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!

I am in the North West living with a partner, splitting rent costs between us but I also own a flat i don't make any income on, so I have to budget for unexpected repair costs which is hard.

It would be a good salary for me and for the area I live in.

From your description you work in a delivery team and not policy? Civil service policy roles have few EO roles anymore (and they are dumbed down from what they uaed to be). You need to move departments.

No, at 35 with a degree and masters I don’t think that’s a good salary. I did the fast stream and wasn’t far off that when I left, at age 26. Now at 38 I’m on £75k, and my friends range between £40k and £100k, all outside of London.

I think it is fine to want more. It is fine to look a potential jobs on a salary you want and apply thinking maybe it could work even if it’s a stretch. The starting point is being scared to take a risk. What if it doesn’t work? What if I fail? And those are risks. But you might not fail. You might really succeed! You won’t know if you don’t try. It is completely normal to move jobs to increase your salary. Getting the new experience and skills allows you to move to the next job for a higher salary - the point is it won’t land in your lap.

I am not saying the amount is important - but if you want to earn more just take that one next step that makes it a possibility - you probably won’t fail. And if the next one isn’t right you wait a bit for the sake of your CV then make another move. It’s the only way it works I think. Take a risk and trust yourself to deal with whatever comes next.

Pps have covered it, as have you yourself tbh! All depends on the variables but generally no not great. The only thing I would add is is that it's worth taking into account the other benefits of cs/ps - pension is a biggie also being able to work flexibly (if that is part of your job) and good AL.

On paper I have friends who earn more than me but when you look at the amount of unpaid overtime they're expected to do and only the legal minimum of AL their actual pay per hour is less. Whereas every single minute I do over 7.24 is credited as flexi and then taken as extra leave.

If you have older kids (who you don't have to constantly supervise) the ability to take ten mins in the morning and ten at 3pm to drop off and collect rather than doing reduced hours or paying for wraparound care is worth its weight in gold, as is time and petrol costs saved if you can wfh, flexibility in covering school holidays etc.

Its always worth keeping an eye out and job hopping - I went from an EA type role in one arms-length CS body that was capped at about £32k to another (with all the same benefits) where the scale started at £29k but am now at the top at £52k 4 years later. A colleague at the previous job also thought of applying for the same role but didn't go for it because didn't want to drop the initial £3k which seemed short sighted to me as it would be back up to the £30k within a year and from then on much more.

no

No BUT presumably you receive approx 24% employer contribution to your defined benefit pension ? Most private sector is 3% - 5% into a defined contribution pension. So it’s more accurate to think of yourself as earning c£45k in the private sector which is what would be needed to achieve that kind of contribution (which is still not much, but better)

I do understand about the pension and flexi, but I'm far off pension age and im currently in a position where I need to be earning more on a day to day basis.
I was an AO until January on £27,800, so even lower, I've only just been promoted. I'll have to just not listen to other people's comments, the general consensus on here is that it is low for my circumstances and this is what I thought.

I do apply for the fast stream every year but sadly never made it, maybe next time.

To me that’d depend largely on where you live, and how much you’d have to pay in rent or for a mortgage on a small property.

I have friends working outside of the Civil Service who still get very flexible hours, good bonuses etc.

No, I’d think it’s rather on the low side if anything.

I’d say that’s a shit salary, practically minimum wage isn’t - it in 2026? We’re not in 2000 any more, where £30k used to raise a family of 5 or whatever.

so no, it’s not a “good” salary regardless of the person being 21. It’s practically minimum wage and not much more. Hence, it’s an average or basic salary. In fact, it’s the type of salary that benefit claimants can receive and then get topped up via benefits. It won’t get you far down south.

To me, being on a good wage is like £65k and up. As that allows for a “good” life, not an average one. Ie 21 year olds not living with parents and having their own home.

Not a good salary given your higher education but civil service often doesn’t pay well. I held an EO role and the work pace was laughable compared to private sector. Slow, inefficient and cumbersome and most workers not making the effort you’d see in in other industries. It depends on your priorities in terms of salary and workload expectations.

My husband was in the civil service for a long time, and his salary evolved very little in 18 years. It was higher than yours (50k), but it was only 1 factor overall, the key benefits were job security and pension.
For someone without a degree, it was a pretty good deal!

So objectively I don't think that 32k is a very good salary for someone with a masters degree, but if it fits your lifestyle and you're not bored of the job then it has some perks you won't find anywhere else (assuming it's one of those contracts were you can't ever be made redundant).

Also no one enters public sector for the money, it is literally the lowest paid sector.

Good was the wrong word for someone much younger, I have colleagues who are EO in their early 20s, live at home and pay £100 per month in rent/keep so probably have plenty of money to play around with and save.
I've also had 18 year old AO colleagues, I would've loved almost 28k at 18!

Totally depends on where you live and how much mortgage or rent you’re paying.

I could live off it but I would want more, unless I loved my job and felt it was really worthwhile.

No. DS is in his first job post uni and earns almost 30k. And that is a low salary to exist on in a London flatshare for early twenties, still living like a student and buying yellow sticker food.

For a woman in her 30s, that's too low. But increasingly common.

masters

It is a lot more than minimum wage.
Unfortunately minimum wage isn’t a living wage, hence the State needing to top up.

It really isn't. Try the arts!

I live in the North West, I often feel ungrateful because as I said I've got friends/colleagues who've been AO or EO for years on end with no interest in progression, which again is completely valid but they're saying, why can't you just be happy with having a job?