Would you consider £25k to be a good salary

[Sergio4]

I would. I live in London and would love to earn that much. Most of my friends living on London are on £20k or under (some have kids)

Your thoughts?

Depends on context- it's a standard graduate starting salary, and really good if you don't have a degree. Outside of London, I'd say you can afford a reasonable quality of life off of that, especially with a partner on similar. It's certainly not shit or really low as many here say.

25k was my graduate starting salary in London in a sector not known for its pay- it was okay. But I'm 3.5 years in now and it's moved up very quickly.

Not in London no.

What jobs are all you people who are saying it's not good doing?! I'm on 32K and have 2 degrees and can't see myself earning much more and DH is PhD qualified on 38K. When I look at jobs a lot are advertised for much less e.g full time admin roles are 15-20K, even university lecturer roles are around 35K.

As many (all) posters have commented, you need to define “good”.

Graduate starting salaries in my firm in London are £31k. At the firm DD interns with, they are £43k.

What are your ambitions OP?

In London? No

I won't earn that much until 3-4 years after I qraduate, it seems like a lot of money compared to what I have earned before, but it will barely pull us out of the benefit trap and we still won't be able to afford a mortgage here even if DH earned the same.

What jobs are all you people who are saying it's not good doing?!

I was paid 25k plus benefits as a receptionist in a fairly corporate central London office back in 2010. Not totally unskilled but pretty low skilled, you needed to speak decent English, not be rude to clients, be presentable and manage to work a basic computer system. Honestly, the job was a complete doss and that was 8 years ago. So I wouldn’t consider 25k good money today, particularly not for something skilled and/or quite demanding.

As others have said, it depends on many different factors.

I was earning more than that (but not a huge amount more!) As an evperienved social worker but when dc were younger dropped down to a salary lower than that in order to work for a small charity where the stress was far less and the flexibility to work around the children was amazing. I couldn't put a price on that.

Ds1 got a job aged 19 on £23k. He has no A levels as he dropped out of sixth form. I think he's on a very good salary under the circumstances.

It seems to me salaries have stagnated in the UK quite a bit. I started as a graduate trainee in London earning $14k. That was 27 years ago though! So no, I wouldn't say this was a good salary for London at all, especially as the house prices are now ridiculous.

At 21, just starting out, I think it's fine. At 41, having worked for 20 years, it's not great.

Wages have definitely stagnated over the last decade.

I earn around that 3 days a week which I do consider good because I had to start again (as opposed to just going pt in my original career, not an option). I also have lots of benefits that make it worth while, no commute, lots of holidays etc which offset me earning more if I worked in zone 1. However my salary will increase as I move up the ladder so I would say it’s not great if no progression.

My husband is an engineer and at the bottom of his pay bracket is on £36k a year

I am a remedial massage therapist and earn a negligible amount whilst raising the kids.

DH will increase in wage yearly and have 1 or 2 more large jumps until he is on around £55k

I will qualify as a physio hopefully and between hospital bank work and private work be on £25k (increasing as children get older)

How else can you afford to buy a home? Or live a decent life? Have a pleasant retirement?

I consider a ‘good’ income as one that allows me to save for the future while giving my family what they need.

@TokenGinger That is just incredibly cheap.

There is no way anyone in my area could buy a home for £83K even 4 years ago.

A 2-bed tiny terraced cottage with no drive, no frontage and which needs full renovation has just sold in my village for £250K.

Even professionals earning £30-£50K a year need 2 incomes to get onto the property ladder.

"Ds1 got a job aged 19 on £23k. He has no A levels as he dropped out of sixth form. I think he's on a very good salary under the circumstances.2

Wow. What can you do for 24k with no qualifications above GCSE?

"When I look at jobs a lot are advertised for much less e.g full time admin roles are 15-20K, even university lecturer roles are around 35K."

Yes, these are the wages where I live too, but I'd expect them to be one and a half or twice that in London, where rent and mortgage is twice what it is here. Obviously, public sector jobs don't pay much more in London, but private sector jobs presumably have to be competitive.

Trainee lawyer London is about £40k and £60k on qualification for some. It is all just relative.

I think it’s all relative. I’m returning to work after 20 years out on much less than that fulltime. Having no personal income for so long, that seems a huge amount of money for me to be bringing in to our family household.

However if I was bringing up a young family on that it seems a very small sum.

Recently applied for a job which is 'salary negotiable' Told myself i will take 23, but would lovr 25

Low in London, not so bad elsewhere maybe but still on the lower end.

I actually think the idea you earn more in London is a bit of a myth unless we are taking 150k plus type roles. Many cities do seem to pay competitive salaries & have much cheaper housing. Some friends/neighbours have moved to Edinburgh, Bristol & Manchester. Their salaries have only dropped about 10%.

It really depends on your circumstances and the role itself. £25k for a job with a high level of stress and responsibility, where you're often expected to stay late or take work home isn't much imo. But for a relatively low stress/responsibility role it's a decent salary.

I take home roughly £20k a year after tax. It may not sound like much but I work term time only and chose the job because it's low stress but intellectually stimulating, emotionally rewarding and enjoyable work that fits in well with my family life. I've previously had jobs with higher salaries but for me it wasn't worth the money due to having zero work/life balance. That said, DH is on a significantly higher salary than mine, which will continue to increase annually and is likely to progress further as he takes more professional qualifications. I wouldn't have been able to leave my previous role for my current one without him earning good money so again depends on your circumstances.

Gwenhwyfar - I’m educated to A Level standard, no degree, but my job only requests for a NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration, it doesn’t ask for my A Level certificates. My salary band is £28-35k. I’m an officer manager and PA to a Chief Executive within local government.

My little brother is a mortgage advisor on £24k and doesn’t even have a grade C in English, maths or science. He did have to do an on-the-job mortgage qual though.

(That’s in relation to the question about the jobs you can do above £24k )

it would be for me, if I earned that I could afford to come off benefits, For note DH has a problem with his hands so cannot work so I'd need to replace ESA and Income support

No

A single person on £25k will take home £1700 a month, the big question is where are they living? It's far too low for a mortgage in London, but a single person would be entitled to housing benefit of £425, bringing the total to £2125 a month. Assuming a rent of around £1100, that we leave enough to live on, but certainly wouldn't be a life of luxury.