We work hard.

[Meili04]

I keep seeing this on threads about Middle income families having to make cutbacks. The hardest job I ever had was when I worked in a care home as a care assistant doing 12.5 hour shifts for minimum wage. I now do a different job I have more paperwork to do and responsibility but I earn lots more and it's less tiring work. Same with my OH he works from home and his work is a lot less hard then it was when he started out and gets more pay.

AIBU to think if you are earning more money sometimes it's down to luck/personality/ rare skills more so than simply working hard?

Agree that some jobs are physically hard, some are emotionally hard and some are mentally hard, or a mix.

I think I work hard, but more that I worked hard to get to the job I have. I had dd as a teenager and worked 2 NMW jobs, went back to uni in my 20s while working the physically hard jobs, nights and weekends shifts around uni for 7 years before I got my first office job and worked my way up. My job has long hours but isn't particularly hard now, but I have worked hard. That doesn't take anything away from others who are also working hard.

AIBU to think if you are earning more money sometimes it's down to luck/personality/ rare skills more so than simply working hard?

This is true however I think it's ok for middle or lower income families to complain about wage stagnation.

This attitude is everywhere and it absolutely infuriates me. DP is a tradie, im in an office/wfh job. There are lazy buggers everywhere in every walk of life as we both know, but we've got respect for each others work. However some tradies have this attitude that you cant possibly work hard in an office job - its not all data entry and making tea!! Yep, you get slackers in office/management jobs but you get them in EVERY line of work. On the other side of the coin, i have known some horrible people who think anyone working in manual labour/caring are doing it because they arent bright enough to do anything else which is a vile outlook.

I think both are hard and not being able to work your way out of poverty must be soul destroying. Personally I’ve done minimum wage manual jobs and very well paid office jobs and I find the latter much harder. If I could still do it (can’t any more due to disability) and afford to pay the bills I would go back to my care job any day. Yes it’s physically tiring but the mental stress and pressure in my office job is unreal. I also think it really affects people physically being sat down for 10 hours a day and their health and well-being suffers from it in the long run.

Yup @KILM Same.

People literally think I have time to talk to them or go for coffee or swan off to do stuff for them because I wfh.

And one of my best friends is a carer and the way she gets spoken to is appalling

I work hard, there is some mental stress and I manage a team, but I've got some control over my workload. Some of it is on tight deadlines so I don't have much control but other stuff can be done this week or next week.

For me, that makes my job much easier than anything physical (because I am sat down!) or anything like a doctor where the day depends on what comes through the door and therefore is completely out of your control. But maybe other people love that element of surprise. It would finish me off within weeks.

I think people underestimate the luck and privilege in natural intelligence because that certainly makes a huge difference. Also parental attitude and support, education, the list goes on…..

I have dses who are much brighter than me and it’s odd to see how easy subjects like maths and science have been for them when for me, it’s like a foreign language!

I also think hard work can be defined differently.

I’ve been a care assistant, it’s physical and demanding work and staffing levels are the pits. I’m now a nurse ward manager and the stress and responsibility is like nothing I’ve experienced before and I’ve been qualified more than 20 years. It’s different kinds of challenging but both roles are essential.

A lot of middle and high income professions erect barriers around themselves to maintain their high earnings - things like licenses and qualifications - that are not as necessary as they claim from a practical perspective. Meanwhile various types of e.g. care work require much less and we are told to think about this work as “unskilled” which seems ludicrous.

I had 4 part time jobs last year on different rates of pay. The hardest was the second worst paid. The easiest was the best paid.

Its about working hard at the right time, right place. Taking risks and stepping outside of the safe zone. A lot of people work hard but miss that one opportunity that presented itself.

I get paid a lot of money but I can never switch off. I juggle multiple complex problems to which there aren't black and white answers, and people's lives are at stake. It's mentally tough and sometimes I wonder whether I should jack it in and go and stack shelves at the local supermarket. The reason I don't is because I've been dirt poor and it's just as draining: always worrying about money, never having anything to look forward to. I'd prefer to have the version with heating and holidays!

