Salary £27K on 22 hours

[bananasinabowl]

I am going back to work after maternity on £27K on 22 hours. I used to do 26 hours but need childcare so needed to reduce it. If I did full time, I’d be on £45K (never worked full time in this role).

Is this low for 22 hours or is it okay?

Well, is it enough for your household? Can you increase your hours at a later stage?

My very similar PT wage works for me and DH.

But the ‘£3k loss’ is because you are working fewer hours? So you’re not losing anything, you’re just being paid the rate for the hours you are choosing to work.

since the full time equivalent is above the median that of course it’s good

is it a decent wage for a PT employee is a somewhat pointless question! PT salaries are pro-rated from the full time equivalent depending on the number of hours you work. You aren't being paid £27k because you work part time, you're being paid a proportion of a £45k salary. So really you need to benchmark the £45k against similar roles.

The £3k loss is from working 200 hours less a year though op. We can’t tell you if it’s decent or not, we can just say it’s well above nmw

It IS a decent salary if you think that time = money. You gain more time. Spend that time doing something else and you can compensate for the £3k loss.

I am doing similar. Have spread it so I can do something paying itself in the hours I’m not there. Also I organised myself strategically so I only need to be in the office minimally - saves commuting time & travel costs which easily compensates. Additionally I prepare once for the two different jobs. It’s the same preparation and I get paid by both places to do it (one set of work but paid x 2).

Depends how much you need the extra money & what you are doing when you are not there! I found childcare costs were a killer, but I couldn’t work with little people around.

Okay maybe this thread wasn’t what I intended.

I wanted people to tell me that a £3K loss is okay etc.
I had no choice but to decrease my hours due to nursery pick up and drop offs otherwise I would have kept my hours.
It’ll be fine for our household but a loss is a loss isn’t it? £3K is a lot of money. I don’t know what I wanted from this thread to be honest !

We wouldn’t know the impact of a loss of £3000 would have on your household though

I getcha! But look, they are little once & you have to do that job too, until they are bigger. Then you will gain back £3k’s worth of time and maybe even more.

Could you do eBay/Vinted/proofreading/surveys in some of the hours you are home?

That is true… like I said, not sure what I was expecting !

It’s the same answer for whether it’s a good wage for a full time employee. £45k is above national average but in many areas would be considered low. However, if you are in an area where that is considered high, then your part time equivalent will also be considered high for your hours. It’s all relative.

Well is the £45k a decent salary for full time? Surely the answer is dependant on that?

Thank you for getting me!

Erm not sure £3K worth! tell me more.. surveys?

For the sake of an extra 45 mins a day at work I would stay instead of trying to make £3k on Vinted

It is difficult to advise if you are not sure what you need advice on.
Are you saving in other ways by cutting down your hours?
We can afford a cut back of £3000/annum esp if it meant our lives were easier or better in some other way, e.g nursery/school runs, more time with DC, taking care of elderly relative etc.
Is the loss of income easily absorbed/forgone and simultaneously worthwhile? Only you and your DP can answer.

Surely this should be about if you can afford to live comfortably enough. That would be my concern. Do you have a partner? An extra 3k but you would be saving on childcare and 3k spread out over a year isn't that much to loose out on OP.

Have you actually put the old salary and new salary through tax and pension contribution calcs to see how much you are actually losing when you get paid?

If you save 4k a year 3k drop is fine

if you are already penny pinching and getting into debt then it’s huge - it’s not clear cut

get a spreadsheet going , work out what you spend and where and see where you personally can make the cuts

3k is around £60 a week - if you eat out a lot then it’s easily saved

You need to stop seeing it as £3k. You would never actually see that entire £3,000. After tax, NI, any student loan, pension etc it’s likely to be less than £170 per month difference. If you can afford that drop then it makes sense because logistically you need the extra time back.

exactly what @Amba1998 says!! You need to work out your take home pay because you'll still get the same tax free allowance.
£30k salary with a 5% pension contribution is take home of £24,169 (english tax bands)
£27k salary with the same pension contribution is take home of £22,129 so only a £2k drop

You also need to consider that getting these types of role on 22 hours (especially if they are of your own choosing) is hard.

It easier to be in a job and reduce them than to get a part time job in a similar role.

I'd imagine that if you look for an equivalent you'll find it hard so perhaps that might help you to see it more positively?

I am asking if it’s decent wage for a part time employee…

I have to agree that the question is just odd.
If you think £45K is decent for full time (and most people would - that is a LOT more than most people earn outside of MN) , then why would you think the same rate of pay is anything other than decent when they are paying you the same 'hourly rate' ?

If anything, your net rate will be higher, as a higher proportion of your salary will be tax free.

You will, of course be paying less into your pension, but that is a separate question.

I had no choice but to decrease my hours due to nursery pick up and drop offs otherwise I would have kept my hours.

Does the baby not have a father ?

Your salary will just be the FT amount pro-rated by the number of hours you work?

So surely your question should be "can I afford to reduce my hours from 26 per week to 22?"

You also don't give the amount for 26 hours per week but I guess from "losing £3k" that 26h per week was 30k per annum?

Very confusing.

You’re losing £3k a year because you are working fewer hours. Your hourly rate is hood. The childcare years are pricey because of loss of earnings, as well as the actual cost of childcare. Make the most of the nursery years though, before school and 13 weeks holiday + 5 inset days a year come along.

So many of these types of posts coming in lately and then when the OPs get asked to expand on their circs and that it’s all subjective anyway then they say ‘they don’t know what they’re expecting/wanting out the thread either!’.

If as a grown adult, they can’t figure out alone whether they are receiving a ‘good’ wage in relation to their needs and outgoings, then I’d be tempted to think they’re currently overpaid! 😅