To wonder what a ‘good wage’ is?

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Not really an AIBU but something I’ve been pondering on, and posting here for traffic and opinions.

I often see people mentioning that someone earns ‘a good wage’ or indeed a high wage, but what that means in practice is clearly dependent on many factors, not least the area someone lives in but also their dependents.

I work in an industry where I talk to people on very high wages all the time about their jobs, which I think skews my view of what’s normal. I was involved in a discussion in another forum recently where it was mentioned the average salary at the moment is £27,000. Of course this is a mean average, skewed by a few very high salaries, and most people are below that. But many people were commenting that they didn’t know anyone who earned that much and had never earned anywhere near that themselves.

I’ve also been fascinated by this calculator from the Institute of Fiscal Studies that shows where households fall in the stratification of the country www.ifs.org.uk/wheredoyoufitin/
I think a lot of people would be surprised by it. When DP and I each earned the average salary (no kids) we were still in the top 25/30% ish of households which seems mad, and we live in an expensive area.

I’m wondering - what do you think a ‘good wage’ is, and at one point does something become a high wage?

I think it is relative and based on:

• Age (people in their 40s are likely to be around earning peak)
• Area
• Outgoings
• What is expected of you (£100k for a job that I am expected to be in the office till 10pm every night would not be enough despite it being 'high')

For me personally it is a level at which I'm confident that I am financially independent in a job that is manageable. So mine's good enough, 45K ish and not too demanding most of the time. If DH lost his job we'd still have enough money to live and for holidays etc (with more careful budgeting)

DH earns 50K. I think jointly we're really very well off, not South East. We're really lucky financially and neither of us are massive spenders so can save quite a bit. I can't get my head around how people earning at our level think otherwise but it takes all sorts......

Please bear in mind that childless working people on a low wage do not get top ups. A single, childless person on 15k doesn't qualify for any help.

There are also lots and lots of people with children who don't get any help or choose not to claim tax credits/universal credits for all kinds or reasons. Why does everyone automatically assume the low-paid are claiming benefits? It's really annoying. I earn 13k and don't claim anything.

We're really lucky financially

I think a lot of high earners forget this. There are many people on a low wage who work really, really hard in stressful jobs, who did work hard at school and got qualifications and a degree but have just been unlucky.

Maybe they did the wrong degree, maybe they had very poor career advice, maybe they have to live where they live due to unforeseen circumstances, maybe they became a single parent and have to take a low-paid job that fits in with childcare, maybe they have other caring responsibilities, maybe they can't afford to retrain, maybe they have mental health problems or other health problems which restricts the hours they can work, or a disability. Some people have lots of these problems combined.

Some people are very unfortunate in life and often it's not because of a lack of hard work or intelligence or a lack of aspiration. Everyone has aspirations, some people are lucky enough to realise them. It's almost all pure luck.

A single childless person on 15k could qualify for housing benefit and/or working tax credits.

£1000 a week.
You’d struggle on less where I live.

Where do you live surferjet? I've lived in London, a lot of things (except housing) are roughly the same as the rest of the country.

I’m in the top1%. If I lived in a cheaper part of the country with a small mortgage and no school fees I’d feel absolutely loaded.
In the south east, with a mortgage not that far from £1m, childcare bills of £1800 per month and 3 or 4 keeping up with the Jones style holidays a year, we feel squeezed, despite being rich. It’s all about choices you make and I’d say a lot of people, irrespective of salary bracket, live a lifestyle that’s just that bit too expensive to feel truly that what they earn is enough. (Of the people I know anyway).

MrsP what do you call a large mortgage?

Ours was about £1k and I thought that was quite high but would be low for you I'm guessing.

We earn about £62k all in, two kids, £1200 a month on childcare and high travel costs. We are never broke but admittedly live modestly. What do you actually NEED? Food and a bit of clothing. And luckily we can afford that. The hardest thing is that most of our friends earn significantly more than us.

a lot of things (except housing) are roughly the same as the rest of the country. I was in Northern Ireland recently and for meat at least, the prices are roughly a third more in London, the meat tastes so much better in Northern Ireland too - so it wasn't about quality.

London yes.
We seriously couldn’t manage on less than £1000pw. & we don’t live that extravagantly.

As someone who lives in a northern city, some things actually seem cheaper in London, probably because there is a lot of competition, like small cafes and takeaways.

Public transport is also cheaper and infinitely better frequency. I once laughed at a TV program that said the London nightbus was 'only' every half hour. We are lucky to get that frequency in rush hour here and there's no buses at all between about 11 pm and 5 am.