I worked really hard when I worked in retail, cleaning and delivery driving. What I do now is just a different sort of work and happens to be in a niche field that gets paid well.

I just knew this thread would descend into a “I work harder than you” competition which sort proves the OP’s point.

These days I often say I don’t have a “hard” job, despite it being very stressful and mentally challenging because of my background. I grew up ridiculously poor on a crap council estate, watching everyone around me do back breaking jobs just to survive. We lived in genuine poverty. I worked almost full time whilst at college & university to be able to pay the rent. I’ve done some utterly crap jobs so I know what physical graft feels like but that was out of desperation to never be poor again. I’m now a senior project manager for a large company, have two degrees, earn well above average salary, work from home 99% of the time and whilst it is not easy mentally and I work long days, it’s very different to when I was cleaning floors. Mostly it’s down to my personality as you say; I’m extroverted and I think it’s served me well
to make connections and jump the ladder quickly. Statistically I shouldn’t be this successful and it has taken a lot of bloody hard work too - it would have been easier some times to just stay working in a supermarket, get pregnant and be supported by benefits.

Much rather my position than a poor public sector or exploited amazon worker or care home or NMW. Where I am is a combination of good fortune and hard work. I want higher taxes and better public services for all and protection for the most vulnerable in society BUT I have actually worked hard. It's nit just good fortune. The government and the rich want us turned against each other. United we could call them on their shit.

YNBU at all. A lot of low paid jobs are very stressful, exhausting.

Both of those things can be true at the same time though. Most lower earners probably work hard and most middle to higher earners probably work hard. It’s not one or the other.
Really we are talking about the difference between manual labour and mental labour and it’s pointless to equate them.

Is it luck that I was academic? Yes and no.
Was it luck that I worked hard to get a degree, while working retail for 7 years and now have a relatively decent job and income? I don’t accept that.

I

Being a high earner is not just about working hard. In a capitalist system we have supply and demand so some skills are valued more highly in a monetary way if they are in short supply.

Public sector jobs are a bit different in that the wages come from a finite pot which is constantly squeezed so the wages are kept lower.

It's a bit like house prices which can be higher if they are near a good school. People are prepared to pay more as it's worth more them.

People are also paid for being decision makers and taking risks.

The desire to divide and "other" people is always strong at times of stress - it's playing out every day on here

How about jobs that are physically and mentally demanding.

I see it on here all the time.

The high earners who say they (or their partners )work hard and take work home - justifying the huge salary.

I earn the average UK salary, yet my work carries into the evenings, I'm expected to pick up my work mobile on evenings and days off too.

How is it proving the OP’s point because other people also think they work hard? Why is it acceptable to say you work hard in a care role but it then becomes unacceptable to think you work hard at a desk job?

The reality clearly is that most people work hard, particularly when they have families. Most people go to work and try their best to earn a living.
It isn’t hard work specifically that equates to wages. You don’t automatically work harder because you work a more manual job.

'People are also paid for being decision makers and taking risks.'

Again, I do this in my job, but am paid an average UK salary.

I agree. I do work hard but I doubt I work any harder than some people earning significantly less than me.

I definitely don’t work as hard as a social worker, teacher, or nurse and have far less responsibility for more money than most of them.

Luck, the ‘right’ career choice, and whether your face fits makes a big impact.

Mine and my H's take home is decent and we do work hard. As do most people.

What I struggle with is that people who work hard in jobs that are vital, like health care, emergency services, food supply/supermarket, local governance etc are paid a low amount such that they cannot afford to live.

If we paid everyone who keeps the country running properly at a wage that allowed them to live not just survive, then other private employers would keep up. So I have no truck with those private sector workers who say they haven't had a rise so why should anyone else.

It all goes hand in hand.

FWIW I'd be happy to pay higher taxes and have lower take home if I knew it meant the services I make use of would be properly funded and the staff working there properly supported.