Average incomes

[flabbergastedfinances]

Found out that the average family income is around £30,000 a year and I can not believe it. I don't know a single family on anywhere near this low, lowest is possibly 70k mark between two teachers but majority have two earners pulling in 40+ each or one higher earner on 80/90k+

How on earth is 30,000 even possible in light of minimum wage and benefits/tax credits etc? What is even more shocking is that I used the where do you fit in calculator and we are apparently in top 98% of families in the uk. No chance, absolutely no chance.

We might have a high ish mortgage (still only £1000 so not outrageous) and have slipped into bad spending habits (Uber's, eating lunch out every day, new clothes now and then) but we are hardly excessive. We can't afford to run two cars, can't afford foreign holidays, can't afford the posher shops like Boden or northface new and yet this chart tells me we have it better than nearly everyone else in the country?! What am I missing?!

We have a child in childcare a few days a week, so that and mortgage are biggest expenses but combined that's only £1500 and I see everyone else buying £300 coats, spending 1000s on holidays, children in private schools and I am utterly stumped.

How can the average family income be £30,000? Which families are surviving on that? None I know that's for sure and I just refuse to believe that's an actual reality

@sansou we don't have 10k though so it's ok!

OP do u seriously not know anyone on less than 30,000?

Taken from the new statesman magazine -

the average salary in Britain is £28,677 (this is the median for full-time employees). According to the government’s own analysis, the median income of the top decile of earners is £67,300 – so those officially classed as the top earners are still on average paid way below that £80,000 mark.

Hi OP. I'm a student midwife and a single parent of 3 kids. My annual income including tax credits and child benefit its 20k. I exist.

Jesus wept does the Op not comprehend the difference between their actual monthly outgoings being different to other on a far lower monthly income?

@Waxonwaxoff0

£22,620 pa is what you actually receive so the equivalent of a net figure. (if we discount your pension contributions which would make it a higher figure.

In order to receive a similar amount, you'll need a job that pays £28K+ before tax.

I know that you're not saying that you are struggling but actually coping fine.

The thread is confusing because people are comparing gross and net figures and I'm probably being slightly pedantic pointing it out.

We have a combined income of 133k... but we don’t live under a rock. How are you so socially unaware?

Also. what a strange thread to start...

I'm a single parent with 2 DC, I have a diploma, BSc (Hons), and Msc, I earn 16.5k PT (28hpw) FTE is 22k. Qualifications, at least In my case and that of my peers, does not mean you can automatically access higher wages.

OP I cannot believe you thought it was okay to post this, what thought process did you go through, what did you hope to achieve? Do you recognise the words empathy, compassion, intelligence, segregation, capitalism, socialisation? Imagine, instead you taking the time to sit input your husbands wage into a website, you read the news, how your views may expand?

@sansou I see what you mean now, apologies!

Being generous and giving OP the benefit of the doubt, I’m assuming that she is young had children as a teenager and didnt go to college/university or work and so has little to measure her own wealth against bar those around her.

Maybe she cones from a family who dont own a TV.

Averages are meaningless.

A lot of our friends are on gross salaries of around £25-30K.
Whereas, we've been lucky, and our income is now 10x more than it was 10 years ago, so I've seen it from both sides.

We still don't have lots of 'spare' money left after bills, etc, so ikwym, but that's because outgoings tend to increase as your lifestyle changes.

Eg:
We have a very large mortgage now, whereas before it was almost nothing.
Commuting costs have trebled,
we eat out or have a takeaway twice a month now, whereas before we didn't have the money for that, we have a newer car that costs more to run,
we now have pension plans, and private health insurance (both of which we couldn't afford before), etc.

These are all things you choose to do; they are mostly luxuries, not essentials, so although it may not feel like we have any more 'spare' cash at the end of each month, we obviously do, but we've chosen to use it to up our lifestyle as our income has increased.

I'm thankful every day that we no longer struggle to make ends meet, but I'm aware that many others are still struggling and would consider the money we earnt back then to be a decent income even nowadays.

FWIW, I don't think you were being goady, and I can see how it is hard to imagine if it's not something you come across, but I'm glad that your eyes have been opened.

