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

OP, both myself and my husband earn high salaries however it wasn't always like that for us and we realise how lucky we are but we are well aware that alot of people earn the figure you are talking about so I'm not sure why you can't believe a household income would be 30k, some household incomes are much lower than that hence the need for food banks etc, I'm confused as to what your actual point is?!

I know somebody who will retire on NMW.

We are under 26k. 4 kids.

I dont know anyone over 30k lol

There's a couple of oddities, one that you have no friends earning less - get meeting a few more people - and cannot comprehend why most people earn less and the other is that you cannot afford to actually run two cars on that income, but I guess they both really point to serious financial illiteracy.

You could solve both problems at your local adult education centre I'm sure, a night class would let you meet some people with lower incomes and teach you how to make your substantial income go further.

Even on low full time wages like £18k, you may not get any extra benefits. Lots don't depending on rent and childcare.

UC is set very low but even tax credits had a pretty low cut off if no childcare costs and no disability.
This is deliberate because of the benefits cap that was introduced.

Op google is your friend as your ignorance is shocking.
Google the level of benefits especially in work ones.
Out of work ones are so low, well £250 a month for a single person on universal credit. Pretty bad hey.

Google the working poor. Average income is actually £27k not the £30k banded around on this thread.

Google all the cuts and austerity. Google wage stagnation and I think it is not actually wage stagnation but wage cuts. The job I applied for in 2003 paid £25k pro rata per annum and now pays £19k pro rata per annum. That is not stagnation. That's a huge cut. This has happened to lots of jobs in lots of industries.

I think.i would feel rich on 30k

Also op you must be shockingly bad with money not to be able to afford the nicer things, on your family income.

understand minimum wage might give an annual salary of around £17,000 but you don't stay on that for very long do you?

There are loads of minimum wage jobs that don't provide opportunities for career advancement.

I think I phrased everything terribly and I'm sorry.

Dohhhh you don't say....maybe you should have stopped there...

I understand minimum wage might give an annual salary of around £17,000 but you don't stay on that for very long do you? Plus there are child benefits and hopefully credit things to top it up so on paper it's low but reality it's higher?

What about people without children not eligible for "credit things" ????? Or the people that don't get promoted for various reasons??? And no in reality £17k isn't higher.

I have to step away from this thread because I'm getting disproportionately angry.

@flirtygirl I will google, thank you

I don't know how we struggle to be honest but we do. I now know we are extremely fortunate but the truth is we DO struggle

I don’t get it? You can’t be serious... maybe widen your circle?

“Everyone I’m rich, look at me, look at meeeeeeeee, peasants”.

I know people at the extremes of the scale, some on a lot less than the 30k you mention, I find your post so so ignorant. You need to open your eyes I think, you might have surrounded yourself with wealthy families with similar circumstances to your own but you must realise some people are really struggling? This ignorance about the state topping wages up too? Really? How much do you think people get in working tax credits etc? If everyone is topped up to 30k (or more) why the hell are there food banks?! You must live under a rock.

I'm 59. I'm going to die on NMW.

I will never be able to afford to retire.

Well, even with two people working is's easy enough to be in that bracket. Dh is an ambulance driver near the top of his range and is on about £23k I think but younger/newer drivers will be on less, then if you maybe have young DC and partner works part time in low paid role then could easily be less than £30k, that's the reality.

I grew up in the south east and lots of people earn £18k or £22k full time. Not everyone in the south east is highly paid. Supermarkets workers, ta's but also council workers with degrees and office workers in businesses. Even some it jobs or professional jobs pay £25-29k.

I hate it when people think all the south east workers get paid loads when they don't. It just that some get paid extremely well and this skews the figures.

I'm actually embarrassed for you, just because you don't know anyone doesn't mean it isn't the case.

Wow, just wow!

a nurse and the other is an office manager and that's still over 70 when combined. That's my confusion, even 'low level' jobs would bring in much more
I don’t see these examples as ‘low level jobs’

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

Unfortunately it is because people like yourself "refuse to believe that's an actual reality" that is remains an actual reality!

People live on a LOT less than this. They bring up families on joint incomes (Yes - these are working people- not "scroungers") of less than 20K and often less than 15K.

There are families with low single incomes which are less than 10K.

But you "refuse to believe it" - so obviously it can't be true.

My mums a single mum and works full time on 18K a year, she has a 10 year old so gets some benefits but that doesn't equate to 30K. You live in a princess bubble.

I don't believe anyone on benefits is a scrounger. I would never, ever begrudge someone welfare money and it clearly needs to be higher.

I think it is quite easy to not realise that many people struggle by on very low wages. If you have a friendship group where everyone works and you live in a decent house in nice area you may never come across people who earn very little.

No-one in my friendship group struggles financially, although not all are high earner by any means.

However as a social worker I have seen the other end of the scale and understand that poverty is very real for many families.

It would be good to have a thread that doesn't kick the OP but promotes a discussion about the huge division of wealth in the UK.

I know many families earning this or less. If people are on minimum wage then that’s what they have to survive on. People do survive on it, they just have to be extra careful.

Our household income is around 80k.. but I understand perfectly well that 30k is very much a average household income and will probably be the case for many of the people I grew up with.

You honestly can't be that removed from reality. Also, how do you know what all your friends make, you are obviously focussed on monetary value.

Okay, let's assume someone earns national minimum wage (which the majority of care assistants, shop workers, waitresses, labourers, and a significant other amount of people are on) which is £8.21 an hour (if you are over 21). Say you work a 40 hour week is £328.40 a week. So that's £17, 076.80 per annum pre tax and deductions so in reality you will probably only take home about £14-15k a year. So if even if two people in a household are both working full time on national minimum wage then their annual take-home pay will be about £30k. AND it's unlikely in a household with young children that both people will be working full time as it's (ironically) unlikely they'll be able to afford childcare on minimum wage.

You really do live in a bubble OP.