What is a good salary in UK at present?

malachi said:
And yes, many people can just 'do something' if they are fully able to walk, talk and read which 99.9% of people in the UK can. We are not being invaded or at war fighting on the frontlines. So there is no excuse, just laziness.
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If 99.9% of the population are capable, then why are 20% of the adult population living in poverty? Laziness?

Is a cleaner working full time on minimum wage just being lazy or do you concede that, even if the 99.9% of the population worked hard and tried their best as you suggest, there just isnt 37.46 million highly paid jobs in the UK? (99.9% of the 37.5 million UK working age population)

Sounds a lot like "well I did it so anyone that doesnt is just <insert negative pejorative here>"....
 
Koalaboy said:
I'd never say I don't have enough. I really feel for those on low salaries, and wonder how I'd cope, and how they do.

The reason I would complain, is that I was sold a dream... work hard, keep a good job, you'll have a good life and a happy retirement, yes the reality is every day it seems as if most of that is drifting away.

I'll likely be working until I'm 70 (having been sold the dream years back of retiring at 50) and then just having an 'enough to get by' life for the remaining few years - no taking luxury holidays and enjoying my 'free' time.

I absolutely appreciate younger people have it even worse - I struggle with how to best advise my teenage daughter - but the govt needs to stop selling these dreams, when the reality is you'll be a drone for life.
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What do you view as a low salary?

I just recently went from a 25k job to a 35k job. Not rich at all but certainly more comfortable in a DINK relationship in a 2 bedroom flat in SE London/Kent. It's all relative.
 
Richie said:
If 99.9% of the population are capable, then why are 20% of the adult population living in poverty? Laziness?

Is a cleaner working full time on minimum wage just being lazy or do you concede that, even if the 99.9% of the population worked hard and tried their best as you suggest, there just isnt 37.46 million highly paid jobs in the UK? (99.9% of the 37.5 million UK working age population)

Sounds a lot like "well I did it so anyone that doesnt is just <insert negative pejorative here>"....
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I think so yes. Laziness is a bit derogatory but definitely a lack of ambition. I have plenty of friends like that. They are quite happy in their situation so good on them. After all we need people who are able to do all jobs.

I know I could do a lot more. I was always good academically but always lacked the drive to go forward. I have recognised this in recent years and am starting to do a lot more going forward and getting the rewards for it.

It still doesn't change that our worth compared to 2008 in most forms of life is drastically worse today but unfortunately that is the sign of a country that is in decline. Best just to bury it in the back of your head and get on with life in that respect.
 
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Koalaboy said:
Well done for just dismissing anything related to mental health. The same way Rishi did in his speech about how more people than ever are 'fit to work'.
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Yeah. Knew that was coming. "Get off your backside and do something productive to better yourself"................"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH BUT MENTAL HEALTH!!!!!" :rolleyes:

Richie said:
If 99.9% of the population are capable, then why are 20% of the adult population living in poverty? Laziness?

Is a cleaner working full time on minimum wage just being lazy or do you concede that, even if the 99.9% of the population worked hard and tried their best as you suggest, there just isnt 37.46 million highly paid jobs in the UK? (99.9% of the 37.5 million UK working age population)

Sounds a lot like "well I did it so anyone that doesnt is just <insert negative pejorative here>"....
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You tell me? 20% of the adult population living in poverty...then on the other hand you hear people complaining about the poor "How can they afford the latest iPhone, Sky TV, Big TV, get free housing. I work, pay my taxes and I cant afford any of what they have...Blah...Blah...Blah...!!!"

The UK is clearly one of the richest, poorest countries in the world.

My point is, if they are in a poor rut then there are plenty of opportunities in the UK to get out of it. If they don't then fine but don't complain about why inflation is kicking their backside and their wages aren't going far enough. We have zero control over inflation. People only get paid what they are worth, if they think they are worth more then they will aim for it, wont they?
 
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Bassmansam said:
What do you view as a low salary?

I just recently went from a 25k job to a 35k job. Not rich at all but certainly more comfortable in a DINK relationship in a 2 bedroom flat in SE London/Kent. It's all relative.
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You're correct that it's relative.
I honestly don't know - 25k seems low, looking at a take-home calculator, and with a median of ~£32k, that would agree.

That doesn't mean it's good/bad for the person, as you mention - it's somewhat circumstantial, but I do wonder when I hear about the cost of living crisis and more people using food banks. Equally, I see many people at expensive cafes throughout the day, so it's hard to know where the average actually lies (Also depends on location - I'm not in a wealthy area, but maybe all those out are wealthy enough to not worry).

I will gladly admit I'm well paid - I'm in the top 4% according to the other charts, though I'm nowhere near being wealthy and will have to work until my 70s.
I know that, whilst I have money to save, my future still doesn't look amazing (I'm well above the average pension pot, but nowhere near the 'comfortable' expectation) and I wonder how on earth those on lower salaries will even be able to save for that future.

Maybe it's the media portrayal, maybe it's an age thing, maybe it's just me. I really don't know.

I don't believe anyone should be left in poverty though, and that definitely happens.
 
malachi said:
Yeah. Knew that was coming. "Get off your backside and do something productive to better yourself"................"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH BUT MENTAL HEALTH!!!!!" :rolleyes:
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Because it's completely arrogant and dismissive of something that is a real problem for many. Just because you believe it doesn't exist, it doesn't mean you're right.
 
malachi said:
Yeah. Knew that was coming. "Get off your backside and do something productive to better yourself"................"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH BUT MENTAL HEALTH!!!!!" :rolleyes:



You tell me? 20% of the adult population living in poverty...then on the other hand you hear people complaining about the poor "How can they afford the latest iPhone, Sky TV, Big TV, get free housing. I work, pay my taxes and I cant afford any of what they have...Blah...Blah...Blah...!!!"

