To think this salary increase over 10 years is rubbish

[flyingtartar]

I've been having a clear out this morning and found an old payslip from 10 years ago. My net take home has only gone up £600 in that time. I'm in a public sector career and have had 3 promotions and reached the top of my grade over that period (I had both my children before then). I feel a lot better off, largely thanks to not having to support my useless ex any more, but £600??!! I have no potential to earn more really without quite a major step up that few will make so that's it. I feel really flat now...

YANBU

As your wage has increased though so will your pension contributions, student loan deductions, tax and NI so in the long term you should still end up far better off?

Had your salary before tax gone up much? There is a point where actually it's better to try and stay below it as there's not much difference in take home pay. I dropped a substantial amount between jobs and my take home pay was only £100 less, which is crazy really.

£600 per month or year?

What do you want to do about it, OP?
Am pretty sure that in real terms, all public sector job salaries have fallen in last 25 years.

I'm assuming you mean £600 per month net increase, so about £10k per annum gross? That doesn't seem a lot if you've had three promotions in that time - even at lower grades most promotions work out much more than that.

Well I haven't even had £600 per year gross due to being in the same job for about 20 years and being at top of my grade.

No scope for promotion because I don't want to be a manager and would be crap at it anyway.

But at least I have a job, for which I am grateful.

The OP's inadvertently posted two threads on this subject so we're closing this one and directing everyone over to her other one, here