The average salary in the UK?

[Banoffeepiefan]

It struck me that I have no idea what this is, in terms of (if I'm right with this) the modal average - the mean, I think, is about £26,000, but that is not a good reflection on what most people or families live on. Are there any stats to show what this is across the UK?

Interested because I'm job hunting at the moment, trying to plan ahead, and also because of the surge of threads on Mumsnet about how many people are struggling, and that number who are struggling seems to be climbling steadily this last few years whether it's to buy a house or to buy food. I wonder is the average (whatever it might be) enough to be comfortable on, and are the people who are really struggling (apart from crises such as health or debt etc) those who earn significantly less?

37k before tax that is

Probably true Bunny. My friend lives in Surrey and commutes over two hours each way five days a week. She also pays £250+/mth for the privilege.

(But I could not afford a £300000 in Surrey either since I am not on £100000, so despite my allegedly above average income I am going to be stuck with my cupboard sized flat for now.)

Calamitous, yes that was after tax.

Havanna - again, it depends where you live and how much disposable income you have.

Despite my DH's 100k, we save almost nothing as the cost of living is so high, we have no parental help (inheritance etc) for a deposit and are unable to save one quickly.

People older than us on far less income bought years ago so spend less on a mortgage than we do on rent.

You quite often need a 20% deposit (at least) so for a 200k house we would need a minimum of 40k plus fees and stamp duty to get even that. And round here, that would barely get you a studio. And we have 2 children.

Very difficult to rent and save but renting is often the only option for people in our age range, despite having what may seem a large income.

It really isn't.

Agreed curious. In some areas, £100k income really does not translate in to a lot of money I know that is difficult to grasp, if you live in an area where £35k is way above average and you can live very comfortably indeed. But it's the truth.

I think if somebody has a completely different lifestyle to you as well as income it can be difficult to comprehend.
Looking at hearts post, the thought of 20k mortgage, 25k for nanny etc, is just unimaginable practically to me.
I could never see myself being in that position, but nor would I want to be.
I think she could probably out buy us several times over but I do go to starbucks
No judgement intended hearts, just emphasising different lifestyle choices.

That IFS calculator thingy is a load of shit.

If you put in £100k with 2 children it gives a figure of 95% but if you take the children off its 98%.

They've no idea how children affect your income- you might have free childcare for example.

An income calculator should be based on income alone- it shouldn't make deductions for children but nothing else.

Havanna Umm, you're a SAHM. You don't mention why, but DP and I earn £100k between us - we both work. You rent in a good area, don't struggle etc.

£37k would get you a mortgage on a 1 bed ex-local authority flat here. Maybe 2, if willing to buy in a shit area. Despite my income, I could not afford to be SAHM. DP could be, but we'd be seriously into beans on toast territory and I don't have a huge mortgage.

But thats the same anywhere, if you live in an area where the average house is 120k and you earn 30k you could still struggle to get a deposit together.

That's my point. It's the same everywhere, despite a seemingly high income, it's all relative to where you live and where your job is.

morethan I'm looking at hearts post too. Can't fathom 25k school fees and 20k nanny at all.

Because my wage would only cover childcare so it seems pointless, when I say nice area I mean nice for the over all area we live. I think the majority of mn woukdnt want to live here

Also we choose to live in a cheeper part of the country, we have looked at relocating but even though the money would be better house prices/ cost of living would be more so it would be pointless

But, in an area where 100k doesn't buy a house, you still get more people living on 25k than on 100k.

And utilities and food still cost the same for the 25k family.

Very few families around here live on 25k... Unless their in council housing or have substantial housing benefit they wouldn't be able to afford to rent even a small 2 bed. If they had a very tiny mortgage and bought years ago then that could be a possibility.

Yes, but the 25k family will likely either (like in my friend's case) have help from the government (e.g. council house) or from family (e.g. for a deposit) or was lucky enough to buy when this was still possible.

Curious beat me to it.

Yes, fair enough, someone on 25k will have help with housing costs, but I was thinking more of the poster up thread who said that 'only' £2700 for four people after housing wasnt much. I shouldn't really have mentioned house prices at all, but it was just shorthand for 'an expensive area'.

2700 after housing for 4 people isn't that much.

Cars / train
Council tax & bills
Childcare
Food shopping

That's pretty much all of that gone.

Its area depend , if you recieve help with your rent where I live you earn a lot less than 20k.

So yes here on 37k you dont struggle, and by that I mean we can pay the rent, bills food etc and have some left over. Weve never had more than £1500 in savings but lots of people around us struggle to pay bills, have to watch how much they spend on food and have nothing to fall back on so yep id say we are lucky

£2700 left after housing is a lot.

But those people with nannies are usually where both parents are working full time hours in the daytime.

Sometimes a nanny can work out cheaper than nursery/childminder.

Also, an entire wage may be wiped out by childcare in early years, but it is worth it in long run as you have carried on up career ladder.

But that's exactly it curious people who only have £1000 to live off still have to pay for

Childcare
Food
Utilites
Council tax
Transport