The UK is clearly one of the richest, poorest countries in the world.

My point is, if they are in a poor rut then there are plenty of opportunities in the UK to get out of it. If they don't then fine but don't complain about why inflation is kicking their backside and their wages aren't going far enough. We have zero control over inflation. People only get paid what they are worth, if they think they are worth more then they will aim for it, wont they?
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What about the rest of my post? You only responded to the first sentence... What about the bolded part below?

Richie said:
If 99.9% of the population are capable, then why are 20% of the adult population living in poverty? Laziness?

Is a cleaner working full time on minimum wage just being lazy or do you concede that, even if the 99.9% of the population worked hard and tried their best as you suggest, there just isnt 37.46 million highly paid jobs in the UK? (99.9% of the 37.5 million UK working age population)
Click to expand...
 
malachi said:
My point is, if they are in a poor rut then there are plenty of opportunities in the UK to get out of it. If they don't then fine but don't complain about why inflation is kicking their backside and their wages aren't going far enough. We have zero control over inflation. People only get paid what they are worth, if they think they are worth more then they will aim for it, wont they?
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The problem is that a lot of people on minimum wage are doing jobs that are vital to the economy. We used to call them key workers are couple of years ago. If they all decided to retrain as management consultants, our economy would be ****ed.

I believe that no-one working a full time job should be living in poverty. Maybe that’s a controversial view though?
 
413x said:
From most of replies from people living in London I'd assume you'd be living on bread crumbs person in that area with average salaries!
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Maybe if you lived in zone 1,2,3,4 it would be tough. I mean this area is a london borough but its pretty much Kent and this particular area isn't the greatest. We pay £1150 for a 2 bed flat on shared ownership( 40% owned)
 
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413x said:
From most of replies from people living in London I'd assume you'd be living on bread crumbs person in that area with average salaries!
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Living in London has two types of people. Type a that have a wage in the top 5% of the country but have eye watering mortgages and type b who have lived there for the past 30 years and bought a house whilst they were still reasonable so a mediocre salary goes just as far as people in the midlands and up.
 
adam cool dude said:
Living in London has two types of people. Type a that have a wage in the top 5% of the country but have eye watering mortgages and type b who have lived there for the past 30 years and bought a house whilst they were still reasonable so a mediocre salary goes just as far as people in the midlands and up.
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A colleague who lives in London was telling me recently how he 'downsized' to a similar size house. Bought an inner-city property 20+ years ago for around 200K and has just sold it for over a million, and moved a few miles further out to buy a similar house, but gain some cash for retirement.

Meanwhile, here's me wondering if I'll be able to even break-even when actually downsizing in a few years, as our house has gone up far less than most other places (nowhere near London).
 
Koalaboy said:
A colleague who lives in London was telling me recently how he 'downsized' to a similar size house. Bought an inner-city property 20+ years ago for around 200K and has just sold it for over a million, and moved a few miles further out to buy a similar house, but gain some cash for retirement.
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At the last election, there was someone in our local paper whining about a proposed wealth tax on properties over £2mil. They were worried that the house that they bought for £500,000 might soon fall into that bracket. I struggled to find my violin.
 
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Richie said:
What about the rest of my post? You only responded to the first sentence... What about the bolded part below?
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I did with my last paragraph. If they are on a minimum wage job for a long period of time then don't complain or get a better paid job. And I'm talking about a better paid job, not highly paid job.

jeffk said:
The problem is that a lot of people on minimum wage are doing jobs that are vital to the economy. We used to call them key workers are couple of years ago. If they all decided to retrain as management consultants, our economy would be ****ed.

I believe that no-one working a full time job should be living in poverty. Maybe that’s a controversial view though?
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Which goes back to what I said earlier, no one should be working a minimum wage job all their live and retire on that wage. Otherwise they are blocking the younger generation moving into that role who wants to enter the workforce.

Same as there are many decent paid jobs unavailable because its full of Baby Boomers and Gen X who refused to retire or step down. Certain government jobs are an example.

@Koalaboy :confused:
 
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malachi said:
I did with my last paragraph. If they are on a minimum wage job for a long period of time then don't complain or get a better paid job. And I'm talking about a better paid job, not highly paid job.
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Well, no, you didnt:

You said:
malachi said:
And yes, many people can just 'do something' if they are fully able to walk, talk and read which 99.9% of people in the UK can. We are not being invaded or at war fighting on the frontlines. So there is no excuse, just laziness.
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So, if 99.9% of the population are able to do it, where would all the jobs come from?

Current UK Working Age Populaton - 35 Million

Even if it was the 20% in poverty I referenced - Thats an additional 7 million higher paid jobs to find... Given there are just under 1 Million current vacancies, and we assume they are all above minimum wage, where do the other 6 million jobs come from?

Or can we just agree that your argument was thrown out there without any actual thought in order to push a point?
 
Richie said:
Well, no, you didnt:

You said:



So, if 99.9% of the population are able to do it, where would all the jobs come from?

Current UK Working Age Populaton - 35 Million

Even if it was the 20% in poverty I referenced - Thats an additional 7 million higher paid jobs to find... Given there are just under 1 Million current vacancies, and we assume they are all above minimum wage, where do the other 6 million jobs come from?

Or can we just agree that your argument was thrown out there without any actual thought in order to push a point?
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When I said 99.9% of people, I was making a point most people in the UK are fully able to work.

You know exactly when I meant, everyone else in the thread understood that :confused: So I don't know why you are trying to be clever pulling out exact numbers.
 
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