to ask what the "stereotypical 6 figure MN mum" does?

[TigerJoy]

And how can the rest of us get a job like that?!

Average NHS consultant earns £125K, GP partners earn £150K. Base salaryfor a consultant is now £99K pension is excellent- just saying.

I studied art then film design post grad. Worked in film. Met a guy who was a labourer in building. Got married. We set up constriction companies. Both now earn £125k per year. Companies are worth in the region of £20m. In the early days I used to do the admin/accounts paperwork but I don’t actually work there anymore, I earn that as dividends and work as an artist,

Sorry meant to attach this, from this paper
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/exploring-the-earnings-of-nhs-doctors-in-england

Im at £180k - director level position at a tech company.

Started as a graduate associate at 21, straight out of uni, in India. Put up with 60hour work weeks and insane traffic (long stressful commute) for years in a large offshore development centre until we moved to London. Then started all over again taking up an entry level position - worked my way up - prioritising my career over everything else. (Had children 9 year apart ). For most of those struggling years, I was in a shitty marriage too - treated with very little respect and left to do everything at home. I have no idea how I managed to stay sane.

I feel quite guilty as I think I am paid very well compared to the nurses on my team. I just don’t think there will ever be money to pay us more. And I am lucky to have a job that is directly socially useful. I would never want to work in the City or in finance so accept the salary I have.

Quite, it's important to include the pension in the package too. Thats probably a substantial chunk on top of salary

I know plenty of professionals who have worked incredibly hard - still do -and don't earn those rates.

This is absolutely right but of the people who do earn £100k+most of them will have chosen a career in an already well paid profession and worked to a senior level within it.

It doesn't mean that everyone who is qualified will end up earning six figures and nor does it mean that everyone who has the ability or puts the same hours in will reach the same levels. There's usually a baseline of ability and commitment, a bit of luck and opportunity and sometimes calculated risk.

Taking lawyers for example, some will trade higher salaries in the private sector for better work life balance in a different sector. There are all sorts of factors at play.

This all day long. It's not rocket science ( well it might be) you don't end up on six figures at 40 by staying in bed till 8, getting in at 10 and jacking it all in to travel for 2 years at 25. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

I earn extremely well, I am unapologetic about that. In my 20's I worked every other weekend for years, missed weddings, parties and group holidays. My annual leave was fixed at least 50% of the time and restricted the rest of it. I left my small children for long hours often leaving home and getting back in the dark when they were in bed ( or not at all). Studying for post graduate exams at the same time as working 50 hour weeks.

I now have a desk job and can take my very generous holiday allowance when I like (within reason) have an excellent pension and plan drawing this and cutting right back once Dd is through University.

I do feel I have earnt it TBH.

This is a really important point. Having bosses or mentors who understand the challenges of being a working parent is absolutely critical. Usually (though not always) this means working for women.

Senior leadership in my industry is dominated by men and aside from the obvious reasons men advance quicker, it's in large part due to the fact that they all have "facilitating wives" so can put the hard yards in doing 10-12 hour shifts, networking etc in a way I simply couldn't, as a working single mum.

The total lack of comprehension that you can't join a client for an impromptu after hours drink because you can't swing childcare, or your inability to fly to Geneva at 24 hours' notice etc, is one of the biggest barriers women face and I have come up against this again and again and again.

I am very lucky in that I have two female bosses and frankly if they had been blokes I seriously doubt I would have advanced.

Level
Value £
Basic
77,769
1
83,334
2
88,900
3
94,464
4
100,810

I'm on the pre 2003 consultant contract where the starting pay was certainly not 99k. The table above is from the BMA website for the contract that I am on. You have to do 10 years as a consultant (full time equivalent) to get to level 4 of over 100,000. After that it goes up about 5k when you get to 15 years. You will also have done at least 10 years as a junior Dr before getting to consultant about 20years total.

My specialty doesn't have a huge amount of out of hours work and I have not applied for clinical excellence awards etc and I did work part time when my kids were primary age so maybe that's why I am not earning what is apparently now average for a consultant with my experience

I am happy enough with my pay, very grateful for the cast iron pension and did not participate in recent strikes but I am just posting this as I would not want people to think that being a Dr is a guaranteed way to earn 6 figures. I always used to think that when I was a consultant we'd be rolling in it but whilst we do fine it does seem you'd be better off in accounting, IT or law if you want to make big bucks.

I work in IT. Left school at 16, admin job at 18 and worked my way up from there! So no degree nor qualifications to speak of, not even a-levels.

Made it to 6 figures, just before I turned 40.

