I dd not realise that the OP had 4 kids as she failed to mention a fairly relevant and pertinent fact in her opening post.
According to official NHS Data OT’s start on salaries of £26500 to £31634. However specialist OT’s can earn £32306 to £39,027. Advanced specialists can earn £40,057 to £45,839 and clinical leads can earn £63,872.
So she has the opportunity to earn more. There are numerous jobs advertised on the NHS and council websites for in the region of £40,000 plus. For instance, a senior occupational paediatric therapist is required in Hampshire pay £42,000 to 46549 plus benefits
Private OT cam earn considerably more. She is allowed to and can combine her NHS work with private work and have huge earnings. She can simply work one day a week privately. As a private OT she could be earning up to £76,000 once 8 years qualified.
There is a colossal shortage of private OTs. I was unable easily to find an occupational therapist for my SEN son. I needed one to work weekly with him and I needed another to prepare reports for Tribunal. When we had to pay for reports they were costing sizeable amounts and also we had to pay for that OT to attend Tribunal.
Like many jobs, there is more money to be made for instance diversifying into private work and doing Tribunal work or just offering regular private OT to SEN kids.
Like many professions you can choose to do more worthy public work or do both public and private work or just private. It’s a choice you make. it has always been that way for many professions and nothing much has changed in decades.
So, in my previous line of work would be the equivalent of working for a really badly paid criminal defence law firm, the CPS or doing legal aid family law as opposed to going something more financially rewarding.
The bottom line is that for professions that work for the state or are funded by the state the financial rewards are and have always been poor. The state has not got much money and taxes are already at an all time high.
So for instance, Criminal lawyers can earn as little as about £26000 per annum maybe rising to £45000 but with( unlike OT in the NHS) no decent pension other than the auto enrolment. To become a lawyer you need 3 years university, 1 year law school and 2 years training minimum. In reality you required probably a couple of years working as a paralegal on about £20,000 to get a training contract. So that’s 8 years training for that pay. So elope tend to not go into that career without a vocation.
Even 30 years ago few people would voluntarily work for the CPS or a high street criminal law practice. Of those that did, some eventually became locum prosecutors on quite sizeable daily chunks as they approached retirement.
It was accepted thar working for the state your pay is lower and unlike the NHS private criminal lawyers did not even get decent public sector pension.
As for the 4 children, it is perfectly fair to say that having 4 children is a luxury in this day and age. Having children before establishing your career is also unusual in this day and age and another luxury. There are few working people who have more than 2 children maybe 3 at a push and most wait until they’re 30’s. To have so many children and to do so younger is a decision that someone has made and it does have financial consequences. It does impact your career and Carrer progression as you have so much time off for maternity leave etc.
The reality is that many of us would have loved more children but lacked the support or money to do so without making huge financial sacrifices. I think it’s fair to all people who have had to chose 2 children only to acknowledge that. Having so many children will impact earning potential and career advancement - again a decision that she made.
An OT who is ambitious and career driven can do both NHS and private work combined and have a pretty good income.