To wonder how people afford to live with these jobs

[Dreamer14]

I have worked in the private sector for nearly 20 years. In a high paying industry too. However… I’m bored. So very bored.

My Monday dread starts on Friday nights. I’ve changed company and the feeling is the same. I feel isolated because I work at home all the time. I don’t feel like I’m being the best version of myself. I’m grumpy as I’m unhappy etc.

I’ve thought for years, I’d love to go do something completely different. Each time I try… I give up because I simply can’t afford to work 37 hours (with all the childcare I’d need) for £20k.

I would love a job helping others. I look at NHS and school jobs, council jobs, charity jobs etc. but the pay simply isn’t enough. Am I doing something wrong? Have I missed something?

We would like to move in next few years but if I went to bank and said I earn 20k they wouldn’t lend me nearly enough. I don’t have a rich husband! I’m the main earner.

I'm working 37 hours a week and hate every moment. My dream situation would be slightly less hours so I can pick my kids up one day a week and something I love that involves a bit more human interaction.

It shows how it’s impossible to say whether UC is enough in a general sense, as what people get totally deonds in their situation.

For single people who are childless and in private rented, a low wage isn’t going to lead to substantial or any benefits to boost income.

People in couples and who have mortgages won’t manage to get much.

The generous benefits seem to be reserved for those who are single parents and who have children under 5 and who go to work at least some of the time, and who live in rented accommodation. Those who will be most well off are those in rented social housing that has low rent that is fully paid by benefits and who also have ex partners who pay proper maintenance.

Can the system be ‘gamed’? Well, only really to the extent that someone might stay ‘single’ when their children are young so they continue to qualify for more UC and rent payments.

Those who are only seeing half the picture and deciding that they are working hard full time and worse off than those on benefits are missing a big part of the picture. Those people who are getting larger UC payments tend to only be single parents and to only get them for short periods. Once their kids are at school and so much childcare isnt needed, the benefits drop. Once the kids aren’t at home anymore, the benefits drops again.

Isnt this approach about ensuring all children have a decent life….although even with this approach large proportions of families are still in poverty. Families which are couples have the capacity to earn more and to manage at least some of their own childcare, whilst single parents have less capacity to earn and the ability to work and do childcare is less. Those low earning couples might feel aggrieved that they are both working to pay their rent or mortgage, that a single parent over the road might be covering by working part time and and getting benefit top-ups……..but what is the alternative…leave those kids without? They still aren’t living a luxury lifestyle, simply one similar to the family that has 2 parents on low paying jobs.

And for those who are envious of the single parent with all their benefits, remember that when their kids leave home and benefits are severely axed, they will probably be in real poverty. One low income, especially if in private sector rented, really isn’t going to be enough.

I have 2 degrees and a diploma and am also bored, but whenever I apply for entry level jobs for a similar wage in other sectors, I'm told I lack experience. Not really sure where to start.

I work part time and term time only, doing a job I love. I earn 15k. I can afford to do this as I own my home outright, so no housing costs.

This makes me mad too. Im on £18k, lone parent and am entitled to nowhere near that, even without savings and paying rent.

I earn about 13 grand a year no benefits and it's enough to cover bills but no spare for clothes, holidays, hair/nails and takeaways ect it depends what sort of life you want

Don't be mad.
Those on the highest benefits usually do not explain they are getting housing benefits - in London, you are entitled to more, childcare tax credits for under fives in the full-time nursery and often a disabled payment as well for a severely disabled child. Most people on benefits get far far less.
We earn £31k and get childcare benefit, that is all.

This is exactly what the people doing these jobs are complaining about! 20k is a normal wage for public sector jobs outside London

No it’s not. It’s a normal wage for the very lowest paid public sector jobs, think trainee kennel assistant or lowest grade crèche worker, or lowest level admin. Most jobs pay above this.

Third sector jobs are the lowest paid, but central government, local government and NHS are reasonably paid and have good terms and conditions.

OP, take a look at jobs at your local universities. They’re often recruiting for a wide range of posts and you may find something closer to your desired salary. You may also be able to do further training or development free if it’s something they deliver. One of our administrators was able to study for an MBA and another studied for a project management course, and of course you’re directly or indirectly helping students.

Loads of jobs are around the £24k or £25k mark and require qualifications and a high level of skills.

No it’s not. It’s a normal wage for the very lowest paid public sector jobs, think trainee kennel assistant or lowest grade crèche worker, or lowest level admin. Most jobs pay above this.

I've seen kennel assistant jobs for 16k. Some nursing assistant jobs are only 20k.

Realityloom
she’s a nursery nurse. I think she’s on about 12/13 per hour. She has a 35 mile commute every day, so petrols a big thing for her. She works full time. No partner or kids. She struggles with ulcerated colitis, so I wonder if she would be untitled to any pip or such. She’s struggling and tired. Sore joints and such as. Only 50.

That's my Job nursing assistant I've done it 10 years. Tbh I don't find it poorly paid. You need to be able to willing to work nights and Sunday rate is around £19 per hour. I work school hours (lucky I know) then I pick up bank shifts IF I want extra. Some agencies are paying more a lot more.

I can relate. I used to be in a 20 year plus well paid job (before I was made redundant at the start of the pandemic) but for the last 5 - 7 years or so was deeply unhappy. I used to go shopping everyday to make myself feel better. I amassed so many clothes, shoes, bags, and shit. I developed IBS. Then I developed insomnia and went to my GP for some sleeping pills and she saw signs of stress and agitation and put me immediately into therapy - around the same time as I was being made redundant. I kind of ended up having a mini nervous breakdown.

