What is a good wage these days?

[Lloyd90]

Interest reading on the lorry driver thread, with lads saying (and I agree tbh) that for the level of work, responsibility, and bother, the £11 odd per hours is not worth it at all! 
 

 

In this current times, now being 2021+,  cost of living, house prices higher than ever … Just what is a good wage these days? 
 

Years ago would dream of £500 a week, these days god knows! 
 

I know some on here have said they know window cleaners earning over £100,000 a year … although I’m sure that’s not the norm 🤣 

 

So where about’s is it then? If we consider some examples for an average 40 hour week. 


£11ph x 40 hrs a week = £22,880 a year = £1,599.87 take home a month. 

£15ph x 40 hrs a week = £31,200 a year = £2,071.33 a month. 
 

£20ph x 40 hrs a week = £41,600 a year = £2,660.67 a month.

 

(That’s without taking out any pension or student loads if anyone had them etc). 
 

There’s definitely some parts of the country where you’d struggle if you wanted to buy a house etc on the lower pay scales. 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

The working conditions are far more important than the wage or hourly rate.

As has been said, a tradesman used to be able to buy a house for his family, those days are gone now.

 

[sam triple]

What ever you can get and can live on basically, some employers are still taking the P and paying just above minimum wage , my mrs is an adult services care manager £38k 40 hours per week , I got laid off last year took a Carpy job @£10 ph for 6 months just kept my head above water, few other jobs followed at £12.60 and £13.50 ph , now I’ve found a job 6 miles from home £18.30 ph subsidised canteen etc but it’s double day shift and it’s the shift allowance that bumps the wage up , 35 hours a week 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, I doubt very much if all the young people 18 to 25 working are even on £11 per hour , many coming out of Uni and cannot find work that represents their qualifications are having to take any job that pays a salary , and many will never be able to buy their own home, or even rent a property, look at the housing market in Cornwall ? 2021 is a time where our young  people in the UK are taking the biggest hit on life, 

[12gauge82]

I think the area you live in has got a lot to do with what someone would call a good wage. 

[Centrepin]

5 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Interest reading on the lorry driver thread, with lads saying (and I agree tbh) that for the level of work, responsibility, and bother, the £11 odd per hours is not worth it at all! 
 

 

In this current times, now being 2021+,  cost of living, house prices higher than ever … Just what is a good wage these days? 
 

Years ago would dream of £500 a week, these days god knows! 
 

I know some on here have said they know window cleaners earning over £100,000 a year … although I’m sure that’s not the norm 🤣 

 

So where about’s is it then? If we consider some examples for an average 40 hour week. 


£11ph x 40 hrs a week = £22,880 a year = £1,599.87 take home a month. 

£15ph x 40 hrs a week = £31,200 a year = £2,071.33 a month. 
 

£20ph x 40 hrs a week = £41,600 a year = £2,660.67 a month.

 

(That’s without taking out any pension or student loads if anyone had them etc). 
 

There’s definitely some parts of the country where you’d struggle if you wanted to buy a house etc on the lower pay scales. 

It depends on the job, unless part time I don't know anyone who only works 40 hours.

The norm is 10 - 12 hours a day. Unless regulated by law 6 or 7 days per week.

Therefore £11.00 × a more realistic 60 hours, and so on.

Unless your in management then it's barely 30 hours a week.

[Zetter]

18 minutes ago, Centrepin said:

It depends on the job, unless part time I don't know anyone who only works 40 hours.

The norm is 10 - 12 hours a day. Unless regulated by law 6 or 7 days per week.

Therefore £11.00 × a more realistic 60 hours, and so on.

Unless your in management then it's barely 30 hours a week.

Must be poor management then I put in way more hours than my staff. That not counting the all the extra faffing about outside working hours sometimes when things go sideways.  

[Poor Shot]

£65k - £75k a year would be the ideal earning bracket for a 40 hour + week. It's enough money to realistically be comfortable and (as long as you weren't silly with the spending) be relatively safe from any big bills while having a nice enough lifestyle. It's in the 40% tax bracket but far enough so that you actually benefit from the higher wage rather than see most of it drained from your paycheck by the government. 

Over my 12 year working career I've never felt well off despite now earning many multiples of the £15k PA I earned in my first full time job. As well as inflation, rising taxes the tendency to live on the edge of your means always leaves you wanting more. The richest I've ever felt in fact, was at 18 Y/O, still living with parents taking home just over £1k per month. No real bills to pay, a pittance (£100 P/W) in lodge to my parents which they later gave back to me to buy a car when I passed my driving test. I was walking around like a dog with two ***** with the £750+ in my back pocket, enough to buy 300 pints and still have change for food and a taxi after each night out. 

