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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you earn a lot LESS than 50k per year?

361 replies

Afternooninthepark · 04/04/2020 13:40

On the back of another thread which was asking about £50k + earners (and me being naturally nosy!) I just wonder if there are many on here earning a lot less and wonder what you do for a living?
I’ve been on Mumsnet for years and there does seem to be many very high earners on here with some very interesting careers.
I’m not one of them unfortunately. Dh earns around £35k pa (45 hrs pw) and due to some health issues I only work very part time. We are both in everyday kind of jobs not careers but we are very happy nonetheless.
Anyone else earning an ‘average’ wage in ‘average’ jobs?

OP posts:
daisypond · 04/04/2020 16:33

Average median full time salary is just over 30k. Average mean salary is just over 35k. The mean salary is skewed by very high earners at the top end. The median salary is the one to look at, really, for comparison.

Mummiepig · 04/04/2020 16:34

Me Retail £12k DH maintenance £23k
We are comfortable

Original poster
Afternooninthepark · 04/04/2020 16:34

ideasplease I might be wrong so please don't quote me on it but I thought The Office of National Statistics said last year the average wage was something like £35k?

OP posts:
ssd · 04/04/2020 16:39

Dh 21k me 9 k

y0rkier0se · 04/04/2020 16:39

I’m a teacher and earn £28k, DP is a civil servant and earns £25k.

daisypond · 04/04/2020 16:40

average wage was something like £35k?
That’s the average mean wage. It’s a distorted figure, created by adding up all the wages and divided by the number of earners. The average median- all wages put in a list and finding the middle figure - is more meaningful. It’s 30k. “Average” has a few meanings.

ssd · 04/04/2020 16:41

It doesn't matter what it says, if you live on 30k as a family the average wage could be 100k for all it matters

roarfeckingroar · 04/04/2020 16:45

I'm in a well paid profession (corporate communications) and find it really shocking and depressing how so many people earn a third of what I do for doing wildly more valuable and stressful jobs than I will ever do. Teachers, nurses, anyone in caring professions. It isn't right.

TakeMeOn · 04/04/2020 16:45

Previously worked in tech for 35k per year. Now work part time nmw waitressing (or did). I would be happy with about £27k-35k, but I don't know how to get a job that pays that much anymore. Can't go back to what I did pre-dc as things have changed too much. I'm quite down about it and have thought of training in something, but I don't even know where to begin. I'd love some advice if anyone has any ideas.

MissingLinker · 04/04/2020 16:46

Don't know if people are lying or not but the average salary on Mumsnet certainly seems higher than UK median of approximately £30.5k or even London median of £36k. Especially as every other DH is on a six figure salary, apparently.

FairyDogMother11 · 04/04/2020 16:46

I'm a restaurant manager and I earn £21k a year, DH is a machine operative in a factory and he earns just shy of £30k, both full time.

Cattenberg · 04/04/2020 16:47

Another admin person here on less than £20,000. I’m in the SW, and as a pp said, wages tend to be low in this region. I have a degree, but there seem to be few graduate jobs here (apart from the obvious jobs in law, medicine, teaching etc). Many of my colleagues on the same pay grade have degrees, most of them in subjects unrelated to our field.

Ideasplease123 · 04/04/2020 16:48

I just feel fed up after reading all this to be honest. Wish I'd not read it. Combined we are around 27k after tax if that, made me realise now how we've struggled all these years. Yes we could retrain etc but we have young children, husband is a welder and I work part time in travel. I could go full time and obviously earn more money in another job but then I'd never see the children so I don't know what's best. Part of me wants to sack the whole travel agent job off as it pays me no more to work as I have to pay childcare fees etc and set up a cleaning business

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 04/04/2020 16:50

Around 20,000 depending on how busy I am. Childminder

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 04/04/2020 16:50

Dp earns about 28,000

EileenAlanna · 04/04/2020 16:50

I'm a live-in church caretaker & I earn £3,806 per annum. The job comes with a flat above the church hall but I pay all bills, Council tax etc.

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 04/04/2020 16:51

That's my before tax though, that's dps after tax

Wewearpinkonwednesdays · 04/04/2020 16:53

That's also before my deductions. I spend a lot out of my own pocket on the kids I look after.

blue25 · 04/04/2020 16:54

I know loads of people earning over 100k and actually very few earning less than 50k. I’m in the SE though it’s completely normal here.

bellalou1234 · 04/04/2020 16:54

Nurse 24k

NemophilistRebel · 04/04/2020 16:56

I’m in SE I think we are roughly on the lower end of what friends and family earn

The wives are typically on anywhere between £40-60k if not SAHP and the men all £70k plus.

heidihigh · 04/04/2020 17:00

I work in retail management and earn around £23.5k a year which isn't too bad for the job I do

amy85 · 04/04/2020 17:06

Part time teaching assistant (I say part time but I work 4 days a weeks) and I earn just over 11k a year....it's pathetic

happinessischocolate · 04/04/2020 17:07

£27k for doing payroll, also get a bonus of £2.5k each year, but probably won't get the bonus this year after this fiasco.

TheFabledSnake · 04/04/2020 17:10

Part time nursery practitioner, I earn minimum wage