To think £100k pa is NOT 'the squeezed middle'?

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The article is very confidently attributing the definition to Danny Dorling, but did he really name this figure?!

These women are fools.

I'm not completely sure teaching is the most child friendly career. Most teachers I know work 7am to 7pm plus some weekends

DH is a teacher, and works 2-3 hours at home every evening (marking and lesson preparation, dealing with bullying/self harming issues (calling parents), lots of stuff)

Sadly NOT on 50k! Not even half that.

Can someone tell me what is a realistic salary scale for a teacher with maybe 10 years experience working in London please? And what would you get if you were say, Head of Subject, Head of Year, SENCO or similar, presumably you'd get more?

I think teachers do work a much longer day than people realise, but then they also get a hell of a lot of holiday so I suppose it evens out in the end.

Yes pick your career with care.

So, 1. two married head teachers might earn £100k between them and 2. Mid level teacher actually means management.

Not quite the same as the majority of the teaching profession, is it?

Being able to do part of your work at home is incredibly helpful to parents.

So this part of a teachers life and the long holidays make it family friendly I think.

That said, there is marking and planning to do in the evenings and there isn't great financial rewards.

This cannot be a shock!

Teachers seem to be the only salaried professionals who continue to evidence their overwork by stating that they work "outside their contracted hours".

I have a great deal if sympathy for teachers and the specific pressures they are under but 99% of salaried professionals also work long hours, beyond those for which they are contracted- having to pick up
bits and pieces in the evenings and weekends. It's not unusual and doesn't help when asking to be taken seriously.

Not being able to take days off to deal with your family life is a consideration though. Sickness bugs, tonsillitis, school assemblies, sports day etc We can only cope with these things because because DH doesn't teach and can work flexi hours, go in late or take a day's holiday. If we were both teachers, this would be very hard.

Same for many other professionals - although they don't have the advantage of having 13+ weeks per year where they have maximum flexibility.

Look I'm not arguing that teachers have it easy just that (aside for no term time hols) their position is in no way unique

Surely the lesson from this thread is more pick WHERE your career is based with care.

I currently earn 95k but would happily take a 50% pay cut if it meant not having to schlep down south every Monday morning.

Pastperfect - I totally agree regarding salary transparency (and not just amongst women). My closest contemporaries at work are male - we all share details of our salaries (and bonuses) to ensure that we are being treated equally. I recently got a 9% pay rise - they didn't, but are now petitioning senior management to ensure that their pay remains on a par with mine. When I got promoted last year I successfully argued for an additional 2% (the original offer was 12.5%) because I knew one of my colleagues had got 14.5% when he was promoted.

I am really surprised that some on this thread dont know anyone where both parents work full time!

Thank god they do, if we all dipped out and decided not to work for all sorts of reasons where would the taxes come from to educate the children and care for them through the NHS. I dont like some of the snide comments about nannies as though earning 100k will give you a mansion, designer bags and exotic holidays!

And I am getting weary of the teachers claiming that they are different, they work very long hours etc and cannot possibly carry on past 60 because they are 'different'. We all work long hours, its the culture in this country. The endless holidays are very child friendly. My DM was a teacher and even in the 60's and 70's managed it (and still volunteers once a week and takes a child with learning difficulties).

If it is then squeeze me as hard as you like.

I am really surprised that some on this thread dont know anyone where both parents work full time!

Thank god they do, if we all dipped out and decided not to work for all sorts of reasons where would the taxes come from to educate the children and care for them through the NHS. I dont like some of the snide comments about nannies as though earning 100k will give you a mansion, designer bags and exotic holidays!

handcream behave yourself!

I would love to fill a pub with all the couples I know who work 8 or 9 days per week between them and have you come in and explain to them that they are "dipping out and deciding not to work" because they are not quite 2 x FT per h/hold. Good heavens!

My comment about nannies wasn't snide. I honestly think it's easier to return to work if you can afford a nanny. If I had my time again I'd prefer to have entered a career where we could have afforded a nanny as Ithink tthat's best for the children if you are both working fulltime.

Teachers are not moaning that they work harder than anyone else!

Some p have just made wild generalisations about it being the best job to do if you have children and saying 2 x teachers' salaries are £100k and teachers have replied saying that's not true.

P=people

And no, no-one in my area with small/ infant children that I know both work fulltime. For many it would cost more than they earn and for others they feel it's important to have a sahp.

I used to live on the edge of London. It wasv ddifferent there I know, but even then I only knew of one mother from our postnatal groups that went back full time. Most either didn't or went back part time.

My DM was a teacher and even in the 60's and 70's managed it

That told us then.

I have a great deal if sympathy for teachers and the specific pressures they are under but 99% of salaried professionals also work long hours, beyond those for which they are contracted- having to pick up
bits and pieces in the evenings and weekends. It's not unusual and doesn't help when asking to be taken seriously

Dp is a teacher and I am a salaried professional. We earn roughly the same. It averages out for us - he does work 5 evenings a week in terms of marking and planning but not weekends. He does get a lot of holiday though and only has to work a small part of that. I think that you get more efficient as you get more experienced and then it's up to you if you want to progress - I don't think that the management points are relative to the extra work though. He has the first management point of 2a and I think it's about 2.5k pa. The extra work is more than 2.5k's worth IMO.

I never work any unpaid overtime. It is simply not the mindset in the company. Everyone gets to work ready to be working ahead of their start time, everyone takes a lunch break and leaves on time or just after they've finished that particular bit of work. I only get minimal holiday, no sick pay and a small pension contribution. So swings and roundabouts. We both have different benefits to our job.

Where we live I think that the squeezed middle is a family with a joing income of 50,000 or less. Running 2 cars, paying for mortgage, rent and bills is hard, especially with childcare thrown in. We're more at the 65k mark and feel comfortable doing that with a bit of money left to save and spend each month.

It does depend though doesnt it on choice. I could go up to the next level but for the extra money it would be a price too high to pay.

But I do stand by what I say - people saying that they dont know anyone who has two full time working parents....

If you child is ill and you are a teacher and its Aug. Are you really saying that you wouldnt be able to look after them because you are working - really??

Paraphrasing as iphone won't let me paste

I wish DH and I had £90k between us. To get that you'd need to be in London and on UPS3 and that would mean a lot of extra work

You mean as opposed to lawyers who don't work hard at all for their money....

Many lawyers won't earn over £100k either (especially in regional firms or if they've chosen to do conveyancing for example) but those who do earn a lot will work beyond their contracted hours as a matter of course, work weekends, conference calls at midnight because the time zones work, fly here, there and everywhere at the drop of a hat etc, work 36 hours straight. Same with the bankers everyone is so dismissive of. Always checking their blackberries in case they are called into the office. They choose this and in the long run its very lucrative. But it isn't easy money by any stretch of the imagination.

Teachers have options if they want to earn more - clearly one is taking on extra work/extra responsibility.