At present my monthly combined tax and NI contributions are on par with the take home from that first job I had at 18. Apart from having my own place, a few cheap shotguns and a wardrobe full of last years clothes I don't feel any better off. 

I must remind myself to make better life choices going forward! 

[Wilts#Dave]

16 minutes ago, Poor Shot said:

£65k - £75k a year would be the ideal earning bracket for a 40 hour + week. It's enough money to realistically be comfortable and (as long as you weren't silly with the spending) be relatively safe from any big bills while having a nice enough lifestyle. It's in the 40% tax bracket but far enough so that you actually benefit from the higher wage rather than see most of it drained from your paycheck by the government. 

Over my 12 year working career I've never felt well off despite now earning many multiples of the £15k PA I earned in my first full time job. As well as inflation, rising taxes the tendency to live on the edge of your means always leaves you wanting more. The richest I've ever felt in fact, was at 18 Y/O, still living with parents taking home just over £1k per month. No real bills to pay, a pittance (£100 P/W) in lodge to my parents which they later gave back to me to buy a car when I passed my driving test. I was walking around like a dog with two ***** with the £750+ in my back pocket, enough to buy 300 pints and still have change for food and a taxi after each night out. 

At present my monthly combined tax and NI contributions are on par with the take home from that first job I had at 18. Apart from having my own place, a few cheap shotguns and a wardrobe full of last years clothes I don't feel any better off. 

I must remind myself to make better life choices going forward! 

Agreed, a bit further forward than you but I lived at home into my mid 20’s earning 20k odd and lived my best life…..always had money to burn! 
I’m knocking on 40 now and earning more than I ever have but with far far more responsibilities, I’ve got a house and cars etc but never feel the I’ve got ‘money to burn’ feeling as I did back then.
You definitely live to your means though, if I’d never bought a bigger house/had more expensive cars/lifestyle (and kids) I’d obviously be much better off but then I’m not sure I’d have the drive I do if I didn’t have those responsibilities? 

[DUNKS]

6 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

The working conditions are far more important than the wage or hourly rate.

As has been said, a tradesman used to be able to buy a house for his family, those days are gone now.

 

Took us 25 years to buy our house. It cost £7.500.

[Vince Green]

6 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

 
 

I know some on here have said they know window cleaners earning over £100,000 a year … although I’m sure that’s not the norm 🤣 

 

 

Window cleaners £2o per average semi (in London its £35) takes about half an hour. Do the maths for yourself.

[London Best]

If you don’t have a job £11/hr will look good.

[redial]

NHS 43rd year and on about £10.60 something an hour.

Yes, I could of done some training back in the day to get a qualification but chose not to.

It pays the bills and puts food on the table.

The only fear is unexpected bills for instance car, house,vet.

Having been on a low wage for so long, you get used to not having what some would describe as the nicer things in life. Prefer to drive an older car than be in debt. Health before wealth every time.

[Vince Green]

2 minutes ago, London Best said:

If you don’t have a job £11/hr will look good.

Benefits and a cash in hand job on the side looks even better

[Deker]

Enough to pay your bills and have enough left over for enjoyment... so will vary in each town

[strimmer_13]

Think I'm on £10.38 ph. Highest rate I can go. Rents £700 ( that's cheap for a tiny 2 bed not in a scummy area) Ave House price £180k anywhere local. 

We'll never afford to buy in this county unless something drastic happens. 

[oldypigeonpopper]

5 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, I doubt very much if all the young people 18 to 25 working are even on £11 per hour , many coming out of Uni and cannot find work that represents their qualifications are having to take any job that pays a salary , and many will never be able to buy their own home, or even rent a property, look at the housing market in Cornwall ? 2021 is a time where our young  people in the UK are taking the biggest hit on life, 

Hello, it's not so much the earning power of living today it's what one will get on retirement !!!!

[JohnfromUK]

The answer to the question will depend so much on the individual concerned - there is no 'one correct answer'.

1. A single person who is careful with money can be what he considers 'very comfortable' quite easily.  Such a person may well save/invest a significant part of any excess income in a retirement fund of some sort (ISA, pension or whatever).  He will feel reasonably well off as his low outgoings are less than his incomings and he has surplus to save.
2. A typical family on a similar income will find they have to economise as a family does up the expenses, and it would be much harder to save.  Luxury spending (e.g. holidays, new car(s)) is probably carefully considered and planned.
3. A better off professional family man may feel quite 'hard up' because there are pressures to 'keep up with', multiple holidays, skiing, new cars for all family, big house, lots of tech gadgetry, wife and kids with expensive tastes, eat out a lot.  Such people often buy on impulse now and pay later.

