29.5k earnings who are you and how?!

[AtSea1979]

BBC reports today say the average salary in the UK is £29,500.

I earn 12k but i’m part time (otherwise 18k). I live in the north. I can only dream about earning nearly 30k. I’ve thought about retraining but I wouldn’t know where to start as the job market seems so difficult.

AIBU to think the majority of people earn much less and it’s just the minority fat cats pulled that figure up?

I earn a little over 30k in London. If you account for rent, transport and nursery fees it's not that amazing. I am in a pretty niche admin/Cs job, started at 17,5k almost 10 years ago and got yearly pay rises. I feel that I am lucky though, not many companies bother with retaining experienced staff the way mine does.

I do wish the 'average wage' was shown as the mode wage. i.e. the income the majority of people earn. I suspect it is way way lower than £29.5k.
Mode average is never used because it reflects how very poor so many people actually are. Median average massages the lower end of the scale.
50% of people earn less than £29k. But we don't know how much less.

I'm in London. My first job was for £20k in an admin role in the travel industry. I now work in HR on £45k.

It hugely depends on where you live, almost more than what you do.

In London, PA's in Investment Banking earn £35k upward. The biggest of all cheeses PA's (when I temped in Banking) were on £45k ish.

I think I only know about 3 people who earn that. Everyone else earns less. I'm on 17k, in a professional job, and I have a postgraduate degree. I think the majority of people who earn that are in London or the richer areas in the South.

I earn that as a deputy store manager (supermarket), started as store assistant 2yrs ago and got promoted. Its full time hours with overtime though

I just used that inflation calculator. My spending power is the same as when I started my career 12 years ago, even though I now earn £8k more.

I'm in the south east and I earn that for 30 hours, plus bonuses etc. My OH works full time and earns 55k

Blimey. As a family we pull in about £12. That's the total. Luckily we own our house so don't have a mortgage to pay. We live on a knife-edge though.

I earn around that figure. PT and I top it up a little with freelancing. I'm the lowest paid of my friends.
Scotland.

I do legal secretarial work in a government department, I have 30 years work experience, a degree and lots of other qualifications. I earn 13k (16k if full-time). No-one in my team has had a pay rise for 16 years. We keep asking for one, but it falls on deaf ears I live an hour from London.

The richest people I know are nurses and teachers, earning below the average still. I think the reason the average of 29k is so high is because half the country is on a really good wage, the other half aren't. Some skills (usually the one's men have) are seen as much more valuable than others.

I'm a teacher and I've been on more than that for a few years now. I've been teaching 15 years and reached the top of the pay scale a couple of years ago.

DH is on slightly less than that as a self employed IT consultant in the North West.

My brother and sister are both on quite a lot less than that, due to lack of employment opportunities where they live. Both have degrees, but can't find jobs to use those degrees without moving away from their families.

North of England here. I'm over 50 and have finally broken £30k. I teach English and maths to adults and work for the local authority. I feel lucky to be on this much.

50% of people earn less than £29k. But we don't know how much less.

Nooooooo. That's not how average works! I've said it so many times on this thread.

1 footballer earning £300K a week, 1040 people earning £14500. so 1041 people and their average salary is £29500. But 99.9% of them are earning below the average.

I was earning just over that as an EA in London.

@mindproject isn't £16000 full time less than minimum wage? Although you have a degree and qualifications I'm guessing your job doesn't actually require you to have them? I'm surprised as public sector jobs would have pay progression. To be earning less than minimum wage with no option for a pay rise is rather odd

I'd like them to report the mode wage too, it's more informative than the median. If they reported the quartiles too that would be even more helpful.

Not 50% of the population on less than 29.5K, no. it will be a far larger percentage than that. That's why the median average is not helpful.

North West - part time for £12k, DP £60k + bonus.

DD22 in London £45k but on qualification if retained in 2 years will go up to £120k + bonus

There was an article last week about how nearly 50% of adults don’t pay any income tax. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I used to earn 40k in the City as a PA in banking. Moved to the southwest with DH who is a military officer on 60k. I earned 26k as a civil servant health and safety officer which for here is a really good salary!

I’m full time student now (PGCE). Looking at jobs here, a secretary/PA/admin earns 16-22k but it’s not the same kind of job as being a City PA. NHS admin jobs pay 17-19k.

There are quite a few retail/hospitality jobs but they all pay minimum wage. Main employers seem to be the university/NHS/council/civil service or a few military contracting / dockyard job. No other industry or financial jobs.

Always jobs for healthcare professionals and teachers here! If you aren’t in a “profession” you won’t find a decent paying job here.

Oldbuthappy. 16k full-time is a bit more than minimum wage. No pay progression seems to be particular to our department; we're all women so I think that has something to do with it.

I think that's probably the 'mode' salary out of my social circle. All very late 20s to mid 30s, varied jobs and mostly uni educated but not all (and mainly ex polys). A couple on substantially more, a couple on a fair bit less. We are in the SW. Both my husband I earn that amount, him FT and me PT, in completely different private sector jobs. None of our close friends are teachers, nurses etc.

I live in a nice area of Leeds but I can tell you the people with the nicest houses in this area are the taxi drivers. Why? Because they are able to fiddle their tax.

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/29/uk-deep-poverty-study-austerity
14.3 million people live in poverty.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/26/record-number-of-uk-workers-paid-below-minimum-wage-report 6 million people earn under £9 an hour, or £10.55 in London.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7326881/amp/How-nearly-HALF-British-adults-pay-NO-income-tax-data-reveals-23-million-adults-exempt-PAYE.html

My job doesn't require a degree, but it does require a specific set of skills, qualifications and training. It's not an easy job, it's complicated, mentally draining and stressful - largely due to very poor management.

I don't think I'm in a unique position. There are millions of people up and down in the country in offices doing quite complicated work, with job titles such as 'admin', earning minimum wage or just above.

mind NMW is £8.21 ph so FT for 37.5 hours per week is £16k - how many hours a week do you work?

That really is awfully low pay for skilled office work. Do lots of people leave, or are the conditions otherwise good so people stay?

I'm also public sector and we've moved everyone up from the lower bands as NMW has caught up, so the lowest salaries are about £18-19k minimum.