I earn above the average weekly wage, but still cannot afford to buy an average priced house. Its a shame that wage increases havent matched the house price increases!

I would indeed consider my self wealthy if my weekly wage was the average of £457. I'm assuming that prior to deductions. I don't consider myself poorly paid but would need a 30% pay rise to get anywhere near that.

I am 21 and earning £550 a week which is alot but I would have thought that the average is alot lower. Than £457. Out of my group of friends I am the highest earner, most of them are on £250 a week.

£457 - I wish! I would love to know where these figures come from. I'm 45 and have never earned that much per week

marts

thats a good point - have a good one too ( and you lu )

And you guys too. No hard feelings!

well if ya was not sat around reading non work related information on the web, then maybe your productivity would increase and then you would be rewarded accordingly

Why do some sad people always come on these forums to cause trouble and insult people!

£457.00 - I wish !! - I work for the NHS and I have got 2 degrees and a student loan to pay off!!

I would like to know where they get these figures from!! I have worked full time for a government dept for the past 5 and a half years and have been promoted once however I still only earn £270.34 gross per week. Whoever thought Civil Servants were well paid should try living on this wage.

Adam

Glad you have finished for the week but why are you emailing from the train? Why not enjoy the view...?

Oh,and be nice to Lu...is is the weekend after all!

Have a good one!

Peace out

I would be extremely happy with a salary of £457 a week! I am surprised the average is so high, as I don't know anyone in my age group (late twenties) who earns that much. I thought I was on a good wage (I slogged my guts out at uni for 4 years, building up a massive debt in the process, then spent 2-3 years in an IT job which I find boring but stressful) but this has made me reconsider! Perhaps I deserve more??

martin - i have finished for the week and i am on the train home - work smarter not harder - oh and lu - if ya were refering to me - then thats hardly a insult!!

Adam

Pot-kettle-black? After all you are reading and posting a comment! ;)

Marts

Ah, but at least civil servants get a final salary pension scheme, which is worth a fortune. Not many 'ordinary' people get that!!

I was surprised to realise that before tax, I do actually earn a little over £457, however, as commented by someone else, I still can't afford to buy an average priced house in the South.!

I live in Northern Ireland we get the lowest average wadge in the whole of europe and have the higest house prices. Can someone tell me where these job are with wadges like this as I would like to apply. Also we in the uk work the longest hours the pay should reflect this. Have a good weekend everyone.

I have 2 jobs and i dont earn £475, if that is the average wage I am defenatly doing something wrong.

If you could work out to spell wages then I would give you a pay rise (wadges x 2)

anyone can increase their wages if they truly want to. you can ask for a pay rise. most people dont get a pay rise simply because they dont ask.
if you cant get a pay rise start to think about youre dream job and dream wage cheque and set about working towards getting it even if you think its a fantasy, think about what you would have to do to get it.
everyone has the power to have the life they want, you just have to take action.

I earn lots of money but its never enough monday made 395 tuesday made 100 took the rest of the week off

self employed anyone who works for a boss is a muppit they are only thinking of themselves get out in the real world i earn double than that and its still not enough if your getting divorced bloody women

poor tom! marry billy piper next time

Let's not forget when they say the "national adverage" it usually means London. When the media talk of house prices are now coming down, they mean London, as the rest of the country have been coming down since early on last year (I work within the property industry). So wages for London and wages for the rest of us workers are definiately not "adverage"

hmm

£250 a month is my limit at present. I once earn't over 1600 a week but gave it up to look after my children.

pah

"£457"..lol...
you must be kidding....i think your stats include majority of the managers and executives in NHS [most of them are not even required and even then earn a lot more than they should - you dont need 10 executives for each department to make decisions for hospitals who are above to close down..come on.... and they also get rediculous bonuses] and bosses in central london......i cant even afford to buy a small flat with my wage...."£457" yeah right!!!

I work as a debt adviser for the Citizens Advice Bureau, and i and the majority of people i see, come nowhere near that figure. Who do they get the figures from.
I don't feel to badly off though as my employer contributes 8% to my Pension.

I think the commuters who post personal stuff and throw insults around really miss the point. Most of the 22-25 year old friends of my daughter earn around £250- £300 per week. These statistics are put out there to make the working classes feel that they are getting a good deal and to keep them quiet! Anyone who works full time needs at least the £457 to just exist on and that amount still won't get you ownership of your own home. The retail price index has rocketed this year and its time for a round of wage demands again. We shouldn't let our standard of living be eroded. Too many people in GB are living in an "underclass" of existance as opposed to the opulent life of the few. This government is not protecting our interests - but then which one will? Shameful.

looked into mortgages yesterday and you need at least 15% to get a loan because of the state of northern rock the wife wants the house for the kids so am a bit stuck and can not move on i need 30k deposit to get away from her thats tough for me can i sell the house does any one know. solicitor says i cant but they are just making money out of this. and laughing at us too. i tried to buy her out and she will not accept my offers as she only works part time.