I'm in a much better place now. I've just started working in a theatre as a welcome host which is a job that is not very well paid on a zero hours contract (no security) but I am loving every minute of it. All the other people (including the actors & actresses) are really great, and super friendly. I've always loved theatre and now I get to see it free.

From my experience, I'd say that holding out for the money isn't worth it if you are deeply unhappy. It may end up affecting your mental health without you even realising it as you get more and more dissatisfied and grouchy as the years go on.

Surprisingly now I get really excited about going into work (mainly because it doesn't feel like work and is such fun) and can say that overall on a day to day basis I feel happy and upbeat. That feeling is worth more than money.

I look around myself now and wonder why I bought so much stuff, a lot is still in the store bags, piled up in closets and in my spare room. I'll have a lot of eBaying to do. Strangely enough, I've also lost my appetite for shopping, even in charity shops.

Life is too short. Think about doing something you'd enjoy. You'll never get the years back doing something that is making you so miserable. You could also damage your mental health.

I think she should call CAB because I know you can work along side PIP. Or you don't have to even work on PIP it's not easy to get from what I hear. But I would advise her to try! Good luck.

Maybe search for quality and compliance jobs in the care sector, or project management jobs in the NHS? A quick Google has turned up several near me between £35-47k which seem to match your degree and experience. Ok, so not as much care input as you’d like, but it’d be a good grounding for you to apply for a registered manager job in care in a year or 2 and that’d give you the care aspect and a wage of £45-55k.

ERealityloom
thanks for your advice. I keep saying to her to contact the advice shop. I think she applied for pip months ago but got turned down. She needs to appeal or try again as she does struggle, especially in the winter as her joints are sore from the cold.

Wtf, I am being totally mugged off teaching then, you get more than me a month and I've got 8 years experience.

Hi OP,

I can totally identify OP.

My dream is to work in the local M&S food to go, or Co Op!! I know that people who work in there will think I am mad, and probably be resentful of someone who earns 2-3 times their salary making such a statement.

But I do long for a simpler role where I can be home for my children more.

Sadly, I am also stuck - mainly because of the choices we’ve made in terms of the home we live in, the area we live, our lifestyle etc. Of course we could make changes - but the grass most definitely isn’t greener. I grew up in poverty, and while I was well looked after and had everything I needed, I know the stress and worry my own mum was under.

We don’t live a life of “luxury” - of course having my own home and own car, and not worrying about money is in itself regarded as being a luxury at the moment. But like you we don’t holiday abroad, we shop in Tesco etc. I can’t even begin to imagine earning a third of my salary and coping.

I'm self-employed now but very much in a sector where £25k would be considered a good wage for a role that requires a fair bit of experience and a degree, if not specific post-grad training on top too. I was just looking at a team manager role earlier today that pays £11 per hour!

I can only do it because I own my home outright (which only happened because one of my parents died when I was young and left me money). I've never been entitled to any benefits. No kids so my living costs are reasonably low. I'm in London and don't have a car but public transport is expensive.

I'm also not able to save anything at all and do worry about my (lack of) pension when I read here people have 100k pension pots by the time they are 40...

We have earnings of £31k, plus child benefit, have our own house, 1 car and can afford holidays abroad and to go out.
I honestly think if you are on £60k and can't afford this, you have either overstretched with a massive mortgage or are bad at budgeting.

Well you either make your lifestyle fit your income or your income fit your lifestyle, which ever is more important to you. If you want to take 70% cut in income then you'll have to adjust your outgoings to compensate.

People do life ok on those salaries - a couple both earning min wage is a combined gross income of nearly 40k a year. I'm a single parent of 3, and our household income is 25k. We're careful but getting by ok.

People who have mortgages will eventually have an asset. People who rent won't. We get a fair income on Universal Credit because DH works full time but I can't work because I'm a full time carer for my children. We have two with SEN. All three children born before 2017, so we don't get the deduction for the third child. We get more in UC than DH earns each month. But he works 5 jobs (full time combined) in the public sector and I literally can't work right now because nobody wants to look after a 16 year old who behaves like a 5 year old, and I currently spend 4-5 hours per day driving DD1 & DD2 to their special education settings, which are helpfully 40 miles apart.

I think a factor is probably kids going to uni saying they want to be a teacher or a social worker they see £20-24k starting salary and think "woah ill be rich!", but then they move out and have bills and rent and shopping to pay for and it's too late. You're already lamented with debt, you spent years working toward a goal and you've achieved it only to realise too late that you can't live on that salary. But its still too late and you are stuck with it until you burn out and leave or go off sick.

Also consider the emotional cost of having one of these jobs “where you help/support people”

Eg healthcare often comes with seeing people die or being very unwell, teaching and social work comes with a lot of safeguarding issues around child abuse, it goes on.

it’s not all roses and fuzzy feelings from being helpful to compensate the low wages.

also the perks aren’t great. Sure, after 10 years of NHS service you get 33 days AL but it’s almost impossible to take that much AL as a) when you come back the work is still waiting for you b) feeling like you’re a CF being off all the time

things to consider

Yep you're being mugged off. It isn't right at all.

This thread has been eye opening tbh (universal credit wise)