Would you class £32,000 as a good salary?

[Poshpuppy]

I know there are so many variables. For a 21 year old living at home it's probably a very good salary!
For a single parent who owns a home maybe not.

For me, I'm 35 and I don't feel this is a good salary for me. I'm in the Civil Service, I have a degree and master's, it's my own fault for possibly doing qualifications that haven't led to anything higher paid/more specific.
I'm an EO/Executive Officer grade which is junior. There are not many HEO/Higher Officer grades that don't require very niche experience or line management, there are also few fewer HEOs than AOs or EOs so competition is tough.

I'm looking outwards at the local council, third sector and private sector. I know money isn't everything but when you have things to pay for and any chance of saving then it does help. I think I'd feel comfortable on closer to 40k, whether this will happen is another matter.

Of course there will be people on under 30k who manage perfectly fine, it's all relative. Just wondered what anyone thought!

For someone with a degree and a masters? No.

It depends where you live. I'm in London and would really struggle on that wage.

Although it also depends on what hours you work. For full-time work, it's low.

That’s not bad for a EO role

i would expect that to be a starting salary for someone with a degree and masters. Although it also depends if you're doing a graduate role with those qualifications. How many years experience have you got?

True, some EO roles pay under 30k. It depends on the EO role too, some are line managing 15 AOs on that wage.

No, I don’t think it’s a good salary. But isn’t there loads of room for progression in the civil service? I know people who joined straight from school after their GCSEs and are earning very well and are quite senior?

Go into Commercials in the CS. Honestly, loads of opportunities.

I'm 35 now, graduated in 2013. Whilst it's not far off the median/average/whatever salary I get confused, I believe I could do better when I look at peers.

For me, it would not be. I could not afford to rent on that (any salary that I cannot live alone on is not enough.)

If was 22 living at my mom’s house in the Midlands and it was a starting salary I would think it was ok.

People do talk about progression in the Civil Service but I've found it harder. Maybe I'll get to HEO one day, but it's very bottlenecked. In our office there is around 1 HEO to every 20 EOs, there is tough competition and there will always be someone with more relevant experience.

Not in the south east. But that's more than some HEOs get in my department and we are mostly still London based! I've found progression to be glacial but much faster for colleagues who jump around between departments, if that's an option for you.

I'm in the North West so not a massive cost of living but still.

It wouldn’t be a good salary for me. But everyone’s outgoings are different. I earn 48 and thinks it’s rubbish. Two kids, mortgage, everything is so expensive, I’m in debt and fed up. My earning potential is 55 max.

HEO is a very very wide grade, but you should probably be looking at that plus SEO grade work. I've been a HEO and an SEO with no line management responsibility at all.

It's probably not bad for a junior role, but why are you in a junior role in your mid-30s? Did you work your way up to this role, or change career at some point? Or have you been working at this level since you finished your masters?

It also depends on your outgoings as to whether that kind of income is comfortable for you - for me, with young 2 kids, 32k would probably not even cover my contributions to my mortgage and childcare costs and |'d be evaluating whether to be a stay at home parent instead.

At the end of the day if you enjoy your role and you are comfortable on the money then there's no need to change anything. If you want more money it's good you're looking elsewhere.

it's a very low salary for a graduate role with 13 years experience! If you can't get a promotion in the civil service I'd be looking elsewhere.

I’m an HO at Hmrc in the NE. My skills and experience are not niche. Try and get a move sideways into a less niche department and progression upward will be easier.

Thanks. I would say I can get by on it, but still need to go around the supermarket with a calculator, im paying for driving lessons so need to budget even more, I can't just afford whatever and I have to be careful, but I know that's the reality for many.

Full time minimum wage is £24700 ish from April so with your qualifications and experience £32k isn’t great. But if it covers costs, allows you to plan for the future and you’re happy then it’s also fine

For the northwest comparable to a couple of my friends same grade sounds about right

I have friends who are happy to stay as AO/EO for life, which is also completely fine but some of them think I'm weird for wanting to progress and earn more, saying, why can't you just be happy with 30k?
I understand what they're saying but what's wrong with trying to earn more?

I earn less than that. But I have a very rewarding job.

EO is quite junior - look at other options on civil service jobs that are in your area and it might be that there are more HEO and then SEO options.

No I would not class that as good, I work in recruitment and most people with a Masters are looking £35-40k straight out of uni. Admittedly I tend to recruit for quite technical roles so they are engineers, product specialists, renewable energy experts etc.

I live in the South East on the outskirts of probably the highest wealth area outside London so my views are skewed and I know that but for me anything under £50k is low.

On the face of it, it’s not a great salary for your qualifications and years of experience.

But with any move , look at the whole package - what benefits do you get, pension contributions etc? I have zero experience in the civil service so am clueless in that area.

Also, happiness with your overall life is important, but if you are feeling the pinch, it can be hard to be happy.

Depends, you can’t generalise. If there’s another breadwinner in the family or you live with parents and without kids it could be fine.

If you are a single parent with multiple children in London you would be pretty hard up on that salary. Context is everything.