£16,271 Below Average wage?

drumlegend · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:49

So I graduated university in 2013 but was not able to find work anywhere in the North East and I was limited to where I could move.

I now work for the NHS and have recently moved up a band to £16,271

That's about £14,151.48 take home wage.

I've read articles saying that it's pretty much living in poverty!

What is everyone's view.

I'm 24 and I know it is low, but I can't find anything else in the area and the NHS has a nice pension scheme

One day I hope to become and IT Technician here but I get turned down due to lack of experience.

Josh · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:51

I live in surrey and earn around £25k, that is considered a very low wage in this area.

I think they take the whole of England into account when they do these types of surverys. In the NE that could be a perfectly viable living wage, however with rent prices etc down here hat wouldn't get you very far.

Castiel · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:52

That's very much below the national average wage which is more like £24k

drumlegend · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:52

JOSH86 said:
I live in surrey and earn around £25k, that is considered a very low wage in this area.

I think they take the whole of England into account when they do these types of surverys. In the NE that could be a perfectly viable living wage, however with rent prices etc down here hat wouldn't get you very far.

Yeh, London will have a huge impact on the Average.

I pay £450 a month to live here and I do have a partner who earns a little less so it's not bad. We have managed on less

Minstadave · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:55

What degree did you do? What job are you doing now?

Janesy B · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:56

Would help if you tell us what you actually do.

MooMoo444 · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:57

London wages inflate the average. I wouldn't worry too much. If you're getting by, then it's fine.

drumlegend · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:58

I did computing but as I said, I can't find a job around here. Basically, I create rosters for different wards in the hopsital I work in.

Schlong&Stable · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:59

JOSH86 said:
I think they take the whole of England into account when they do these types of surverys. In the NE that could be a perfectly viable living wage, however with rent prices etc down here hat wouldn't get you very far.

I am not sure £16k is a viable living wage, even in the North East. I earn about £30k and am hardly living in the lap of luxury.

Diagro · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:00

You did "Computing"
Did you actually do a degree?

drumlegend · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:00

Diagro said:
You did "Computing"
Did you actually do a degree?

Yes, that is a degree. Computing BSc (Hons)

MooMoo444 · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:01

Thompson_NCL said:
I am not sure £16k is a viable living wage, even in the North East. I earn about £30k and am hardly living in the lap of luxury.

..and yet I'm on 2/3 of that and get by just fine, even allowing a good chunk of disposable income each month.

I'm not one to judge peoples lifestyles but you could probably be a bit more sensible.

Guerrilla · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:02

Count yourself lucky I earn less than you and have no pension scheme

Diagro · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:03

drumlegend said:
Yes, that is a degree. Computing BSc (Hons)

Wow, Your right. Such a vague name.

Computing covers a MASSIVE subject, did you not specialise?

My Degree was in Computing, More specifically Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. I didn't know they did Degree's with names that cover the ENTIRE subject :/

Oh and I am a Senior IT Tech in a school and i earn 21k Prorata (around 17k Before Tax)

drumlegend · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:03

MooMoo444 said:
..and yet I'm on 2/3 of that and get by just fine, even allowing a good chunk of disposable income each month.

I'm not one to judge peoples lifestyles but you could probably be a bit more sensible.

Indeed, 30k is a nice salary, I could live in Luxury for that. Could possibly go up a ply on my toilet roll

Josh · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:03

Thompson_NCL said:
I am not sure £16k is a viable living wage, even in the North East. I earn about £30k and am hardly living in the lap of luxury.

Hence my "could be" I have never lived in the NE, I am not aware of rent and living expenses.

Janesy B · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:04

Just looking at Middlesbrough, you can rent somewhere for £400 PCM. I earn roughly double and the cheapest I can get is about £1300 a month. Am I in poverty too? You might be low looking at the national average but you're okay considering the living costs of where you are. You won't be going cold and hungry anyway.

tom_e · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:05

My first job out of uni was 18k, and has done me for the last couple of years my new job takes me into the mid 20's which seems like a much more sensible wage for a graduate with a few years experience.
I've managed perfectly fine on the lower wage though this is in the West Mids.

My degree was Information Technology which basically just meant you could select from any modules ran by the school of IT and build your own degree.

elmarko · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:05

Ignore the average, it's a meaningless measure for income as it says nothing about how that income is distributed amongst the population.

I could posses 100% of the wealth in the UK alone & the 'average income' would be identical to as it is now. The sum of the total income divided by the population is an utterly worthless metric.

Neither does it take into account the huge differences in the cost of living when comparing one region to another.

drumlegend · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:05

Diagro said:
Wow, Your right. Such a vague name.

Computing covers a MASSIVE subject, did you not specialise?

My Degree was in Computing, More specifically Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. I didn't know they did Degree's with names that cover the ENTIRE subject :/

Oh and I am a Senior IT Tech in a school and i earn 21k Prorata (around 17k Before Tax)

You are right, I probably made a mistake. If anything, it revolved around Computer Science, doing programming but I wasn't great at it.

I would love to work in IT Tech as I have a lot of knowledge in it and I'm better than half the staff in this hospital.

Some of them don't even know how to change the resolution!