Harder for Gen Z to build a good career which pays the bills?

[CalmAndCosy]

Mid-20s, satisfied and very grateful with life but very lost in my career. My question is, is it more difficult these days to start building a career you truly enjoy AND which pays you enough to live a good life?

Background: I dream of working in the arts but the cost of living crisis and state of the sector right now make this very difficult financially. I love working with children so thought about pursuing childcare or teaching - both quite creative and in-demand roles - but I've had rubbish experiences with some awful nanny agencies, and most of my friends who have trained as teachers regret doing so!
Tbh I could've done a law or engineering degree, but I wouldn't have been happy. And not necessarily financially viable either - some of my friends in the legal sector earn the equivalent of minimum wage.

So, is it harder these days to secure a career you love AND which also pays adequately?! Or has it always been like this?

Would appreciate any well-meaning advice!

YABU - No, it has always been this hard
YANBU - Yes, it is harder these days

Average cost of house deposit has gone up 41% compared to 10 years ago, adjusting for inflation

Average salary has gone up less than 5k adjusting for inflation

That's without the cost of living rises, how horrifically rent has increased etc etc

The phone is so not the issue

@KittyAlfred did you read that in the daily mail? There are many 20 somethings struggling to eat and heat their homes. Why have you decided that what they are spending their money on?

Housing has gone up but almost everything else has come down in cost since the 70s/80s. Wages were much lower too.9

Food and clothing cost 43% of the average household budget in 1957 compared to less than 20% now.

20 somethings I know don't do that.

On the other hand my sisters and SILs ranging in age from 40 to 60s live that life style. Then again some earn a lot and have no/cheap mortgages.

Homes used to be around 3 times the average household income

Now 9 times

And rents matching

You might as well spend your money on nails because no amount of saving will help - unless your parents die and leave you money

Yours truely

Most definitely not a young person

The housing issue is crippling the uk.

I was thinking of this from the point of view of the ease of finding a job and pursuing a career but even if people do that, it doesnt afford them a good standard of living.

The wage stagnation is so notable too. Was that a result if the 2008 crash. I feel like i left school (im the last of gen x) and had 8 or 9 good years. Got made redundant on 2008 and have been treading water since.

I recognise those coming after me didnt get those 8 or 9 early good years to launch in. And housing just got worse and worse.

The arts and working with children have never been great paying careers. Be realistic about this. If you are mid 20s, you still have time to change course if you want a better paying career.

I've yet to see a job that I would enjoy that would pay the bills and I'm in my 50s. I think very few people ever make a living from what they enjoy - most work to pay the bills and (hopefully) have a bit left over for the things they enjoy.

I have been keeping an eye on job vacancies for a about a year

The jobs that seem to pay more than the UK average wage that I have seen are as follows & some of the below now require a degree

Teachers
Nurses
Doctors
Dentists
Engineering
Technical
Some Government roles
Some trades like electrician, plumber, facilities, gas, nuclear engineer especially if connected to Business premises
HGV driver

I have seen very few arts related jobs

its far harder now than it was in the 1970s or 1990s even

wages to house prices have altered considerably and the lack of social housing has increased the demand for private rents and thus pushed the price up

If the wages had kept up with housing prices, then NMW would be £23ph

"The average house in the UK currently costs around nine-times average earnings, based on data as at 30 November 2022. The last time house prices were this expensive relative to average earnings was in the year 1876, nearly 150 years ago."
https://www.schroders.com/en-gb/uk/individual/insights/what-174-years-of-data-tell-us-about-house-price-affordability-in-the-uk/

I'd say that the above factually proves that yes, it is much much harder today to find a career that means you can afford to live well.

Working life has always been finding a balance between how much money you need to be safe, secure and happy and how much of your own time, effort and happiness you are prepared to give up in exchange for that.

Getting on the property ladder or even rent now seems much harder than it was when I was your age in the 1980s.

My dad got free private education paid for by the local authority because he passed his 11+ and there was no grammar school in his town. Free university, which he failed, then walked into a well paid job and bought a house on a 100% mortgage that he now owns outright and was mainly paid for by unemployment benefits. My mother never finished school and hadn't worked for years yet managed to walk into a well paid office job after my parents divorced.

From what I can work out if you were educated in the right place or lived in the right area you could walk into any job you liked a few decades ago!

I think it's important to consider earning potential rather than what your passions are.

I didn't and regret it. At age 45 I'm just starting to work at a level I'm capable of, which is rewarding in a different way. And being able to afford a nice house and decent lifestyle as a single mum is way more important than doing a job I "love". It makes me feel proud of myself for being able to give my children what I want to.

There are so many things to consider. Even in my more fulfilling jobs there have been issues around management or colleagues which have been tricky. I'm lucky now to be in a great and fulfilling job which pays well. If you'd asked me at 25 it would be nothing like what I thought I'd be doing (or wanted to do).

There are ways you can be involved in arts and childcare outside work, and if you earn well as a younger person your time frees up quickly in later life with early retirement, part time work etc.

From what I can work out if you were educated in the right place or lived in the right area you could walk into any job you liked a few decades ago!

pre 1980s as there was mass unemployment in the early 1980s

It was talked about thats how it was in the 1960s and 70s people had walked into a job after school and stayed there all there working life, that was the norm

The equal pay act for women didn't come in until 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act wasn't passed until 1975, so when Harold McMillan said, "Most of our people have never had it so good" he wasn't talking about the women.

You could walk into a job in the 1960s and 70s but you might have been treated and paid worse than the man working alongside you.

Good to hear this perspective. I suppose my next thing would be to find out about careers (that I don't need a specialist degree for) with more stability and earning potential, which would suit my skills.

This is it - work to earn money, spend money to enjoy yourself.

D

What are your strengths? For example if you have are good at maths and tech stuff you could go into BI development which is developing visualisations based on data. If you look at what the artist Ploterre is doing you can see it can absolutely bridge the gap between art and data (and not in the depressing way AI art does)

True. That's why I wonder if I should change course now, and if so what could I pursue. I can't do another bachelors degree.

My strongest skills are organising events and schedules, writing and communications more generally. Also a good strategist. I have a feeling I'd find data/tech dull but want to stay open minded!

I work in an interesting, well paid job in male dominated industry

It allows me the time & money to pursue my hobbies outside my working hours

You seem to want your job to be your main source of happiness. Perhaps look at things the other way round ?

I think it's about keeping open to opportunities and being willing to make small but regular changes in your job, knowledge and skills to keep developing bit by bit.

I do not have a degree, I started work in call centres, 25 hrs a week in the evenings while I was doing AS and A-Levels making outbound telemarketing calls. My 'journey' so far between 17 and 39, with a 1yr gap at 30 for Mat leave, has been:

Call centre telesales/customer service > team leader > team manger > quality & training manager > call centre manager > IT Service delivery and governance manager > Snr Governance, Risk & compliance Mgr > Director Info security

If someone offers you an opportunity take it

Hello no one actually likes working. I retired last year at 54. And Fuck me am I happy! No one will ever say on their death bed"oh I wish I spent more time at work". You work to finance your life...be it dogging, rock and rolling, tagging, shop lifting, night stealing....it's not to be enjoyed...