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?

24yo child earns £35k, didn't go to uni but got a lucky break at 19 and worked his way up. Has potential to be head of department in a few years, before 30.
22yo child has a degree and is on 16 hours doing nights in a supermarket. Has the potential to earn much more if his civil service application comes to fruition.

First off you said it was low for London even though the post clearly said it was outside London 🙄

Now you're saying it's low for anywhere. The DD has done well to get a training contract (they're insanely competitive) and has good prospects so belt up!

It's not great that the employer pays so little after so much studying. It's no reflection on or criticism of her DD.

DD25 went to Uni, post-grad qualification, earns £40k. DS21, skipped uni & did a degree apprenticeship whilst working, now earns £42k.

DS1 (21) works in a warehouse, earns about £26k IIRC. Not bad for someone who left school with minimal GCSEs, didn't do A-levels or uni.

Really?? Compared to which industry?
I would be devastated if one of my children went into teaching.
A complete waste of a degree and a lifetime of overwork, weekends ruined with marking, low pay compared to all your peers..
This is just my opinion but if you see posts about how teachers are generally regarded, despite all this work it is massively under appreciated and no longer a respected career

Minimum wage is £23800 for 37 hrs a week.

Exactly, if training contracts were like apprenticeships that you could start directly out of school then it would be reasonable for it to pay barely minimum wage, but they aren't.

Ok? So hes on more than minimum wage. The same as some of his peers who did go to uni. A year ago he was struggling to get a part time job.

You have people on MN who love to discredit teaching. You either have to study a degree which immediately takes you into a career which pays a huge salary. The other route is to go straight into work from school and be a project manager at 23 on 45k. Nothing between the two is acceptable. Most of it nonsence.

DS is 20, completed an apprenticeship with a main dealer. As part of his original contract he was guaranteed a position as a fully qualified vehicle service technician at the end and now earns £36k. They’re continuing his training, he’s now working towards becoming an EV speciallist

Sorry @spoonbillstretford I shouldn't have told you to belt up. I thought you were being sneery.

Dd aged 22. £35K.

Don't think she'll gain anything by doing the masters ??

Gosh, yes! I had forgotten that since I took my O-levels in 1959 things had moved on and our grandchildren enjoyed GCSE instead. Kind of you to point this out in a smug MNetty way.

I had also forgotten that providing any financial support to kids once they reach 18 is totally unacceptable to many on here.

Yes, our grandchildren do not contribute to their parents’ household expenses. The parents can afford this arrangement. If the DCs did pay, no doubt their parents would save it and hand it over when a cash boost would be useful, so it would come to the same thing in the end.

To describe this as ‘sponging’ is a prime example of the spite so often displayed on here by those who are less fortunate than others.

Upset? Really? Why?

Sadly I would agree with this, seen it happen. Some heads are very short sighted and are not willing to expend any effort to save money elsewhere. It's simply easier for them to just replace more expensive staff with much cheaper staff, even if that means most newer staff have minimal experience. They also see them as being "greener" and therefore more malleable, more willing to put up with bullshit as they are trying to progress their career, and also if everyone is young and a bit naiive with no idea of what normal expectations are, there are less of the "old guard" left to point out when something they're being asked to do is unreasonable and something the union should be approached about.

Heads don't really care about whether they have great staff full stop. They only care about whether the great staff are affordable. If they can get mediocre staff who are cheaper then they'll go for that option.

Thank you for posting. Mine is age 20, Level 3 qualified mechanic on £26k. 1st full time job. Main dealership. He is already bored. Cars reliable so no diagnostic, real mechanics. He'd worked part-time for over 2 years in a less reliable car-based dealership, but they couldn't offer full-time. He's been told firmly to stick it out for at least 6 months. But very supported by both (divorced) parents. But its hard.

Because it’s drudgery as far as I’m concerned. I’d quite like my child to have a decent work life balance and be paid well for the work she does.

Wow some of these salaries are so high 😳😳

Dd is 22, has a degree in criminology, hasn’t been able to get anything remotely degree related (not for lack of trying, been applying for everything possible) and has ended up working full time in a cafe down the road from us for minimum wage. She isn’t best pleased about it but it’s a job and she is hoping to find something better longer term. I think it’s quite hard for job seekers at the moment, graduate or not. Her best friend has a degree in literature and works 10 hours a week at Boots….!

"To describe this as ‘sponging’ is a prime example of the spite so often displayed on here by those who are less fortunate than others."
If you care to re-read my post you'll see that it was my imaginary 'living-at-home 54 year-olds' that I was describing as "sponging".

To clarify my point, there are a good many young people who are extremely fortunate to have parents who are financially able to support their adult offspring as they start out in life. We are fortunate that we can do the same for both of our children. However, my children would, rightly and justly, be mortified if I suggested that I was proud of, or "pleased" with, their ability not to spend the entirety of their salary on themselves every month "thriftiness" whilst we are supporting them. They have been raised to understand and appreciate their privilege. There is nothing wrong with parents financially supporting their children but those children do not then need to be lauded for their privilege.

We’re in the SE which makes a difference to salary expectations. DS is employed by a large franchise within the VW group, they’re renowned for the quality of their training. Kids from all over the south went to a large training centre in Milton Keynes every 6-8 weeks for 4 days of classroom training throughout their apprenticeship. They had private en-suite rooms and were supplied all food and drinks for the duration. Same group from start to finish so he made a great set of friends.

There seems to be quite a disparity amongst his peers in other unconnected garages. We’ve been lucky. He was mentored by a great master tech at the dealership and has had the chance to learn old school mechanics on some of the classic beetles and campers that pass through. They put the effort into training and retaining them afterwards which is a win/win for the staff and employer.

DD 26 - quantitative trader London. Astronomical salary. And even more astronomical bonus.

My son works offshore, He is 23 and his dad paid for him to do the courses required which were around 6k and once he started earning he paid him back. He earns roundabout 50k per year, I'm really proud of him he's a lovely lad and a grafter. He started potwashing at 15 in a local restaurant and when he is on his 2 weeks off he will often go in to the restaurant to work front of house when they need cover.

DD aged 23 started on 26k, having recently finished uni. It is probably on the low side but given the tough times for graduates I am absolutely delighted she has something and it’s in an industry she’s interested in.

I sat down with DS when he was just 16 and offered his apprenticeship contract earning very little. It had a promise that once qualified he’d be offered a permanent position on the going rate for the job. I don’t think it’s surprising when he passed his final tests he came to me and said ‘I did it Mum!’ and shared his new contract with his new title and terms.