Low earner

[Mondaymanic]

What do you consider to be a low earner?
I was always content enough with my pay, always would prefer more of course but generally not feeling hard done by.

Lately I've learned most my friends earn far more than me and consider my pay very low but I'm conscious their view might be skewed. I earn around 27k no children and partner earns the same. Of course I know this isn't amazing pay but is it not decent?
I love North in a v cheap area if that helps

@ThreeLittleDots

You earn 50p an hour less than my kid who is still in school, not exactly a great advert for a university degree is it

The point is that I've deliberately chosen to earn £10 per hour instead of enduring a more stressful path and higher wages. I've failed at nothing. I'm a sucessful and respected working professional.

The idea that anyone 'should be setting a higher bar' for themselves i.e. earning a higher wage just because of their age, background, education etc is snobbish nonsense.

The most important thing is contentment, as the OP mentions.

Absolutely, I earn less than my dd but she doesn’t have young children and has plenty of energy, I’m content, she’s content. All that matters

with that huge debt on your shoulders for the next 20 whatever years until it’s written off it’s only going to drag you down

Not at all, how would it? I've had an unpaid student loan for the past 20 years and I'll happily continue with it slowly increasing for the next 20+ years, until it's written off on retirement.

It hasn't affected any aspect of my life whatsoever.

@ThreeLittleDots

with that huge debt on your shoulders for the next 20 whatever years until it’s written off it’s only going to drag you down

Not at all, how would it? I've had an unpaid student loan for the past 20 years and I'll happily continue with it slowly increasing for the next 20+ years, until it's written off on retirement.

It hasn't affected any aspect of my life whatsoever.

Ok, I get the debt will be written off but I think my question is this, why would you go through that university process to get a degree and all that debt if you, as you say, have deliberately settled for £10 an hour? Wouldn’t you have been better to leave school as soon as you could and gone and got a job in Costa? What was the point in the degree?

What was the point in the degree

Are you suggesting that a degree is a waste of time if it doesn't lead to mega-bucks?

I chose to do my degree to move to London, make new friends, explore a subject I was interested in that has been super useful in aquiring transferable skills...

These skills have been really useful in the workplace and also in running my own business.

Being a BSc graduate has also helped in being offered certain jobs as it may suggest I have a higher level of numeracy, communication and critical thinking skills than others.

Wouldn’t you have been better to leave school as soon as you could and gone and got a job in Costa

Ha. Lots of my fellow graduates found they were unemployable in the 2000s as we were overqualified in our region for most positions vacant!

Whereas those who took a vocational path already had 3-4 years of workplace experience under their belts and were better off for it!

[quote OutlookStalking]@Kingharoldshairstyle well as most people earn much less then it will be considered high by most wont it!!![/quote]
Clearly most people don’t earn less, by very definition as the mean is 32k then most don’t earn less. The average is 32.

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How long is a piece of string? I suppose you can compare it to the average pay. £27k is more than my son who works full time driving a food delivery van (full time PAYE job, SE) It is much less than my lawyer daughters or than lawyer I earn.

I don’t think £27K is enough. People should get paid more if they work hard.

I am an early years educator and earn 16k and a single mum.

Hmm, I would consider a low earner as someone who works full time and still needs a top of UC.