back, but as PP have also said there's a shortage of teachers so it's possible that some element of recruitment funding might happen in the next few years.

Also factor in a teaching degree and experience opens up opportunities to work in other countries. Also would be a secure position long term with a good pension scheme and sickness/maternity pay benefits as public sector.

teacher (£15,000 - part time due to disability)
unemployed (disabled)
nhs (Lab work) £32,000 base pay but does overtime so earns more than that.

I think plenty could argue that encouraging people to sign up to a gym and get healthy and live longer is more useful and helpful to society than telling them
All about the olden days.

No need to be snobby here.

You think its a shame that someone with zero experience in a job earns marginally less in their first year than someone who has been at work for several years and built up a track record and skills? Why?
Never mind, comfort yourself with the fact that the public sector benefits attached to most teaching jobs (the pension, sick pay, maternity pay etc) will ensure that the value of your daughter’s salary is worth more than her inferior friend with no A levels but actual job experience.

As you say yourself, the masters isn’t necessary - its her choice to delay working for a year and take on and extra year of debt.

BTW salaries in teaching offer a career path to jobs well over six figures as well as the pension etc.

Definitely doesn’t need the masters, DD and her friend both qualified as teachers via teaching degree same year, friend did masters , DD didn’t, friend now has more debt, year behind on pay and DD is actually in a much better position career wise. As for salaries, DS early 20s on about £28 k in marketing, way behind his sisters teaching salary

DS1 is a barber, 24k before tips.

DD was earning slightly above minimum wage in a coffee shop but she has now gone back to uni aged 23 as a mature student .

Ds is still a student but he has been working alongside his course and in the holidays in the area his degree is in. He is freelance so earns between £150-£350 per day depending on the contract.

Teaching is not a brilliant career move. I would be upset if one of mine wanted to do it. I would be trying to talk her out of it

Our new marketing graduates start on £35k.

They spend their time marketing UK-made products to the rest of the world, which brings money in to the country to pay for things like.... education. 🙄

After two years (without a PGCE or a masters), I'd expect them to be on £40k+bonus.

DD is 24 and a marketing manager. She didn't do A levels, choosing an apprenticeship instead. Current salary just over £40k and she has ability to progress higher.

Her cousin is the same age. Did her degree and Masters but struggling to find a job in her chosen field and currently earning approx £25k, with tons of student debt. It's a shame because she's a very intelligent woman, and not one of these ones with brains but no common sense.

OP, bear in mind that your DD may be pursuing teaching because she wants to have children and has an eye on having future holidays with her children rather than using childcare.

There are other benefits of teaching than purely financial.

One did a non relevant to job degreee and then went into IT recruitment. From about age 25 had earned around £120k a year including commission. Now late twenties.

Another is in civil service that starting salary was £45k. (started age 25)

Another starts as a software engineer on £36k this September (but says trajectory is quite quick and steep to earn more). ((age 21)

Other starts at an investment bank where they did a placement year in year 3 and secured a job offer on £85k this September. (aged 23)

I assume being a teacher would be a more rewarding career and as others have said, the pay would increase at a better rate than the gym job. She also does not need the masters and perhaps she could do that at a later date, to save some of the debt now..? She may be offered on the job training opportunities which would potentially not incur fees for her and would be directly relevant and linked to her role.

Also, your daughter and her cousin are not the same, please don't compare them! Happiness is key!

My DH qualified as a teacher 5 years ago and his salary has gone up by 10k in that time. And student debt isn't hard to live with, it's just a fact of live unfortunately, comes out of your pay before you even see it