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?

Ahhh yes! Well I certainly don't feel as confused now, I was thinking of where I waste that money.

Also doesn't take into account NHS pension contribution which isn't far off 10% of my salary.

£20 for takeaway is expensive, and £50 is .

2 soup, 2 main, 2 rice, prawn crackers

That would be about £17 from the Chinese we go to and is excellent and big portions, enough for lunch the next day too.

Sorry Want not been keeping up to date. CPIH (new for 2017) allows about 12.5% towards housing. If you pay rent or mortgage then it is 40% goes on housing and when you are lucky enough to pay off your mortgage 0%. A rather dodgy statistic.

The truth is most people earn peanuts and work hard to make ends meet. Benefits are not what the press makes them out to be.

"good" is obviously such a subjective standard as to be impossible.

many, even most, people quite understandably view "good" as enough to enable them to keep up with the Joneses.

what a question like this is asking is, "what income bracket do you benchmark yourself against".

koala Where are you ordering from? Beijing as in the actual place? I get Chinese at home for two and it feeds 5. Cost is £50 if I get Peking duck with soups and a rice dish and we get that about every 3 years. Normally order two meals for £14. I go pick up. It's £3 for delivery and I'm too cheap to pay it.

No matter what you earn your life adjusts and you spend it.

We are not here very long enjoy yourselves!

yeah, £50 for takeaway for two is extraordinary. without booze, that'd easily cover a decent midmarket restaurant, a decent upmarket one with good use of a tastecard or similar.

Exactly LordWalter.

My friend is in her 20s with no dcs, lives in her parents home and earns £35k.

She has a very extravagant lifestyle. New BMW. Nights out every weekend. Multiple holidays a year including long haul. Eats out several times a week. Frequent shopping trips. Hair and nails done regularly.

A large family with a high mortgage and childcare to pay on that would be broke!

MrsP Exactly so you have to take the average housing cost (which is a damn sight more than 12.5% of income for anyone under 45) and factor that back in to count for wages then add back taxes to get to true 'wages'.

So taking the median income they have of £27k you would add back housing costs, a darn sight more than 12.5% (£3,375) so take £500 a month as an average, rather low for many areas in the south but more than enough for other parts of the country, that adds £6k to equal £33k. Add back taxes (using a rate of 25%) and you are looking at a household 'wage' of £44k a year not £27k.

Just the high street Thai restaurant. That's same as Indian. £7 starter/soup/veg sides, £12-15 mains, £3 rice/breads, £2 prawn crackers/popadoms. I am every time we order.

I didn't realise that tool was based on NET income at first and it out us in the top 3% 😂😂😂 once realised my error moved to 12%
However the tool doesn't include mortgage payments only council tax so once our mortgage has gone we're probably much further down in terms of real disposable income.

A "good" salary is very subjective.

MrsK We never order starters!!! They throw soup in for 'free' as some say, I like to say they include the soup in the price of the meal.

Id say when child benefit stops which is 50k isnt it. Think it also depends where you are...in london 50k is alot less by the time you pay rent mortage to a cheaper area where you can buy a house for 50k. On my nhs salary part time its not going to ever be good but job satisfactory is priceless!!!

I have no mortgage
I have never paid school fees
My cars were bought cash
My council tax is low as my area is poor
One kid is at Uni, the other soon will be.

My disposable income is disproportionately high compared with what I put on my tax return.

But I am well aware that low paid menial jobs are what keep the country running ....
Not the high paid rentier paper pushers ....

The rice and prawn crackers would be free here. You'd pay for the meal and starter.

Yours is expensive MrsK because you're paying for restaurant facilities that you're not using.

The takeaways we use are generally in a terraced house with the two downstairs rooms having been converted into a counter and kitchen.

The family who own the business live in the two floors above the business and there is no restaurant or alcohol licence.

Yes Barbara, there are 2 chinese only takeaways round here but they are foul. All the rest are restaurants.

Can't believe people saying takeaway and wine is not a luxury. OF COURSE IT IS! Nobody is saying you shouldn't have it or that it's extravagant, but the point is that the very fact you can have it without concern is the luxury part. For many many people that simply isn't the case. Enjoy your luxury, but do acknowledge that you are fortunate to be able have it.

Anything over 100K
London based

Why does that assessment only ask for council tax payments and nothing else? For instance, where we live many people may have a million £ mortgage or pay £90k per year to put 3 DC through school. The council tax is neither here nor there in those circumstances.

Mortgage and school fees Are A CHOICE.
93 % of families cope without the latter after all.

As pp’s have said I would say 35k is good, 60/70k decent & 100k high. Although I think if you have kids & 1 parent works pt then 100k total is high.

Obviously a lot of people earn less then this, which is why I’m always surprised on the threads re pensions when people are worried about living on 20k.

Also it’s very dependent on when/if you got on the housing ladder. I have a friend who’s a teacher who lives in a 1.3m house with a tiny mortgage because she got on the ladder (London) in her 20s & made 700k on her property moves.

Some of the couples moving onto my road are earning around 250k but don’t feel rich because their mortgages are so high. I know 1 couple who were paying out nearly 3.5k in childcare!!

I think a good wage is anything over 20k and a high wage is over 30k. We are in the bottom 1% according to that link.

Obviously I live in a bit of a bubble area but I do wonder what some people must be earning to afford 3m+ houses.

Yes TalkinPeace but you could say living anywhere is a choice. You adapt your lifestyle to your earnings and it becomes the "norm" for you.