Depressed about salary

[Porcupinesky]

I’m feeling pretty down at the stories today around the national average wage now being £35k.

I only earn just above this amount. I had been offered a better paid role about 4 months ago but found out I was pregnant so turned it down, as I get a good maternity package in this role (25 weeks full pay) so it made better financial sense to stay. I’m waiting for a promotion but the company is tightening finances so I’m uncertain when this can be processed. I’ll probably get a small payrise in April before I start mat leave.

Is anyone else feeling this way? It’s what I think about most of the day. Luckily DH earns a decent salary and pays more bills but it’s a real knock to my self worth as I thought I would achieve more in life.

I earn slightly less than this working in the charity sector. But I absolutely love my job and work with a great set of people so it’s all good.

What peoples earn is r relatives to who they are.

I mean you could start drug dealing or something and earn lots more?
Would that make you feel more worth while?

Mother Theresa didn't earn much I imagine....

Jesus...

I think it's sad that anyone thinks their salary is a reflection on who they are..

@Porcupinesky i think we always want what we havent got. Im a single parent earning a lot more than this but id really like to have a partner who was paying their way! You should think yourself lucky, and if not, maybe use this company for the maternity benefits then move on/retrain

Have you not got any hobbies or interests that you do?

Your self-worth doesn't come from your job, it comes from having a fulfilling life outside of work!

Bet the average salary is lower there.

I find it interesting that here people are saying £35k is a good wage… the thing is, 10 years ago it was but salaries haven’t increase alongside col. my friend is a PA in USA and 10 years ago was on $35k ish but now, the same job is earning $70k - we’re not seeing this increase in the UK. My own job was similarly paid in the USA but now I’d get £120k rather than the £50k I’m on.

It is depressing. As minimum wage rises, those who were above that are now much closer than before and it does impact mh and how we look at ourselves.

Better financial sense?
For the year you have the baby, yes - but you would have recovered that within, say, 18 months.
Very short-sighted.

Put your household's income into the calculator below and I think you'll suddenly feel a lot better off. Based on what you've said about your salary and your husband's salary, your household income is probably higher than 80%+ of households in the UK.

Your household's income : Where do you fit in? | Institute for Fiscal Studies (ifs.org.uk)

I work in a public sector role and earn only 5k over the average wage. Its so wrong the private sector get paid so much more even though we are responsible for people lifes.

Average - but how many hours is that?
How does that vary across the country?

Take out London and how does it change?

Is it mean average or median average?

Do you know what average means?

An average means some will be above and some below.

I can sympathise OP. On just under 40K, 30 years old and also pregnant.
TBH I was always quite content until I became pregnant.

I think it is not so much the actual monetary value of what I earn. But I'm now so keenly aware that this is me taking my foot off of the pedal in my career (100% my choice to do this). I guess I thought I was happy with the decision at the time, but now just have those occasional niggles of doubt that I didn't push myself enough before baby.

Average salary doesn't mean that is what most people in the country are earning or should be earning if they have anything about them. It is a skewed figure that represents a small picture of the nations earnings, not a metric with which do judge who has failed or succeeded in life.There will be huge numbers of people on significantly less, and many earning disproportionately high salaries that this figure takes into account.

Looking further into median gross salaries and investigating how that differs by region paints a bit more of an accurate picture, as does understanding how much more you earn than a worker in a full time role earning minimum wage. You also have the significant privilege of a higher second income in the household covering costs and halving bills where there are two of you, which is certainly not the case for others.

You say yourself that you turned down a promotion so I'm not sure what the issue is here. If you are not actively pursuing roles with more responsibility or gaining additional qualifications that are of value to an employer then I wouldn't expect your incoming salary to increase much over the years other than receiving annualised pay rises in line with inflation.

Well carers and nursery workers are private sector and earning much less than you!
HCP should be paid more but this 'private vs public' comparison is illogical when each has thousands of different jobs, with different pay. You compare yourself to 'higher paid' people when you could easily do it the other way around.

What you should compare is your private counterparts. Who are also saving lives, as they do the same job as you presumably.

Public sector workers tend to have much better pension provision...

If you stop equating your wage with achievement, you might feel better. If the freezing of the tax thresholds continues, you'll end up in the higher tax bracket eventually anyway. In fact, because of our tax laws, you're often better off with two lower wages than one higher wage.

You could earn a good wage brokering arms deals, or working as an MP with a few "consultancies" on the go, or as a lawyer for Michelle Mone and her husband. Would that give you a sense of achievement?

You're now pregnant after having fertility issues, and this is what you spend most of the day thinking about? Seriously, your thinking is skewed.

The average mean salary of 35K will be far more than the mode or median. After all, They will go down to 16K, but some will be earning 160k. You are doing well.

No, I've just tipped over into £31k, I'm super proud of myself. Been a single parent to teen DD who is autistic too for 14 years, did a second degree with the OU (have an obscene amount of student debt) and Im super happy with that. Admittedly my housing costs are low due to an inheritance and I work in the public sector, have great work life balance and a good pension.

My personal goal is to reach the Joseph Rowntree Foundation income for my scenario which is £45k so a way to go but I'm a good way to it, I need two more promotions so should hit it in the next decade.

Why do you think your self-worth should be measured by how much money you earn ?

Reading this makes me feel so depressed. 😪 I earn £32 000 in a professional job and I am a single parent. I can’t afford to live. I have considered ending things but my children would be all alone. Hope this makes you feel lucky.

I earn less

This is mad. I have two degrees from Russel Group universities and earn more than 10k less than this. The job market is crap where I live and wages significantly lower than elsewhere in the UK (e.g. newly qualified doctors and teachers are on £24k). Moving after uni wasn’t an option due to personal circumstances. I can’t even imagine earning £36k. I think you should be grateful, OP.

I earn 37k which I think is a good salary that I never imagined I would earn. So I'm not depressed about that. What does depress, or at least really worry me, is that I'm still completely broke. I spent last year on mat leave plus we needed some work on the house, and it turns out 37k doesn't go very far in terms of creating a financial buffer.