What would you call an average wage?

Lots of sheltered people in this thread by the sound of it. Part qualified accountant with a 1st honors and can't get more than 18k a year. I'm sure that will rocket when he is fully qualified but for now it's a bit shocking.

I got my brotehr from £11k to £13.5k with the use of photoshop :|
 
There's always someone earning more so it's a bit foolish to start throwing around casual "oh look at me, I earn over £40k and thought that everyone else did" comments: it makes you look silly when someone comes in and says that's what they started on, nevermind ended up at.
 
I dunno what average wage is, but I know for sure I'm well under it. I currently work between 50 and 70 hour per week, for minimum wage. I know over the year that will bring me up to around £18k, but it's a hell of a lot of hours to get there lol.
Once I get into the army again, I'll be taking a pay reduction for a few years too, as I'm only going to be on around £12k - £13k. I've got no intention of pursuing a high wage job in my life. If one comes around great, but making money isn't what I want out of life.
 
dowie said:
the national average of 23k or so includes people with few quals, people in low skilled jobs, people living in the north etc... - someone in the SE with a decent science/engineering degree, in the private sector, ought to be aiming for a bit more else they are simply being exploited. (with the exception of startups etc...)
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£23k is the grad starting salary (pre April 08) of Atkins engineering consultancy (largest multi disciplinary in Europe) so looks like they are all being 'exploited'. Clown, that figure also includes MD's and footballers, so its not all bottom heavy.
 
carvegio said:
This is a very broad question and depends on area, education and a lot of other factors.

It is actually scary to see how low the average is. Also, people need to be more ambitious if they think you have done very well in life if you earn over 40k!
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Maybe municipal gain isn't the only way to rate your life?
 
The average wage down here in devon and cornwall is somewhere around £15k, well below the national average, but livable on, although earning more than that is obviously preferable.

What defines a good wage depends on how expensive your area is to live, how much people around you are earning and what your priorities are. I live in Devon because I like the area, I could earn a lot more elsewhere, but they are areas I don't really want to live in...
 
Too many factors to take into consideration to have an "average" wage.

I've always tried to stay £2000 above my current age with a salary, as I find this gives me a target to hit and also a decent amount of money for my age/life style.
 
Malc said:
I can't see the point in spending 3-4 years at Uni only to be on less than your friends who didn't go to Uni.
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It's always been a gamble. By the time I graduated in '84 a friend who'd left school at 16 and joined the Merchant Navy had already bought *and* paid for a house, and was earning a very good wage indeed. I graduated into the end of a recession and was unemployed for quite a while (in part because I did badly on my course, which was beyond my intellectual reach if I'm honest).

Education is not a guaranteed ticket to more money, but it usually gives you more choices. At least it did in the age when having a degree meant something. I can't help but feel that many people attending university these days are simply doing the government a favour and cutting the unemployment statistics... and going into debt for the pleasure. It's all rather shameful, IMO, for the governments which have encouraged it.

Andrew McP
 
Whenever I go back home (oop north), I always feel slightly ashamed because I make more than my siblings, and indeed parents (many of whom work 'harder'). It's easy to take it for granted.

Those who make big money really should try and keep their feet on the ground.
 
Nathan said:
More to the point cs nuts - if you were earning 40k a year, why would you budget 2 - 4k for a car for yourself :/

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10682402&postcount=1

You also ask for a second hand ipod for £50 max. Im sorry but if I was on 40k a year I wouldnt be so tight with my money :p perhaps you have huge outgoings and that is why you think 25k is poor money?!
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Some people's priorities differ maybe? According to the figures posted so far, I earn quite a lot above the UK average, but I still only drive a 2001 Citroen Xsara with 80K on the clock which I bought a few years ago on ebay for £3K. To me, a car is merely a tool used for getting from A to B. It's got nothing to do with being "tight with your money".

edit: oops, just seen that other people already made the point I was trying to make... that'll teach me to not read a thread entirely before replying ;)
 
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Cambofrog said:
Here are some statistics upto 2007.

Beware of "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" though, it is a government site :D

EDIT: so according to the linked stats, the yearly median was £23,000 - £24,000 in November 2007
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just to clarify that quote that those are the 3 kinds of lies, statistics not being very important because you can easily do a few calculations and blam, a whole different answer :D..

average wage, cant be used as a solid figure, when you realise that many people have really high salaries exceeding 100k, etc.. and then the amounts of people living on 15k. id stick to the lower figure, it isnt the average, but it would be the mode for a lot of people

Malc said:
I can't see the point in spending 3-4 years at Uni only to be on less than your friends who didn't go to Uni. Obviously faster career progression is more likely with a degree but not always the case.
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well i go to uni for no other reason but to learn, and to better myself, to keep the mind active and challenged, those who try to get a degree just to get a better job are going about things the wrong way. and anyway it depends what courses your doing, ie law, etc..

GarethDW said:
Some people's priorities differ maybe? According to the figures posted so far, I earn quite a lot above the UK average, but I still only drive a 2001 Citroen Xsara with 80K on the clock which I bought a few years ago on ebay for £3K. To me, a car is merely a tool used for getting from A to B. It's got nothing to do with being "tight with your money".

edit: oops, just seen that other people already made the point I was trying to make... that'll teach me to not read a thread entirely before replying ;)
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i get what your saying but surely youd get a nicer car like a BMW, for 20k, @ that pay grade.. but i prob would only spend 50k on a car if i was a millionaire
 
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i've just started working for the minimum wage after bumming around on the dole for months. 37.5 hours a week @ 5.52 gives me a salary of £10700. woot. :p

i live on my own and pay all my own bills and rent/council tax from that.
 
platinum87 said:
i get what your saying but surely youd get a nicer car like a BMW, for 20k, @ that pay grade.. but i prob would only spend 50k on a car if i was a millionaire
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Think I'd rather stick with my el cheapo car and use the difference between that and the £20K Beemer to pay off my mortgage quicker.... although when I don't have a mortgage to pay each month, I'm not gonna know what to do with my money :eek:
 
I just got made permanent, so I'm doing the exact same (mucking around on this forum all day) job, but for double the wage :D

From 11K to 21K, 24K inc bonuses :P
 
Well, I'd be happy taking a job if it was in the relevant field or based around my degree subject, even if it was anywhere between 16-20k.

At the end of the day, it's buidling up experience to chuck in your CV when you go for that job paying £25k...

I see jobs in the field I'd like to go into, offering £25-35k starting pay. But you need to have anywhere between 2-5 years previous experience in that field.


Anyway......

I won't be here to worry about the UK's wages.

I'm more interested in the average wage in NZ. From what I can see I'm looking to start on $40k, with the aim of earning 50-60k after 5 years. That sort of income out there gets you a lot further than here!

:)
 
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