To feel depressed that I’ve never and probably will never earn the National Average wage?

[Summerandgin]

As title.

I saw that the national average wage in the UK is £28,000. I have never and probably will never earn £28,000. The highest I’ve earnt is £25,000.

I can understand in London and surrounding areas for this to be an achievable wage, but it is a depressing thought that where I am in the country, I would say the average would be about 21-22k and only really professionals earn the national average +.

AIBU to be depressed about this? And to wonder what sort of job I’d have to do to earn that? I am fairly well educated with good GCSE’s , A-Levels and a Degree but my degree is worthless and I bitterly regret doing the subject I did (in fact I regret doing a degree at all) All I’ve ever ended up doing after graduating are essentially mid level admin roles.

Do YOU earn the national average? And if so, where abouts in the country are you?

I'm on nearly twice the average. I work in the South in a professional role. You can always have potential to earn more depending on the work you want to do. Never say never

How old are you? What's your degree in and what do you do at the moment?

Why would you feel depressed about earning £25000 ? That’s a good wage . Be glad you don’t earn minimum wage . It could be so much worse . Don’t dwell on the negative . It’s pointless

I earn way below that
I have a degree
I retrained for the job I do now, I’m unlikely to ever earn that much in this job

Nope I don't earn that and probably never will now I've gone part time.

I live in the SE and i know i'd probably never earn much more than NMW if i had to go back to work. I have very few skills despite having a'levels and a degree. It is depressing.

I’m self employed , and probably don’t even pay myself the minimum wage

DS ( age 22 ) has landed a graduate training job , and is already earning over £30k , it’s just choosing the right industry at an early age , I think

DH does earn more than that in emergency services. He has mediocre GCSEs and no A Levels and no Degree.

I am Degree educated and now work for NMW. I used to earn just over the national average (£28,000) but that was before I became SAHM. I think I'm doomed to remain at the NMW forever from now on because I just cannot get back into the area of work I used to be in I'm too old

Remember that millionaire outliers pull up the average. £25K is a decent wage in most of the country.

Do you have enough to live on? If so then what does it matter what other people earn?

post grad degree here. I earned very well and had to trade it all in for the insult called 'carers allowance' (£64/week). I have no spare cash and I am unable to save up for a pension meaning I am setting myself up for poverty in old age.
I think you are yabu. 25k isn't actually such a bag wage.

I earn 23k pa pro rata in Scotland doing a worthwhile job but with no promotion prospects. I'm finding it hard to reconcile a) being grateful and b) wanting more. Keep feeling that I should retain but to what...? Also, if have calculated that, after tax and pension etc a 35k job would only leave me 500 per month better off.. Which doesn't seem worth it.. I'm also no sure where the 45k + jobs are in scotland, probably engineering or accountancy and for those with a solid career progression who have been able to stay in the one industry for long enough?

I’m not on £25k anymore. I got made redundant and couldn’t find a similar paying job so have had to take a pay cut and am now on £19,000. I think I was lucky in the £25k job. It was in a well paying sector, similar jobs in other industries pay maximum £21-22k.

I think I’ll always be stuck between 19-22k unless I retrain (which I don’t really have the time or money to do at present) and I’ll never be able to buy a house on my wage alone. It’s depressing.

Whatevs my sister is a lawyer in scotland and earns way way more than £45k

Any professional should earn more than £25k. My first job after graduating paid £21k in 2002 and that was admin for the council

The average wage for our local town is £24,449. I work part time, and even pro rata I earn way less than that.

South east here, formerly London. In London I took home £42k I think, but here a little bit less.

Looking to move abroad and go self employed in a completely different field within a year though.

I earn nearly £36k a year. My family members think it's huge. Living on my own in the SW and paying off previous debt, it really doesn't go far. I don't have to count every penny but still paying debt, no savings obviously, can't afford to run a car. No holiday for 7 years. Clothes from everything5pounds.com.

I think it's a good wage but not an accurate reflection of the responsibility I carry (HCP). It's all relative.

I earn above the national average by a couple of grand, but end up earning just above double the average through various allowances and overtime. I live in the North East.

I have no degree, but earn twice that. I started on a YTS earning £27 a week.

There are lots of jobs where you can work your way up. Friend of mine started as a carer and is now a care home manager. Another friend started part time in retail and is now a regional manager on about £55k.

I don’t understand why you wouldn’t be able to progress within a company? What do you do?

I earn about the average but for a 3 day week so considerably more if I worked full time.

I have mediocre A-Levels and no degree but some professional qualifications.

What do you do now and what's your degree in? Can you move or do you not want to?

I couldn't manage my current life on my own salary without DH (earns nearly double what I do) but if I had to downsize I might manage to struggle by.

I earn £22k but only work 3 days a week-I think it would be about £38k f/t. I’m a teacher.

Average wage is a strange concept - if you look at the average for your town, then you may well be above average. Or below.

London wages and home counties wages probably have a massive effect on the average - some of them are massive - but of course there are bigger outgoings.

Wages in the sticks are lower on average - but houses / rents etc are cheaper.

Do you have reasonable money left after you've paid bills etc?

It's not just about the money though, is it. It's about enjoying what you are doing, getting on with your colleagues, having respect, working hours suitable for your lifestyle. You need to earn a living, but working in a hell hole 10 hours 6 days a week gets quickly unbearable, even for a very high salary.

Check what are the average salaries for your specific role. Can you earn more? The best and quickest way for a payrise is usually to find another job. Can you gain some qualifications and move a step up? If you area really doesn't earn anything, then your choice is to keep the same income or change field, possibly relocating.

happiness with your lot is surely more about what you have left more than what you earn.
If you can keep your spending to a minimum, saving money where you can then you'll be rich, irrespective of what you earn.
We'll never earn the average wage between us, so we've budgeted for spending far less and over the years, (30) now, it's paid off.

I completely understand

what's really amazing is how wages have stagnated and a lot of places are getting rid of people on this kind of wage and just overloading the one or two they have left.

I can only sympathise