Any advice?

[xRobin]

Hi all,
So I work in an office, I wouldn’t call it a career, it’s just “a job”.
I’m early 30’s and quite frankly, I don’t think I’m paid what I’m worth.
I work for a small family company and it’s quite a toxic environment and pay rises aren’t common here, neither is praise in general.
I am due to go on maternity leave this year and I’m wondering what courses I can do to make myself more educated and apply for a better job that pays more?
Any advice?

I don't know what industry you're in, or whether you want to pivot out of office life entirely OP, but have you identified any specific skills you already have an aptitude for and could leverage, going forward? I'm thinking finance or project management, and have also heard of people retraining in data science during their mat leave. Possibly a coding bootcamp may be for you?

I work along the lines of project management but I am hugely underpaid for the work I do.
I don’t have a lot of confidence in myself but last year, somebody else in my department who was a “family member” (zero work ethic, lied and manipulated their way through) handed their notice in and blagged their way into a job twice the annual salary I am on (we were previously on the same wage). I am wildly impressed they’ve landed the job but it has left me thinking… if I was more confident to go for it, that could have been me.
I might look into the coding bootcamp, thank you!
I had a promising future when I was younger, I was naturally quite intelligent but life hasn’t dealt me the best cards and it became about survival if I’m honest.
I now want to live.
I love working with children but I can pick up computer systems really quickly. I wanted to avoid the office life but it does seem to be what I’m good at x

Is working with children something you'd be passionate about? I'm not sure that would mean a huge pay increase; if it's about appropriate remuneration, I feel your choices will come down to what would yield the biggest financial return in the shortest retraining time, which is where the boot camp would come in. I'd also look into confidence-building strategies OP, as you've mentioned that has been an issue for you.