To be depressed at low level of wages?

[abacucat]

I am looking for a new job and wages where I live have fallen to what people used to be paid 10 plus years ago. Even qualified social worker jobs are starting at £24,000. I am not a qualified social worker by the way, just an example. But there are so many jobs asking for a high level of skills and experience, but a low level of pay. And the few jobs paying anywhere approaching decent wages, are inundated with candidates.

Also free childcare from the age of 3-5 from 9-12 every day.

I get 16k a year working full time. Crap being on minimum wage but that's the way it is :(

Stop using the word 'Depressed' incorrectly...it completely belittles those suffering life long mental health issues!!

It is like saying you have brain cancer, because you have a headache.

You are comparing your minor upset over wages, to someone with a lifelong illness

I think you are confusing the word depressed with depression.

I think you are confusing the word depressed with depression

Says someone who obviously does not have a fucking clue - but wants to type something for the sake of it

Sit down before you hurt yourself, love

The fact of the matter is OP, that the older generations have voted and made certain things in such a way, that they have fucked things for the younger generation.

But they will happily sit back and be negative about the younger gen

There are not the same opportunities that my parents had.

And the women are now taking the government to court because they dont actually want equality that they picketed for, they dont want the same retirement age as men..now the age for women has been moved to 65 same as men

Oh pity them. Ive had to work much harder than my parents ever did...and will have to work far longer. and yet they moan

The older generations votes have fucked this country - and their kids and grandkids have to live with the fall out...whilst getting slagged off by their own parents and grandparents

Yeah cheers for that

I agree with posters saying that the real issue no one is tackling effectively is safe stagnation.

I was chatting to my dad the other day who was talking romantically about his last job before he took early retirement on ill health grounds - I asked him if he knew the reality of what it's like now (he supported a wife and children in his wages, bought a modest house with garden a 30min car drive from work, working 9-5 solid, no overtime).

We looked up the rates (there's little variation in market rates really but with a London weighting if you ever live there)... It's 50p an hour more than when he retired!

He retired in 2001. Yes, 2001!

He was a bit shocked by that, even that was worse than I thought! At least he's not likely to bang on about my generation needing to "just knuckling down and saving better" any time soon!

Safe stagnation?! Wage stagnation

AiryFairy the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word depressed is "in a state of unhappiness or despondency"

I am definitely in that state about NHS wages!

Yup I hear you.

I’m 40, have a degree and work in early years with a lot of responsibility and a supervisory role. I get £8 an hour.

missyB1.

You are just justifying the misuse of a name for a serious illness that kills more men under the age of 35 than ANYTHING ELSE

And so well informed that you had to google the dictionary

Ignorant

''BEING DEPRESSED''

Kills more men under the age of 35 in the UK than any other illness

Yet folk seem to think it is OK to say that term

It is not OK

It is ignorant

And folk that argue that term, are far worse

AiryFairyUnicornRainbow any chance you could stop derailing the thread and argue semantics elsewhere?!

AiryFairy I don’t have to “justify” anything to you. I was merely explaining something to you that you didn’t seem to know.

You don’t get to unilaterally change the definitions of words in the English language.
Now get down off your soapbox before you fall off.

@AuntiePatricia, Ireland isn't 'taxed to the hilt' compared with he Uk. I've lived in both and it was swings and roundabouts really. Certainly some things like unemplyment benefit is much more generous in Ireland, or it was when I left anyway. We certainly found it easy enough to make a good wage there, until the entire economy went tits up and we got the hell out of dodge.

I despair at some of the jobs being advertised and the salaries being offered. Fifteen years ago, I was doing less for the same money. Job security and benefits are much worse than they were as well.

It all needs a radical shake up. No idea how that would happen as people are clearly just sucking it up.

I've also noticed that full time jobs are very rarely 9-5 anymore. It's often 8.30-5.30 or even 8 o'clock starts and 6 o'clock finishes. It really irritates me because I don't believe that suddenly companies need people to be there for so much longer. It's almost like their doing it to make a point...point being you're lucky to have a job and we're going to extract as much work out of you for the lowest amount of money we can get away with so you'll be grateful you even have a job at all and will put up with anything.

I can't speak for all industries but I get so despondent looking on Arts Jobs. Entry level jobs are £15,000 in my area. Fine you think, but these jobs also require a degree and often a significant amount of experience. I am presuming you are expected to have worked for free (internships/volunteering) before applying for these jobs.

So with your degree, unpaid internships and then travel or relocation to the city where the jobs are you can take home what about £12k?

I was earning that as an office junior in 2002!

Entry level roles are certainly worth less now. I took a role 5 years ago and the pay was £21,500. 2/3 years later they had reduced the salary to about £19,000. Ridiculous!

Thankfully I have managed to work my way up to over £40k pretty quickly but it’s shocking that roles are being massively devalued.

And the women are now taking the government to court because they dont actually want equality that they picketed for, they dont want the same retirement age as men..now the age for women has been moved to 65 same as men.

You don't understand the issue. The issue is not equalisation of retirement ages. The issue is that this was done very quickly with no time for many low paid women to make the additional savings necessary. And remember these are the same women that started work life when women were routinely paid way less than men for the same job.
Even at my age, I am in my 50s and when I started work in a factory straight from school, the boys leaving straight from school were put into better paid jobs in the factory, the girls into lower paid jobs. We all had the same level of qualifications/experience. I suspect younger people have no real understanding of the impact of this on earnings of many older women.

I’ve seen this.

A job I had in 2003 hasn’t increased at all.

A job I had in 2005 (well known charity) now pays £2k less.

I took 10 years out and went back to work on £4K more than I left but the cost of living had gone up so much I was worse off, and hit less in tax credits.

I don’t know how the lowpaid are surviving.

My basic bills are £2k pcm. I have had times of claiming social security. I couldn’t now.

I don’t know how the lowpaid are surviving

They used to manage with tax credits but those are gone in many places and will be gone entirely in the next couple of years.

I earn £16k doing a fairly full on office job, full time in central London (also manage two junior members of staff). It’s utterly insane and unfair but I can’t get anywhere with other jobs. Wages are so awfully low, especially in arts sectors.

Average Irish wage is 37,646, average full time salary is!over 47k. I believe these figures tbh my bro is a trained electrician but works as an operator in a pharma company and is on 46k (no degree) I think U.K. is aged are taking the piss if I’m honest

Asthenia 16k in London!! That is absolutely awful. I wasn't referring to London in my post & I assumed wages would be higher down there!

I think the Arts sector does it knowingly. They know that people do it for the love not the money & someone decides they have had enough, there is another 10 people to take their place.