The person in case 1 would think the person in case 3 has a high salary ........ but case 3's high outgoings will quite probably mean he feels hard up and cannot save - and borrows heavily on credit cards etc to pay the bills.

It is how society is made up.

[12gauge82]

I think a good salary these days (I.e one which gives enough money to not have to think about money too much) is probably 150k plus, is that a realistic salary for most people, no. 

A reasonable salary to ensure you can live comfortably with everything you need is probably 40k. 

[Vince Green]

I grew up in a three bed semi in a North West London suburb. My Dad was a worker at a local factory a couple of miles away but he was able to buy that house and lived in it till he died. It cost him equiv to three times his annual wage at the time. But year on year they got pay rises and within a few years his repayments became very affordable.

Today that same house would cost around £700,000 and the factory where he worked closed twenty years ago You would need to be earning in the region of £200,000 a year to get a mortgage to buy it today

Edited September 29, 2021 by Vince Green

[Dave-G]

3 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

I think the area you live in has got a lot to do with what someone would call a good wage. 

Agreed, my next door neighbour rents out houses in Manchester& Bradford areas. Says he can get the same rents as Leicester but almost half the money tied up.

[Walker570]

1 hour ago, London Best said:

If you don’t have a job £11/hr will look good.

That is true but it is still  low in my estimation, in particular the serious big truck guys. The skill and responsibility deserves better.   Eighteen ...nineteen an hour would not be out of the way.  Just look at what Lineker is drawing in comparison or any of the kickers of bags of wind.  What would an extra £80s a day be in comparison with the value of the load delivered ?    Many profesional pensions come to more.

It needs an enquiry similar to the Edmund Davies enquiry in to police pay back in the late 60s/early 70s . My joining wage in 1962 doubled what I was getting at the time but in the next 8 years that was eroded and Edmund Davies was called in to look at it.  He agree a considerable rise and there is no doubt made the rest of my service more comfortable. 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Walker570

[Smokersmith]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

The answer to the question will depend so much on the individual concerned - there is no 'one correct answer'.

1. A single person who is careful with money can be what he considers 'very comfortable' quite easily.  Such a person may well save/invest a significant part of any excess income in a retirement fund of some sort (ISA, pension or whatever).  He will feel reasonably well off as his low outgoings are less than his incomings and he has surplus to save.
2. A typical family on a similar income will find they have to economise as a family does up the expenses, and it would be much harder to save.  Luxury spending (e.g. holidays, new car(s)) is probably carefully considered and planned.
3. A better off professional family man may feel quite 'hard up' because there are pressures to 'keep up with', multiple holidays, skiing, new cars for all family, big house, lots of tech gadgetry, wife and kids with expensive tastes, eat out a lot.  Such people often buy on impulse now and pay later.

The person in case 1 would think the person in case 3 has a high salary ........ but case 3's high outgoings will quite probably mean he feels hard up and cannot save - and borrows heavily on credit cards etc to pay the bills.

It is how society is made up.

Good post

[henry d]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

A better off professional family man may feel quite 'hard up' because there are pressures to 'keep up with', multiple holidays, skiing, new cars for all family, big house, lots of tech gadgetry, wife and kids with expensive tastes, eat out a lot.  Such people often buy on impulse now and pay later.

Pretty much one of my family's situation, earning more in a month than we get in a year and most of their money goes on mortgages on two houses, and possibly a third soon, along with the associated upkeep. He has to be careful how many days he is in the UK, certainly not how I would want to live.

1 hour ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, it's not so much the earning power of living today it's what one will get on retirement !!!!

I never really knew how much I would get when I retired but after 9 years of living on my pension my wife retired early and we took a hit on her pension so we are living on approximately 3/4 of what we used to compared to when she was working. Quick fag packet mathematics says £23K with no mortgage is sufficient at the moment, in five years we get state pension and will be even better off. I suppose like many suggest it is expectation against income.

As Mr Micawber said;  “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.”

[12gauge82]

The other thing to take into consideration is age, if your under 40,to pay for a decent house must be difficult as house prices have completely lost touch with average earnings since about the year 2000. A good wage to someone with a very small or paid off mortgage is a lot less than a twenty year old mortgaged up to the hilt with a 350k property.