you can only really class what you earn as what you get in your hand after tax as this is what really counts - too many workers spend half their time worrying about what other people earn - i know loads of big earners who are big spenders with big debts - if you are a person on an less than average wage use this solution to grow your cash stash - spend half your wage and save the other half and if you cant do this from your 1 job get a second job - use you time to make you more money - there is no other way to do this and use my 50 / 50 rule ie spend 50% and save 50% to get your finances sorted - let me know what you all think - it has worked for me

I earn more than £457 gross, and well, to be honest, my net pay is £407 which should sound really good. But I am a single mom, about to change fully mortgage 1-bed house to a fully mortgaged 3-bed house... with teenager daughter etc etc etc. I think to evaluate the wealth by evaluating only average pay is not right - for me more than half of my "high" salary will be spent to pay interest only (!) on my mortgage.

do they still do maths at school take ten people 9 earn £200 per week 1 earns £1000 per week average £500 per week same with 99 people and with 999 people figures are bent to be misleading ,never mind averages tell us how many earn what ,they have the figures ,at the moment 1% of the population own 25% of the wealth in this country ,the most unfair its ever been,who is going to stand up for us before we end up like brazil,just very rich and very poor,

i know few people on the so called average wage. it is statistical manipulation. the gap between the top earners and those struggling to survive is widening by the day. the european union will ensure wages sre kept low by the huge transfer of cheap labour throughout europe(if you dont do it for x amount some eastern european will) its international capitalism pitting working people through out europe to compete for mickey mouse wages. the big multi nationals are the winners with an endless supply of cheap labour. n

I work part time 5 and a half hours 6 days a week and get no where near. Plus if you take into account paying out for childcare costs and the cost of travel to work, sometimes I end up working for almost nothing. The odd thing is that if I gave up my job and claimed all the benefits I could I would proberbly be no worse off. At least i could get my house work done!

Lifestyle can be a matter of choice. "Underclass" living should not be blaimed on government. We are responsible people, we take chareg of our live. We must strive to get what you really dream of. My husband and I earn £845/week in total plus he also nets around £5k a year on self employmt. He is 41 and I am 33. We live humbly but aim to pay off our mortgage in 3 years time (£58k). Until then, no new car; definetely no plasma, no leather sofa, no laura ashleys. Only then we'll save up for an opportunity to convert the attic which will probably take us another year. This should then bring our maisonette to be worth around £230k, hopefully mortgage free. We are still able to to go on holiday to Europe once/twice a year and Far East once every two years. Our 7 y/o daughter is doing well at school and enjoying her recorder and ballett lessons. I managed to secure my first BTL house in North East (60k) this year which should be working towards our pension. It is how you manage your money. I certainly do not go Overdrawn on Christmas presents!

tom, google richard shephard and sign up to his free 7 part property investing course (via email). also andyshaw.com, if you buy the book you get a months free membership to the website. you will be shocked at how easily you can get back on the ladder. divorce is bloody tricky but you could come out of it better off than you think.

o eyd. it's really not as simple as you make out. wish it was. its all about opportunity and chances. some people have them both, some people dont get them. i dont have a plasma, nor a leather sofa, i wouldnt be seen dead in laura ashley and i save for what i want. the only reason i have a computer is cos i needed it for my degree that i'm getting into debt for. i dont do holidays and my children are ten, eight, and three. part of it is how you manage money. but you have to have money to manage in the first place. we dont all go overdrawn at xmas, you've done a big broad generalisation there.

Im 31 and i dont even get that kind a wage for two weeks never mind 1 week and i may be a cleaner but i work very hard for what i get payde and with having 1 child its very hard.

eyd: What I know is that a lot of people earn more than we do but still are deep in debt because of life style. My advantage is that I did not go to Uni hence I had no debt. I went into office work with a lot of overtime. That was before we had our daughter. I had two jobs when my daughter was 1 year old and even weekend jobs doing promotional jobs when my husband was at home. He himself did some chinese deliveries at some stage. So yes, we managed to save up quite a chunk of deposit. I think it is difficult when you are a single parent where you do not have much choice with work opportunities.

my god - what a country we live in! sometimes I think we should just go back to living off the land! all this credit and working like a dog til ya drop. What lives we are living!

I would like to make a comment if I may, I am a 40 year old Commercial Administrator for a small but very well respected Aviation company which has won many awards over the years. Even though we can and do every day make enough money to pay my YEARLY salary just by dealing with one Aircraft unit I still do not earn the average wage mentioned above, I'm not far off it but not there. It bugs the hell out of me when I see others around me who know less and do less but get a much, much larger salary. It is these people who over in flate the average!
Thanks for listening.