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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder what a ‘good wage’ is?

580 replies

PaperdollCartoon · 12/01/2018 17:48

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?

OP posts:
G5000 · 12/01/2018 18:15

If someone specifically mentions that they/someone else has a good wage I would expect 6 figures.

Glitterspy · 12/01/2018 18:16

Half of the country earns less than £19,000
Only 34% earn more than the £27,000 average

I am so shocked by this I had no idea. I thought most people earned more than that. How do people manage, particularly in London?!

Glitterspy · 12/01/2018 18:19

And I think a good individual full time wage is:
Single under 25: up to 27k
Married no kids up to 30: up to 40k
Married with kids: 60k+

South east and accounting for mortgage and childcare.

Friedgreen · 12/01/2018 18:20

Depends who’s talking about the ‘good wage’. It really is industry and location dependant. For people working in London, however, I would expect over 100k.

MrsKoala · 12/01/2018 18:28

I thought we were in the top 10% but when i have just done the link above we are in the top 27%. With 46million other people earning as much. That's good to know. I suppose with DH's wage divided over the 5 of us it dilutes it. Rather than him earning it and it being viewed in only the context of one persons wage.

DonnyAndVladSittingInATree · 12/01/2018 18:31

Oh wow. To me a good wage is anything above 18/19/20k. A high wage would be £40k+

Megs4x3 · 12/01/2018 18:31

This whole issue makes me cross - not with you OP. When the average is reached, it includes those earning millions as well as those earning next to nothing, so £27, 000 means little. That's apparently what most barristers earn, and many tend to think of them as wealthy, but it's only a very few who earn the big bucks. To me a 'good' wage is one that meets your needs, and if you have a family that includes their needs too. The fact is that most people earn a lot less than the average and are struggling to make ends meet. Compare almost any job wage now to the equivalent in the 1950's and the standard of that family is lower now than it was then. Yes, I know about modern technology and having smart phones and all that, but I'm talking about the percentage of income that goes to housing, food and getting to and from work, that kind of thing. Getting on the housing ladder at the moment is hard as the banks are lending about 50% of what they did this time last year, despite being bailed out specifically so they could lend. Mortgages have never got back to pre-bail-out levels despite the executives getting their bonuses regardless. Rental costs are through the roof and young couples have little hope of getting a mortgage because their rent effectively pays a landlord's 'buy-to-let' mortgage so the landlord effectively has 2 or more houses while they have none. The whole system is a mess. Sorry for the rant, a 'good' wage isn't good enough if it isn't sufficient to buy what you need.

lalalalyra · 12/01/2018 18:31

I'd say anything over 20 is a good wage. I think house prices have totally skewed what people think of wages.

I earned 11,000 when I worked in learning support in schools. Which is why it's basically only a job people with a spouse with a decent income can do.

BigBaboonBum · 12/01/2018 18:31

Jozxyqk this puts a lot into perspective. Do you have children? It makes me sick to my stomach that people can’t afford heat or to eat... in the UK, in 2018.
I’m just awful with money, I don’t budget at all and at the end of every month it’s gone, I’ll find something to spend it on or some big day out or weekend away to sink it into. I usually spend a LOT on eating out too (especially now because I’m pregnant and want to eat constantly all of a sudden but don’t have the energy to keep up with it). But on what else? I have no idea. Games, house stuff, I don’t know. I’m not even a stuff kind of person, but if it’s there I seem to spend it. I feel really quite ashamed to be honest

Snowysky20009 · 12/01/2018 18:31

When I was on 35k my friends thought I was on a fantastic salary. But actually what I had to set aside for travel (travel allowance) it did not feel that great. As a household we were on over 50k, which is big for our area. I never told them when my wages increased above this. I always said I was still on 35k.

AtiaoftheJulii · 12/01/2018 18:34

That link is interesting. For our family, we're apparently doing better than 62% of the population - which feels about right, we're fine but not super rich, despite feeling that we have a 'good' income. Tried it with just dh and me, and we reached 96%. Bloody kids!

WitchesHatRim · 12/01/2018 18:34

I feel like a good salary is Around 7-8k a month

And back in the real world......

NC4now · 12/01/2018 18:34

My rule of thumb is £1k for every year of your age. It seems about right in this area (NW).
Sadly I’m 13 years older than my salary, but that’s what I aspire to...

Crumbs1 · 12/01/2018 18:36

If entire depends on your circumstances and outgoings. If you need any benefits at all, it’s not a good enough wage. If you earn enough to maintain the lifestyle you want with a little left for savings then it’s probably quite a good salary.
Most people who are wealthy are not dependent on a salary and would consider that there was no such thing as a good wage.

MelanieSmooter · 12/01/2018 18:37

I earn 10k (LSA in a secondary school) and consider it to be good when you consider the holidays, hours etc. I’m only there 6 hours a day - maximum - 5 on short days Grin and I get all the holidays off with the DC. As PP said though, my luck is facilitated/propped up by DHs good earnings. He gets £24k basic but can earn at least 25% extra a month in bonus etc. We have 3 DC and our basic income (no bonus) puts us exactly in the middle decile. We very much feel like the ‘squeezed middle’ too! The bills get paid, we can usually manage a UK holiday, in school hols, and don’t go without heat/food/essentials. We don’t go out much though, don’t have takeaways, basic TV/internet and so on.

Welshmaenad · 12/01/2018 18:37

According to that link, I have a higher income than 82% of the population - as a single mum, which I guess isn't bad!

TalkinPeace · 12/01/2018 18:39

Friedgreen
For people working in London, however, I would expect over 100k.
Funny that half of them survive on under £23k then Hmm

MrsKoala · 12/01/2018 18:41

A household with two adults earning 40K each and two kids under 13 is in the top 8% of the country

Am i reading that link wrong? Because when i put the numbers in it says thy are in the top 24%. That's an after tax household income of approx £5k

KitKat1985 · 12/01/2018 18:44

I'd consider a good wage to be £30,000. I think of a high wage as over £50,000.

But I'm painfully aware that the vast majority of people earn considerably less than the average of 27,000.

shouldaknownbetter · 12/01/2018 18:44

I'd say 40k is a good wage. A lot depends on circumstances though. I earn just below that and have a low mortgage, no childcare or commuting costs... others with those costs would feel decidedly less well off.

TeeBee · 12/01/2018 18:45

I was going to say £65K, but thinking about it, it's very much based on age. I guess that to me is a good single person wage of around 40 years old.

AtiaoftheJulii · 12/01/2018 18:45

Yes, you must put in what you actually bring home. (I didn't think that looked right but couldn't be bothered to check!)

RoobieDoobie · 12/01/2018 18:47

To clarify. I mean at the moment - if we took the extra 2 k a month home then it would be for luxuries like holidays and clothes. As it is with childcare there isn't much left over.

Once in school what we are earning now would go further.

I grew up in a very poor house hold and swore tk myself when I was a teenager that I would make sure when I was older I wasn't in the same position.

Doobigetta · 12/01/2018 18:48

Salary = age is "respectable", I think, at least outside London.

KitKat1985 · 12/01/2018 18:49

We come in at about the middle on that calculator (we earn more than 56% of the population), but in reality I think once you take our nursery bills off for two DDs, I think we're probably under the average.