Dh pays £4.8k a year for his season ticket to London, Coffee is between £2-£3 a cup, didn't realise these things were more expensive elsewhere!

This thread is interesting. I grew up in a household where the income was around 7k per year (my mum was on benefits with 2 kids including me). If I were still living that life I, like many of my peers in that bit of the city I come from, would not be earning at all.

I'm now a single person earning 35k and that seems like an absolute fortune to me by comparison. I think it always will! I'm absolutely gobsmacked that 60k can be considered an "ok" salary.

I thought I have a good wage of 24k, I thought anything over 40k was a high wage. I'm in my 30s and live in Wales, I had a lower wage when I lived in London.

It depends what job you do and if it is a good wage for that job, I think I have heard people say that shop assistants in Aldi earn a good wage, which is probably about £9-10 ph which is good for a shop assistant but below national average wage

AhThats - yes that is quite common. Even things like full time childcare where both parents work full time tends to be much more expensive in London than elsewhere so it is hard to do fair comparisons.

Public transport is not cheap in London. I think it is the most expensive capital city in Europe for public transport actually. However I certainly accept that public transport is non existent or very rare in many countryside areas. In London you are always having to compare a cheaper house price further out (my son lives in Chesham which is on the tube.... just... his house cost £330k, 2 bed) compared with a flat closer into London with cheaper and quicker commuting. It is the same in other cities of course too including in the NE where I am from - country area commute in or house nearer work but smaller or more expensive.

A single bus fare I London is £1.50. It certainly appears very cheap to this Leeds resident, where the same costs £2.70.

And I wasn't talking about bus frequencies in country areas, but buses from the city centre to the suburbs 3 or 4 miles away with large populations.

A single bus fare I London is £1.50. It certainly appears very cheap to this Leeds resident

That's very cheap to this Midlander too what it is also over £2.

Public transport is not cheap in London

It isn't in other parts if the country either!

*where it is

All those on much higher than average wages saying they feel 'squeezed' or 'not well off' despite living in an expensive area in a big house, taking expensive holidays and potentially paying school fees - what I think you're actually saying is that you don't have loads of left over cash once you have paid out for all the luxuries your wealth allows you.
We are on a combined income of around 100k just outside London and we are very comfortable. Nice house, great holidays, 2 cars, eat out whenever we want. We have little left at the end of the month because we choose to spend our money on things that make us happy. I would never claim to be 'struggling to cope' because that is massively insulting to those on a lower wage. The problem is the more you earn the more you aspire to own - the bigger house, the more luxurious holiday, the fancier car, the private schools. So your money seems to get eaten up quickly and it feels harder to 'get by'. It's not though, it's all a choice about where your money goes.
To answer the OPs question I feel a good is 30-40k. That's when I started to feel like I could afford to eat out without obsessing about the bill or I could afford a holiday without scrimping all year

buses are cheaper in London than elsewhere, likewise most local train journeys, e.g. central London to Croydon is £3.30 contactless, similar 10 mile journey such as Leeds to Bradford is £4.20.

" or choose not to claim tax credits/universal credits for all kinds or reasons. "

Well, someone who is entitled to benefits but doesn't claim them can't then complain about not having much money, but I agree with you that it's very annoying that MN assumes all lower earners get benefits.

"Well, someone who is entitled to benefits but doesn't claim them can't then complain about not having much money,"

You obviously missed all the threads on Mumsnet when the government (and its henchmen) were going after parents, trying to force them to stop claiming benefits by unfairly accusing them of frraud. Or the harassment many faced when overpaid. Or the stigma that comes with claiming any kind of benefit these days. Tens of thousands of people went through stress because they claimed tax credits. Thousands more are now going through it because of the big mess that is universal credit.

I claimed tax credits many years ago and at least 3 people said to me "well you'll have to pay it all back one day." So I stopped claiming.

Gwen - i know. It's terrible. One of my friends earns £350 per week and lives in London (where they grew up where their friends and family are, they also have MH issues which makes working difficult at times). They are considering leaving their partner but just can't see how they could afford it.

Public transport is not cheap in London.
Its a darned sight cheaper than here in HAmpshire.
And in London your bus pass (Oyster card) works on every bus.
Here we have six bus companies none of whome accept each other's tickets.

A bus from outer Southampton to Romsey (4 miles) is £7.40 return
and only runs twice an hour off peak

Londoners get a MUCH better deal than the rest of the country on public transport.
Free bus fares for kids
and the actual existence of buses
to take two examples