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?

Seems about right to me. Earnings tend to increase with age/experience (unfortunately) especially for Men.

At 40 I'm earning £47k in the South East which I'd think is about average for my age and this area. I work in financial services.

I am on 32k working 37 hours split across 2 jobs, in ops management in the SE and I am 39. (Single parent). I have no A level or degree level qualifications.

I have had to take a hit on my pension (temporarily) and less annual leave that the public sector, less sick pay benefits etc to take a role that is going to set me on a path to a better salary

I have also really only managed to get this role by working my absolute arse off in 60 hour weeks doing jobs/hours no one else wanted to do, knowing the right people and my DC are older so I could be more flexible

I could go into London and get a much better salary faster but I do not want to commute

From knowledge of family members:

Communications, web managers, social media managers often earn more than this for team leader roles.

Scientists, lab managers earn more

HR managers earn more

There are a few other roles I know of too but they're quite specific.

Many roles which require a degree will earn the average wage in the south east

Nhs professionals that have jobs that require degrees and about 8 years experience all earn about that

My hubby and I earn that between us 😓

I work for social services

My full time wage is 32k but I am pt at present

@ElizaDee

£30k is pretty low for London, at least.

This is the kind of shit I'm on about.

How lovely to have such a blessed life that you think £30K a year is a LOW SALARY!

Wait for the London argument.

18k was my graduate wage back in 1997. I’d assume there is also an element of tax credit/ benefit which would enhance your income too?

I earn around the same and no, there are no tax credits. I graduated in 1997 and my first permanent job paid £8000. I clawed my way up to about £20k before having children and then it wasn't possible to continue in that job, so I had to leave and start again. 13 years later I'm still not back to that level.

£29,500 is a good salary where I live. My boss is a fully qualified and experienced accountant and earns less than that. The senior accountant where I work earns about £35k. I'm only part qualified hence my low earnings.

I wish! I earn £16,800 before overtime, last tax year I earn’t just over £18,000 with overtime, this is working full time. Its a good wage for the job I do, average for my role seems to be around £14,500 a year so chances of me leaving my employer are small as it would most likely mean taking a pay cut.

South east here. I earn 12.5k for 32hrs, dh earns 14k for 33hrs.

I earn that in marketing and my husband earns double that in financial services, we are both 30 and live in the SE. It’s not that unusual!

Legal Secretary on £24.5k PT - FT equivalent £41k. That is the City though, so high commuting costs. Just googled average house prices where I live - £280k

@user1493759849
Are people only allowed to respond if they earn less than the median? You're taking offence at anyone posting about their salary and norm for the area, which was the entire point of the thread, if it's over. No one is aghast at low salaries, that's your own projection.

DH earns more than double that in London suburbs (no higher education at all).

My FT salary is £20k more. I have a degree but it's not necessary for my role.

Most people I know in social capacity earn around that.

I don't necessarily think so.

I left school with minimal qualifications and earn over 42k plus bonus.

DH has similar educational background and earns over 55k plus bonus.

We're in London

@BarbaraofSeville what do you mean £29.5k isn’t masses above FT NMW? Are you having a laugh?? It’s an extra £12500 for god’s sake. You try losing that much of your pay packet and then come back and say it’s not masses. Honestly, some people on here have absolutely zero idea what it’s like to be working poor.

As to the point of the thread, if you are in a low paid job then your friends and associates tend to be the same so that’s where you get the feeling that people earn a lot less. It also depends on the sector you’re in. I always worked in hospitality, my husband in distribution and warehousing, my kids in retail and food service. None of us are ever going to get rich, apart from possibly my son who is on the fast track to upper management, but even then, the salaries don’t compare to other sectors. My husband earns around 18500, which when we had younger kids was low enough to get us tax credits, but now we just have to manage. No one in our circle earns anything like £29500. We’re in the South West.

I just went on a well known job website and searched my local area (in the south/south east) and I haven’t come across one job advertising over £21k yet.

The industry DH and I work in (a specific area of property) is one of the few, I think, in which you can do well for yourself with very little education - it's all entirely experience based. It burns people out though, and has a very steep structure of progression; not many sideways steps possible. But it's almost entirely based in cities.

I earn 20k as an Accounts assistant in Cornwall with 12 years experience. There is no room for progression in my company and there hasn’t been at any company I have worked for recently. I find my job pretty easy so I would love to learn how I could earn more.

I have dyspraxia and wouldn’t have coped at university.

I earn £44 and am in London

I worked in a call centre 15 years ago and earned £25k so £29k is just an ordinary salary.

I earn a little over £30k, which IS low for London. Not for the country as a whole, but London. There are an awful lot of very highly paid people in London which skews the data. It also skews the cost of living.

I'm not uncomfortable but I don't have an awful lot of spare cash after paying rent (I houseshare with 6 other people, I'm not renting anywhere luxurious) and bills. I feel like on my salary I should be able to afford more than I can, especially having moved to London from a cheaper area where I was earning only £15k, but oh well.

Entry level grade schemes in London tend to be around that.