To wonder why we keep our salaries and pensions secret but not our house values

[Lingles]

Just that really.
I read an interesting book about living in Jane Austen’s time - the author pointed out that if a woman or man had an income it was considered perfectly normal to talk about it! I flicked through the books and it’s true - a character is introduced as “having £500 a year” etc.
i wonder why it changed and whether we should talk about it more.

I suppose because we understand that house price can change regardless of our actions, whereas a lot of people feel their salary is a reflection of their value, or at least how valued they are iyswim. It isn't a pov I share, I think if you see someone earning more than you at work your issue shouldn't be with them it should be with the company underpaying you.
I suppose that why you always get posters accusing others of being braggy for daring to post a salary higher that their own. Its annoying really, we can't address inequality if we don't talk about it.

I guess because you can negotiate your wages (in some jobs, not all I accept) and make different choices regarding pensions. However house value is available online for anyone who wants to have a nosy so can't really be kept secret.

Sounds about right.
weird isn’t it?

I hate that it's secret. Also my company explicitly say we are not allowed to talk about our salaries.
Its not in their interest obviously but in case we compare.But if it was allowed and not etiquettely wrong to do, I would happily talk about my salary. Its so useful especially for people starting careers to know who gets what, which direction they should go in, how some people can increase at a faster rate by asking, if maternity leave really does affect incremental increases. It would open up so much discussion and really empower people.
It's crap and really only in the payers' interest not to discuss it.

I believe that in some Scandinavian countries, salaries are on public record. I think it probably is a good thing if it makes it harder for companies to treat their staff unfairly

Because of the history of the Land Registry as a public record of land transactions. Otherwise I’m sure that many people would prefer to keep that private, too!

I’m always mortified when DH mentions how much he earns to people, it sounds like he’s boasting. Sadly, I work for the NHS and, as soon as you find out someone’s band and know roughly how long they’ve worked there, you know how much they earn 😆 No secrets there.

theculturetrip.com/europe/norway/articles/norway-country-public-tax-returns/

I am elderly. It’s only relatively recently that people have started to talk about the value of their house or what they paid for it, perhaps because you can now quickly look online to find that out.

When I bought a house in the past I didn’t know what the previous owner had paid for it until I saw the paper copy of the deeds.

Many employers prohibit the disclosure of salaries whereas house sale prices are a matter of public record.

To previous posters saying that their employers prohibit salary discussions - they can’t!

Since the introduction of the Equality Act in 2010, you have the right as an employee to discuss salary. This means that your employer has no legal standing to stop you talking about what you earn, with anyone you work with.

How can your employer enforce that you don’t tell Mike at the shop how much you earn?

I wonder if it goes back to the notion that the upper classes would have passive income (Jane Austin's characters who have £x a year don't go out to work for this) and would own the businesses that employed the lower classes. Talking about a passive income = indicator of wealth and class, whereas mentioning an earned income = admission of being lower class. Obviously, like many rules of etiquette, this is no longer logical as we know what jobs people do etc but I do wonder if this could be why so many people consider it to be crass to discuss salary but not to own things that are an obvious indicator of wealth.

I've often wondered what the effect would be if everybody's salary, within a company, was published on the noticeboard.

Would it have a postive or negative effect?

@Peteryougit they’re not worried about you telling Mike at the shop. They are worried about you telling your colleagues because when either you or them find out you are earning less for the same job, the person earning less will complain. Of course, you can’t complain if you are prohibited from discussing it as they will know you have breached the obligation not to discuss! See how they do it?! Of course, this works against women who are often paid less then men doing the same job.

There’s a public record of house prices, that is the only reason.

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest to talk about my salary or my house price. I find it a bit odd that many people are so cagey about these things. The pay scales are public knowledge in my job anyway.

Probably so employees can continue getting away with paying people less than their worth as no one knows what anyone else is earning.

Pay scales dont help as two people, same experience and same service time can be at difference places on the pay scale.

I qualified as a secretary (legal) when I was 18. Worked for 2 years. Another secretary started. Unqualified and no experience but was on 1,000 a more a year than me. One of the post boys got promoted to junior secretary (unqualified and inexperienced, I trained him) got drunk at a works party and started flashing his payslip and he was on £4500 a year more than me. The company also had separate pay scales for men and women doing the same job.

Keep it quiet and everyone thinks they are better paid then everyone else and sadly, some are.

But even outside work it’s frowned on.

Of course, you can’t complain if you are prohibited from discussing it as they will know you have breached the obligation not to discuss!
Of course you can because its illegal for them to prohibit you discussing it, its a right enshrined in law.

They shouldn't be paying different people with the same skills/quals/experience variable pay for the same job.

I make a point of sharing pay info with colleagues, peers, and junior staff etc. They need that info.

It's a good question.
Do you mean just the salaries listed in order? (Everyone would know what the CEO earns and could figure out the next level down)
Or did you mean Tim gets X , Jo gets Y which could get very contentious very quickly?

well, I work for the civil service (in ireland) so our salaries are literally ONLINE for all to peruse, each grade, each step on the scale.

I like it. Less bullshit.
I spend less time wondering if I'm being screwed! At times in my last job I was overworked but we all know the only way out is up (succeeding in a competition)

What’s the connection with Equality Act?

Yes by name.
I worked in a company where new starters where paid more for the same role as those current workers. HR said it was 'market forces' and why they wouldn't show the salaries in adverts.

I’d think discussing the value of your home was somewhat vulgar too.