Does anyone here have an ‘average’ job with an average wage?

[gummybearrr]

A weird thread I know but, whenever I see posts on here about income, jobs, wages, I’m just in awe, people earning 100k+ (I don’t think I know anyone who earns that??) and there seems to be so many, all with really good jobs too, no debt, owns their own house, I mean - good for your you’ve worked hard for this, that’s my dream but unfortunately not yet..

so, is anyone here like me? Never really had ambition to do anything when I was younger. I work in retail on checkout (or I did, I’m on maternity) earning min wage, Dh is a manager in retail and earns just a little above NMW but not by much, we have UC top up and private rent, we’ve nearly paid ALL our debt (yay)!!! But sadly don’t think home owning is something we will ever do, I do plan on going to college when DC is older to try and get a good job, (I don’t know what, I’m one of those people who want to do something good but with no clue as to what) but yeah, I class myself as extremely average, to which I’ve never really come across anyone really on Mumsnet!

this is not me slating these people - I wish I was you 🤣

I work as a seamstress doing tailoring and alterations.
Work is not consistent at all, it's one of those jobs like busses you don't get any work for ages, then twenty jobs come in at once and you have to tell people to wait ages or go elsewhere!!

Nevermind though, I wouldn't do anything else.

I earn about 10-12K a year.
Husband and I own our own house, no mortgage. He and I are politically and artistically active outside of work, as life is more than your job and money.

Over half the population have average paid jobs.

sorry you feel this way - i can relate - what was the right degree out of interest :)

I know what you mean - I work in mental health too, did 3 postgrad qualifications and spent my twenties earning peanuts whilst spending an extortionate amount on rent! It was very demoralising.

I don’t know what your specific job is, thankfully things improved for me in my thirties when I completed a doctorate which led to better paying jobs. But I remember the stress and uncertainty of those years very well.

Public sector posts are woefully under funded and under resourced.

Teacher - £34k a year.

DH - Bank admin - £30k ish.

very average!

Fortunately we live in the NW and bought our very average 3 bed semi for £120k around 15 years ago or so and just paid it off so we can live quite well.

Dont have a lot of savings but pensions are ok. One holiday a year.

I earn 31k full time and have moved up the ladder! DH on min wage, we're very average, and in our fifties.

I did yes, before I retired. I don’t live in London though. I think the Mumsnet demographic is heavily weighted towards London and the south east.

I'm a postie, I make basically minimum wage.

I'd bet my very measly salary that a lot of these high earners with 6 figure husbands and 2.5 6'2" sons in private school who speak 6 languages are actually very average earners talking a load of wank and just role playing their dream life. We can't all live "very rurally dahling".

As they say, don't believe everything you read online.

I do! Band six working for the NHS. That’s about average wage, 8-4 Monday to Friday. I work in mental health as a practitioner. Is that average enough? I’m on sick leave and fighting to get back.

Minimum wage is not at all average wages which I believe are around £37-38k now in the UK, so your question should be “Is anyone else on NMW”. And in answer to that question, of course there are people on MN who are. It’s just that there are also professional women who earn £100k+ and a fair few who earn substantially more than that, if you frequent some boards. It’s a very diverse forum, contrary to popular belief. It’s always interesting to learn that some posters have never met anyone who earns £100k IRL, as surely they’ve met their GP, their dentist, their children’s headteacher, etc.

There may well be some fantasists on here... but why does everyone assume that anyone who claims to earn six figures is automatically lying?

I know 100k seems absurd if you're earning less than a third of that. But surely statistically its impossible that all of these people are lying? According to stats I've seen from government and elsewhere women earning over £100k are roughly 1% of the UK population. While that's undoubtedly small, its 1% of about 70 million people, so it shouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that some of them are on here and telling the truth? (particularly if we believe that Mumsnet skews wealthy and south-east).

Also what would anyone have to gain from anonymously boasting about their income? There's no credit in telling randoms on the internet something which isn't true. What's the point?

It just irritates me when people kneejerk to assuming everyone who says this is lying. It sends a signal to other women reading this board that the idea of a high-paid woman is so incredible it must a lie. It's not a great message to send to younger women embarking on their careers.

I think I win (or not).
DP works in a school (term time only) as a technician, so earns around £20k, take home a month around £1500 as he pays into pension etc.

I am disabled so we claim UC top up, I get the work element and PIP too. Which brings our monthly income to £2,800. That includes child benefit for our son.
We wouldn’t cope on any less. It’s a real struggle. We own our house and pay mortgage, so not eligible for housing benefit. We live in the North so living costs slightly cheaper.

Oh, I’m an average earner. My DH is not. He’s one of the six figure earners that don’t exist. But our kids are not in private school, they’ve never been skiing and aren’t 6ft2.

Are you happy @gummybearrr ? That’s what matters really. Everyone is different. My life is quite chaotic and our income is not stable in the sense it’s the same every month, but we (me and DH) are both self employed which suits our personalities and priorities. So it’s a question of what you seek in life really for me and each to their own! X

Yes I earn about 30k full time but now work part time. My job is administrative and very much peaks and troughs. Other half is an engineer and makes a bit more than me but not masses. I am waiting to retrain as a nurse though as my heart really isn't in dead end admin jobs. My daughter has a health condition so waiting for her to be a wee bit older and more resilient before jumping into full time education

My husband and I both work full-time. I earn £32,000 and he earns £25,000. No kids. We have a 3 bedroom house in a very cheap town but in a nice part of it, quiet estate, no trouble, and good public transport. We have one car, very little debt, and our mortgage is less than £400 per month.

I feel that we definitely earn below average but probably have an above average lifestyle compared to people who have kids/live in more expensive areas. We go on holiday several times a year and can afford to go out to eat or to the pub when we wish

I would never have been able to buy a house without my parents gifting me the deposit so I feel very privileged and realise the average person doesn't get as much help.

Earning minimum wage isn’t an average job on an average salary, though. Only about 10% of workers are on the NLW.

I'm band 3 NHS admin, just over 30k. OH is on around 28k (carpet sales) but he does get bonuses. We don't live together yet though.

Me, I was made redundant from a job that had an excellent package but the whole corporate life sucked the life and joy out of me.

I took the money and ran, now I work 30 hours a week in a supermarket. Never been happier…

You’re both doing well to have secure jobs and to be on top of debt. Presume your jobs will be contributing to your pensions too so you’re in a better position than you think you are.

Hoping home ownership happens one day for you. Could you have a longer term plan of transferring jobs to a cheaper area so home ownership may not be such a leap?

Online retail, a sliver above minimum wage which definitely isn’t enough for the unsociable hours I work

I work in a school on 29k, my husband earns around 50k. We have some investments that pay about £500 a month. We earn less than a lot of our friends but have lower bills and are able to enjoy an abroad holiday each year, with some extra treats! We feel very fortunate to be in the position we are, though compared to many of the posters on here we’re practically poor!!

Hope this makes you feel abit better OP, there are many more of us than you think

I have a professional job - fairly stressful but am on about 40k as a graduate. I think I know a few people on 100k but they are not the norm in my circle

Nor is a minimum wage job. UK average is around £37k so actually £50k is as close to average as a minimum wage salary is.