Try volunteering, it's so rewarding, and you may learn a few things, as well as being able to give something back to society.

OP you will get people on here saying they have seven children and one NMW income and they're fine, just watch the pennies. When I was younger, single and had just bought my first flat (about eleven years ago) I was earning 25k and paying for everything myself, it was fine but I shopped in Aldi, went on a cheap but foreign holiday once a year, had a cheap to run second hand car and had friends over at the weekend a lot more than we actually went out anywhere. Raising children and supporting two adults on that our even 5k more, a decade later would be horrific. Our joint income is around 70-75k, one child and we're fine but not well off, when DH finishes his master's next year he gets a ten grand pay rise and I will have been back from mat leave for nearly a year so we'll be back to being comfortable. We live in a commuter area in the home counties though, so living costs are higher.
Lots of DBs friends are tradesmen fwiw and do very well for themselves, so that's not really a low paying field, unless you're just a labourer.

It sounds to me that a lot of people are being underpaid and wages haven’t increased in line with the cost of living. People shouldn’t be angry at the OP. They should be angry with their employers. A lot of people are getting insanely rich at your expense.

Most of the figures you're getting OP are based on PAYE, it's not taking into account anyone who's self-employed.

So it's only employed peeps.

So, we're self-employed, and take 40k a month (ish), but we're not included in those figures.

30k id be bloody rich try living on 10k a year then come tell me what hard is

Why are people discussing incomes with their friends, none of my friends or family know our income. We paid our mortgage off in our thirties but didn’t tell anyone

When I was younger, single and had just bought my first flat (about eleven years ago)

ah, so towards the earlier end of austerity politics, then?

Not read the whole thread, but the figure is after tax.

I earn around 25k and dh around 15k with 3 kids .
So yeah it happens .

We get zero in benefits aside from the standard child benefit

Get over yourself

This isn’t really the point but how do so many of you know what your friends and their partners are on? Do you discuss it?

I wouldn’t have a clue for most of our friends unless they are in public sector jobs which tend to have strict bands. You can’t even really guess from their lifestyle because so much of it is wrapped up in a mortgage around here, which could be anywhere between £0 and 4-5k a month.

What a pointless debate! That figure is before tax. That figure probably doesn't take into account benefits, it doesn't take into account differences between North and South. It doesn't take into consideration age and responsibility.

When I was 25, I took on an internship working FT. I earned £600 a week. I was getting no benefits because I didn't even consider that this could be an option (if it was). I paid £50 a week for a room in a disgusting place. Yet somehow, I was managing ok. That's because I had no responsibility at all and outgoings were very low.

10 years later, I earned £40k before tax, yet I found it much harder to manage my budget. By then I was a single mum, with a mortgage, childcare costs, a car that I needed to go to work, and so much more outgoings that come with having children and a house that needs looking after.

£30k net when you are retired, mortgage paid, children who are self-sufficient, and a simple life that doesn't revolve around luxuries doesn't sound that bad.

I always discuss income with my closest friends?

How can the average family income be £30,000? Which families are surviving on that? None I know that's for sure and I just refuse to believe that's an actual reality

What has the OP been smoking? That's exactly what DH will be earning between us when I go back to work and I don't consider us to be in poverty or simply "surviving"

I don't know a single family on anywhere near this low, lowest is possibly 70k mark between two teachers but majority have two earners pulling in 40+ each or one higher earner on 80/90k+

I've said before on a previous thread that I honestly only know a small handful of people who earn over 30k and is true. Search for jobs in Cornwall on indeed and you will see most jobs (even some professional ones) pay fairly low. Even where I work a ship manager working seven days a week would be only earning 50ish. Then there partner would usually need to stay at home and do all of the childcare so only one wage.

Give it a few years and the OP (or someone similar) will be back with a teenager that's got themselves a job in a shop/cafe/restaurant to earn some 'pocket money' and will be astonished at the low wage and what they're expected to do for that wage. And a load of other posters will be along to say how shocking it is, while probably berating someone else that's posted a thread trying to live on that 'pocket money'. It only matters when it affects the middle class.