2 marriages, one kid (had him at 25) and a bunch of hard work and determination. Permanently knackered and travel a lot (hence my user name), sometimes I wish I hadn’t pushed so hard and stayed around the 65k sweet spot where work life balance was much more balanced.

Have my own business. I was state educated and frankly just extremely lucky to work for companies which invested heavily into my training and development. Without that, I wouldn’t be here. I did work like a dog though through my early 20s/30s. Not so much now the business is established, I work 3 or 4 days a week and will retire before I’m 50.

The vast, vast majority of consultants are on the newer pay scale ( linked below) It starts at 93k would have been 99 had the latest pay offer been accepted. Most of my colleagues do 11 or 12 PAs my trust also gives responsibility payments of 5,10 or 20K. Yes most consultants are on 6 figures.

Lucky you. My Trust OTOH, being a mental health trust, has no money at all and does not offer any extra PAs or responsibility payments.

I am sure many Drs do make 6 figures but in my own personal experience it is entirely possible to have excellent qualifications (Oxbridge degree and PhD) and to toil away at the coal face of NHS medicine for 20 years and not make 6 figures.

It's probably like all the careers mentioned that the baseline is that you need excellent qualifications and hard work but you also need to make the 'right' choices within medicine to earn well in terms of specialty, where you work, always working full time and pushing for extra awards etc.

I'm a lawyer, my FTE is six figures but I do 4 days a week so earn a bit less. I've got a first class degree from Oxford, a master's, a postgraduate professional qualification in law and a specialist qualification in my area of law too. I'm 37 and qualified as a lawyer at 30.

Hours are horrible - I work at least 40 hours a week, often much more, on 80% of my full-time pay. It's just that I don't do those hours 9-5 on my non working day as I'm looking after my kids then. They're 4 and 1.

The work can be interesting but can also be stressful and dull.

I'm in the process of applying for a public sector job doing something related, which would be a step down in pay terms but I think possibly worth it for better hours and more interesting work. I'm really hoping I get it.

I totally know how you feel! I'm a lawyer but I work in the legal assistance sector (legal aid and the type) so my salary is, let us say, not £100k 🥲

Also wanted to say I hope I didn't sound patronising before. I am so shocked you don't earn more given the nature of the work, the responsibility of life or death decision making, the hours over the decades, the training etc! I have quite a few medical friends here in Aus and now they're at consultant level they're finally earning what they deserve. Such a shame you're not similarly renumerated in the UK.

Tech contractors.
My sister was a secondary school head and just tipped into 100k by the end.

You were not being patronising at all! You are being supportive. The responsibility of my job is indeed crushing.

Yes I can see that in your sector, you will never be able to earn the big bucks. But I’m sure you are very much needed.

Has Mumsnet finally got rid of the stupid reply button and put the quote button somewhere useful at last?!

Coildnt agree more.
I was supposed to explicitly mention the wives, of male senior leadership, picking up the slack at home.
When I worked for a consultancy in circa 2012, all of the seven SLT bar one, were men with SAH partners. They looked at me with a mix of admiration and shock. The two women SLT were grossly underpaid in comparison. Men 78K, Woman 40K .

@TheRealKatnissEverdeen @Thepeopleversuswork

Very much agree. I also think that men sometimes organise these events that are not "core" that women couldn't attend for practical reasons (but which cement networking) because they actually don't really want to be at home with their family, especially in the younger kids stage. Lots of those high flier men don't actually want to be active parents to small children (save sometimes at weekends) and their spouses accommodate that and throw themselves into alpha mothering and their own projects as the kids grow up. These are the men that refer to looking after their kids as "babysitting".

@ChatBFP you're completely right. I've worked with men who were out every week night for a jolly and it was well understood that promotions and career opportunities were developed out of work hours!
I did the hard slog pre children and marriage when I could do daily impromptu drinks and get home in the wee hours or away days for several days.

Conversely, my social circle and I absolutely did fall into 6 figures by simply working at a normal pace.. none of us did the classic 80 hour weeks, none of us have MBA’s and some of us don’t even have a degree

I also doubt any of us would say we made big sacrifices either to get here. Genuinely! I never missed my kids school plays or anything. Most of the years/time I was able to drop them at school (although they did go to after school clubs). But I guess it depends what industry you’re in and how good/supportive your managers are

interestingly, I’ve seen previous colleagues in the same field as me work ridiculous hours, miss out on their kids etc and they have either not progressed up the ladder as quick as me or are at an equal level . I’m not sure why but it’s interesting!

So interesting ! What field and industry are you in out of interest ? Good for you thst you got to maintain a balance - I always did and still have struggles to