Please help settle a debate - earning £35k

[Johnnyfinland]

Two people are having a discussion. Person A is insisting £35k is a decent wage for someone at junior management level or just below. Person B says it's a bad wage, and you can't do things like save, go on holiday, treat yourself etc on that salary.

Person A pointed out plenty of people in the UK are on less, but person B thinks it's only just entry level for many industries, and that most people in "professional jobs" would think it's low.

What do you think? I am one of the people but I won't reveal which yet.

Sadly this shows the widening gap between pay in different industries.

We used to say teachers/accountants/doctors/lawyers are professionals. But the pay gap between teachers and accountants in London has gone silly.

well, in consulting that wouldn't be a great wage, i earned more than that nearly 20 years ago at that point. It absolutely 100% depends on industry.

And the individual - if you want a better paid job, go into an industry/area of work that pays more.

I always wonder why people spend so much time talking about what others earn and not thinking about whether they're happy with their choices.

It depends a lot on where you live I think. Where I work and in the industry I am in that would be quite a normal entry level wage - a little on the low side but not at all shoddy.

In a way you're both right - lots of people do get by on a lot less than that, but equally it's not a huge amount to cover all bills and expenses plus pension and savings and holiday.

I work in journalism too, newspapers not broadcast tho. That's an average national salary (for print, not online) and I'd imagine in London it doesn't go very far.

I will say my sister, who works in a different professional industry, was shocked to find out how low my salary is. She assumed it would be way higher but you don't go into my industry for the money these days.

I am at the top level before going to junior management and that is my salary (and its been banded) meaning that junior management starting would be higher

I do get good expenses though and free holidays. So that makes a difference.

It would be a good wage for me. I've never earned that much. I earned just under 29k lecturing at university. I was working full time but on a temporary contract. 35k is about the starting salary for a permanent university lecturer. I have to admit, threads like these do make me think a some people are out of touch with what different jobs get you. I know from some of my students (or, more accurately, their parents ...) that they imagine we're being paid immense sums of money.

Public sector. That’s reasonable.

Working in the city very low.

For example a lawyer working in central government would earn 3-10x less than a magic circle counterpart.

It depends. I’m on £29k at the moment as I’m training. I can’t save very much (£20-£50 a month or so) because the cost of living in London is so high. I’m not much of a socialiser either, so it doesn’t all go on nights out!

When I qualify my salary will go to just under £50k as a supervisor. I’d expect managers to be on about £60k. So yes, in my industry and in my firm, that would be a very low salary.

LRD - I was just thinking the exact same thing.

I think this is really about entitlement, expectations, and privilege. If you grew up in a wealthy household, where a high standard of living and high wages were the norm, £35k probably seems like peanuts. It's actually the median wage for London, though (compared to £22k for the rest of the country).

It all depends on market rates in the particular industry. No-one from the outside can tell an industry or an employer what they ought to pay. They pay what they need to, to attract and retain staff.

So, if they're a charity, or arts organisation, doing something that lots of people value, want to do and enough people are willing to take a low wage to do, they will pay a low wage. Lots of capable people won't be able to afford to take these jobs but, until the employers can't recruit, that's not a problem they need to address.

Personally, I'd take the teaching payscale as a benchmark of 'decent salaries'. If you're motivated by money, you'll enter a profession that offers you greater opportunity to earn. If you're motivated by values and interests, you may well stay in one that pays far less.

Personally, not in London, £35k is a salary on which I could very comfortably live, pay into a pension, have overseas holidays, savings, and treats.

Person A pointed out plenty of people in the UK are on less,

But that is a moot point, OP. It doesn't matter if people are on less elsewhere in the UK, IF their living costs are substantially lower. It makes a huge difference.

The reality is, in London, (and not just the South East - even a few miles out of Inner London means the living costs drop) which is where you where both talking about, those figures in "professional jobs" in the private sector are not high

However I used to work in museums and archaeology - £35k would be considered extremely well paid in those circles!

@Anythingforacatslife not for a teacher in London. I'm on c 35 and I've only been teaching for 3 years.

It isn't particularly about entitlement and privilege. It is about what is a fair rate for that particular job.

Broadcast media- it s probably realistic. City law firm or banking - incredibly low, public sector - person B has unrealistic expectations.

depends totally on location. i earned about that in milton keynes. would have got about 45 to 50 in london but that would have been commuting just to pay the travel cost and tax. actual cash in pocket the same.

I'd be living like a king on 35k!

I did point out to person B that it's pointless comparing salaries to other industries, particularly ones geared around making money, as they'll obviously be more

Depends on many factors. Living outside of London/the south generally really and with no dependents then yes, that’s a very good wage. If you start to factor in children with childcare costs and you’re living in the south, you’d be pretty broke.

A large regional law firm is offering exactly this as a starting point for negotiations over a new job. The job is senior conveyancing. I know as they offered it to me and I said no thank you very much and am on more than that with my current high street firm.

It's a decent enough wage , particularly for Cornwall. But if we're going on experience, I have been qualified since the dinosaurs and about 20 years ago I was on more than I'm on now.

Sorry duh, the large firm is in Cornwall, though my next paragraph makes that clear.

DH and I are both on around 35k but we live up North, so yes, we consider it a decent wage for the roles we have (non-managerial, non-professional but within Digital sector) I don't think I would consider them as good if we lived in London though.

This is a silly question because as everyone else says it depends on the industry and location! Obviously in London this salary isn't great. In finance, for example, even outside of London, you'd expect to be on more if you're in management. Whereas if you work in the public sector this could be a good salary.