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 a teacher. If I worked full time, I would earn about 30k. I do live in South East but outside of London/outer London so am paid the same as if I was in any other region.

What's your degree in? Most subjects could lead to teaching, although I wouldn't recommend going into teaching if you're not passionate about education or children.

Any professional should earn more than £25k. It depends where you live doesn't it? I see plenty of jobs advertised in my area for qualified accountants for example that only pay around that.

£38k but an experienced, full time teacher. I've earned a lot less over the years, especially the 14 years part time I did.

The average earning for a couple of years post qualified is twice that treacle, so you’re looking at a pretty severe outlier where you live

I don't even earn the living wage and I'm I need London. I love my job and I'm bloody good at it and that is what makes me happy, not money.

DH earns almost four times that, he’s a software engineer with an engineering degree. He works ridiculous hours for that wage though, his basic is £50k.

My sister left school with an F in Textiles GCSE. She is now the payroll manage for a household name company and earns about £70k plus bonuses. She started as an office ‘girl friday’ in a tiny company and worked her way up getting qualifications as she went.

We live in the SE though and without sounding like a spoilt brat, it doesn’t go far. Average house, used car, one UK holiday a year.

This is a few years old - but should give you an idea of the salary for your county.

www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/nesscontent/dvc126/

It's about £500 per week for my county - which fits in with what I get.

I earn £48k but DH is currently off work on long term sick and just gets SSP, which will stop in a few weeks, and he may never work again (he is terminally ill). So what I would normally consider a life-changing salary isn't actually going to stretch that far as the main (and possibly sole) income for a family of 3. It's all relative. Even when DH is at work he earns below the average, despite working 84 hours a week.

I didnt earn a decent wage till I hit my 40s. Got a job I loved ( change of career), and have worked my way up. Got paid by my employer to do a post grad. Now earning 45k plus ( Central Scotland). DH now earns a decent salary by retraining.
And yet a few years ago, we struggled to pay the bills.
It doesn't have to be hopeless xx

Depending on where you are in the country, you may well have the same disposable income (if not more) on a salary of 22k as someone in London/Oxford/Brighton does on a salary of 28k due to the huge regional differences in housing costs.

I earn double the national. No qualifications. But shift work, injury and 2 preschoolers means my DH is unable to work so that's for 4 of us.

My DD started as a Care Assistant and worked her way up into lower management, she now earns 28k, which is a really good wage for the North West, her mid priced three bed house, in a fairly good area cost 98k, last year, to give an idea of housing costs.

Most of her friends earn around 18k.

Wow, I had no idea the national average was so high... I have two degrees and a diploma, am in instrumental teaching and the most I've ever earned was 18k. Currently more like 13-15k. My husband doesn't have comparable qualifications, but works in the care sector VERY full time and earns 22k. So about 35k between us. We only just get by, but I don't think that's a low wage at all.

I live in the midands and am almost 50 and my combined income from 2 part time jobs ( one of them a professional job) is around 22k. if I did the professional job full time I could earn more but just don't want the stress, it isn't worth it ! Years of working part time with 4 kids has scuppered my chances of climbing the career ladder. Of course there is time still to become a higher earner but it's looking unlikely.

Comparisons don’t matter - op, you need to plan what you CAN do to boost your earnings, and stop looking back or around.

I was lucky - I went into IT purely by fluke after a completely unrelated degree and earn double the nat average - for what I do I’m not a high earner for my field as I’ve consistently turned down travel and extra responsiblities for family reasons.

I earn £10k a year, full time. To add to insult, it's a demanding and stressful job at that. I've potentially peaked too. It's fucking depressing and I die a bit inside everyday, I won't lie. A stint of awful mental health in early 20s followed by disabled DC this is how my life has panned out. Meh, whatever. Be grateful for what you've got I guess.

Just to add that there have been times when she has wanted to downgrade because of the extra hours/duties/problems that her role brings.

How old are you?

I spent a decade working my way from about 18k to 22k (public sector pay freeze), then changed jobs and have been a higher rate tax payer for the past 5 years.

Having said that I've recently been made redundant so it might have just been a 5 year blip!

I only have GCSEs and A Levels, no degree. Left college at 18 and started at the company I still work for now as trainee admin on £12k... just over 4 years later I'm a manager on £27k. I think it all depends how lucky you are at finding a company that offers good progression.

weskett
I earn £10k a year, full time. To add to insult, it's a demanding and stressful job at that.
THen your employer is breaking the law as the NMW is higher than that.

I’m 29.

I definitely need to look at doing some sort of retraining but it’s hard when you work full time. I’m interested in marketing and would like to try and gain some qualifications in that if possible, but it would have to be online/ distance learning and finding a reputable online course is proving difficult.

Kalapattar
THat link is WONDERFUL
Have bookmarked it

TalkinPeace

It's term time only, I don't get holiday pay. Sorry I should have made that clear in my OP.

What do you do, what sector/industry do you work in? I started as a call centre agent, have stayed in the same environment but moved through the management structure and now on £39,000. I have not retrained or qualified so it is possible.

summer
Remember that incomes are a skewed distribution : only 1/3 of people earn above the average
The median (half above, half below) of taxpayers is around £19,500