To ask what you earn?

[working925]

Just read another thread about earnings. How old are you and what do you earn? I'm nosey!!

[Want2bSupermum]

talkin You have to be careful with data which shows median. It's not the average (mean) but simply the mid point in the data set.

You have 4 people, 1,3,9,12. The median is 6 but the average is 6.25. With income you have skewed distribution towards the lower income because of the pyramid structure in most workplaces. So income data set probably looks more like 15, 15, 16, 16, 16, 16, 18, 18, 30, 30, 45, 80. The median is 17k but the average is 26,250.

I really wish that the average was shown not the median.

[NameChangr678]

£40k in banking and consulting in London?

They are 2 years out of uni! I think being on 40k after 2 years of working is pretty bloody good....

And median is a better statistic, mean is completely skewed by all the CEOs earnings tens of millions.

[Wishingandwaiting]

It will start to increase quickly.

By 27 I was on £50k plus bonus (and that was 9 years ago). And I was junior.

[Want2bSupermum]

namechanger Median isn't a better statistic when you want to understand why there are so many people on this thread with higher incomes. The reason for it is not only the Mn demographic but also the median salary. My experience of auditing payroll has enabled me to see what people are being paid and the hours contracted for. When auditing in the Uk in north Wales the majority were on £25-30k a year with managers on £35-40k and senior leadership (managing director) maxing out their income at about £120k. In financial services a recent grad is on £40k, majority were on £80k, managers were on £120k+ and senior manager up made £200k+ a year. Sales people are always outliers. They make base and commission and there are normally 1-2 sales people paid more than the people they work for.

I get so annoyed also by the notion that a low income means you should get assistance. Benefits are paid to redistribute income. The issue is that some people have been brainwashed into believeing benefits are only paid to those who are on their arse.

[Want2bSupermum]

To clarify salaries given are for FT. Many decide to work PT so their income here is going to appear low. Also age is irrelevant. It's experience that counts. DH is 41 with 22 years of experience. His peers are all 50+ because they started work 10 years later.

[stopgap]

Taffeta in answer to your question, I would say that having the safety net of plenty of money negates or subdues many of life's stressors, but not all. Money can't take away the fact that my son has ASD, nor my autoimmunity, but I can afford to move to a fine school district with plentiful support for my son, and spend on acupuncture, massage etc. when my illness flares up.

I returned to work this past month, and suspect I'll bring in about 40k a year. Which is a respectable amount, I think, but my husband's pay is much higher, hence the above commentary.

[Ta1kinPeece]

want2be
I deliberately use the median because it makes the point that millions of Londoners do not earn "London" salaries.
It makes it very clear that the average is skewed by the few people earning a LOT of money.
The IFS tool makes the same point.

I also audit payrolls and do tax accounts so know what people really earn, as against the numbers they shout about.

[TheNotSoGoodWife]

Mid 40s living in the SW. 4dc.

I have an engineering degree and a PGCE. Was a SAHM for 12 years before retraining.

Now working part time for £8.50 per hour (£10k ish pa) but loving my job.

Our household income is about £70k and has all been put into one pot since we first moved in together (several years before marriage and dc). It works for us.

[Want2bSupermum]

talkin Yes but I think it's misleading to just give the median and the average should be given too. The other aspect I find odd is that people don't think in terms of household income.

I also totally agree that there is always wage inflation on threads like this. I've been on MN long enough that most should know DH and I are higher income. I don't need to put down what our household income is. It really doesn't add that much value anyway because we live off a fraction of what we earn. We also have multiple income streams with two jobs, two businesses and four rental units.

We don't take the maximum income from our businesses either. I've not taken a distribution in nearly 10 years. Yes we work hard and I like that we have kept expenses low.

[Ta1kinPeece]

Yes but I think it's misleading to just give the median and the average should be given too
I do not like to use average because only 34% of people earn above the average
The other aspect I find odd is that people don't think in terms of household income.
I do. You'll see that I've posted median household income on this thread and regularly post it.

[TammyswansonTwo]

I used to earn a lot. Now I earn very little and spend almost all my time with my twins. I have a contract for 15 hours a month and do some self employed stuff as and when I can be bothered which pays almost nothing, just trying to keep it ticking over until the twins get to 3 and qualify for childcare.