One guy I currently work with had a top of the range new luxury car last year. This year I saw a brand new luxury big SUV car parked outside the office. "Why did you get a new car" I asked him. He replied "New year, new car". So now he is paying out more in tax, and insurance for this car, as well as being more in debt. He recently was complaining to me that he couldn't afford to buy a house, even though he earns a high salary, well in excess of the UK average. Even though I earn far less than he does, I can buy property, and he can't, simply due to the difference in our spending and saving habits.
So, what's the average UK wage? Different figures, such as £24k have been bandied about by the media. From my own observations and experience it's blatantly around £20k because I've seen many Central London workers who earn less than this, and wages are usually low in most other parts of England. Most people will actually be lucky to get that nowadays, as this is a terrible economy and there are not many jobs out there. Employers are reluctant to pay out a lot of money, and do not want to promote most people so they can keep paying their employees as little as possible. In addition many employees are part time workers, which limits the employers commitment to them. The odds are stacked firmly in the employer's favour, and they will pay as little as they can.
Many years ago I worked in Central London, and at one time I had a job which supposedly had excellent potential. This job was alongside fellow graduates who had been there for years and still earned £15k. I left the company after a few months when I realised they had no intention of raising anyone's wages although they kept promising to, and this was a top employer in Central London. If you are not well paid when starting out (and most people won't be), then the way to make money is to have about 2 or 3 different jobs.
Private vs public: In the old days, private sector (private business) paid more than the government public sector. I believe the tide turned a long time ago, with pay, job security, holidays, and conditions for public sector work now being better than the private sector. Obviously there are cases, such as banking, where private sector pays a lot of money, but never underestimate the public sector, where some managers and top level employees can earn well in excess of 30k, 50k, 80k, 100k. It all depends on which department you work for, and the position you reach. A news report showed how public sector employees are doing very well. Most people overlook the undisclosed extra finances public sector employees can get. There can be lots of paid overtime. There can also be stuff like shift allowance, which pays you a lot of money simply because you worked at a certain time. People forget to include these amounts when looking at how much public sector workers earn. For example police officers get a publicised pay of 23k per year, but a friend told me his brother was in the police, and the reality is that due to overtime rates, shift allowance, living allowance, etc, its unusual for any police officer to get paid less than 40k each year. And they get free travel! Similar situations occur in the army, the publicised pay is 15k per year, but there are lots of extra government benefits and tax breaks. I have a friend in the army, and he told me the soldiers get paid an extra "combat pay" when actually deployed on duty, in addition to their normal salary. He said his sergeant was getting paid over £4k per month in total!
Teachers earn a lot of money, experienced teachers can earn over £40k per year.
As far as having a job goes, I think public sector jobs are probably better for the following reasons: Better compensation for overtime, whereas in the private sector you might be expected to work extra hours for free. Better job security and a better appeals process if you believe you are being treated unfairly. There is better job security as you won't be turfed out by a private employer looking to replace you with unbeatable cheap labour from foreign countries.
It doesn't really matter if your job is public or private as long as you are getting paid and using that money to build a better future for yourself. I am always amazed when people have a chance of getting a job and saving money but they turn it down because they think the job is beneath them. When I was at school, having a "low status" job such as a bus driver was frowned upon, but now I see many bus drivers and train drivers making much more money than graduates, and with better overtime pay and job security.
Never put down a job, yes there are some downsides, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. A job is good, but being self-employed is better and is the eventual goal. My millionaire mentor Mr Piper, regularly earns in excess of £120k per year and has millions of pounds of real equity in property. This is well above the UK average, and is better than a lot of Members of Parliament and bankers. But he had a job first, a menial job in a market, selling chicken and cheese. He started out many years ago in a job, and built his way up to financial freedom. A job is usually the first stepping stone to success.
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