Do that many people really earn more than £21 per hour and am I just living in a minimum wage bubble?



Do that many people really earn more than £21 per hour and am I just living in a minimum wage bubble?

by Autistic-Inquisitive

45 comments
  1. Yeah lots of people earn more than that it depends on where you are, but in London especially many people earn more. That doesn’t mean your life is great though with cost of living

  2. Median income in the UK was ~£35000 last year.
    Works out to between £16.80 – £19.20 an hour based on a 40 – 35 hour work week.

  3. I make more than that.

    Though I was recently offered a senior role which paid £32k. I couldn’t believe a job requiring 10 years experience, offered to someone aged 50, was only paying around £16/hour.

  4. I have a minimum wage job but I sell used socks to Japanese businessmen as a side gig. I have my own website and everything. No one knows about it.

    I haven’t actually sold any yet but the potential Steven….the potential is *there*.

  5. Depends on your age too, I was warning fuck all till I was about 32 then it’s shot up over the last 8 years or so as I’ve hit more senior jobs

  6. 11.80 here, we’re about to walk out if wages don’t go up soon. We’ve already had staff leave because it’s just not enough with more threatening to go. We’re understaffed and overworked. The poor wages mean people aren’t bothering applying in the first place but hey, the boss has a new 200k car.

  7. I’m nearly 40 and earn £24k, I’ve never earned more than this a year, and this is in a fairly niche occupation. But I do get to chill most of the day, so I guess there’s that. There’s enough spare time to do other stuff too, which seems a fair trade off.

  8. No one gonna mention how it’s just 72 votes? Hardly representative.

    Also most salaries jobs can’t really be worked out per hour. So it’s also bad option.

  9. So, I’m salaried so this is approximate but is taken based on 52 weeks a year, less leave, divided by hours.

    I sit on around £25 an hour.

  10. I work in a trades industry, all of us make more than £21 an hour flat rate, it goes to 1.5 and 2 times that on overtime rates. Can’t think of any trades that wouldn’t, not in the south east anyway… so that’s quite a large amount of people.

  11. If I could work from home on minimum wage, leaving me time during the day to spend with an adopted dog, I’m all for it. My mental health means more to me than money.

  12. The trick is to live in a place that’s cheap while working remotely for a business that’s located somewhere expensive.

  13. I’m on £42k a year, working Monday-Saturday, supporting 3 kids and the wife, and it’s a struggle sometimes.

  14. Just goes to show how underpaid civil servants are when higher management roles don’t even reach the average wage

  15. I’d assume because most people on Reddit are nerds, and a lot of nerds are in the computer/IT industry, which usually sees a higher income than minimum wage jobs.

  16. You’re definitely in a bubble. I personally don’t know anyone from my graduating class of 2024 with a grad offer lower than 45k. Granted it’s compsci from a top uni but there really is a huge divide between those with and without a degree.

  17. Survey isn’t far off tbh.

    Median gross hourly pay is £17.48.

    10 percentile-£11.31

    20 percentile-£12.55

    25 percentile-£13.25

    30 percentile-£13.97

    40 percentile-£15.55

    60 percentile-£19.92

    70 percentile-£22.90

    75 percentile-£24.69

    80 percentile-£26.96

    90 percentile-£34.21

  18. I heard about some colleagues being trained on a new contract at work a few years ago, which had previously been done by an office down south, and one of the managers came up to help with the handover. The staff complained about the amount of work required, and the visiting manager tried to cheer them up by reminding them that the job pays £28 an hour.

    Apparently, this caused quite a stir… we all get minimum wage up here, which was £9-something an hour at the time. The same work contracted to the same company, but the staff in the north get paid a third as much.

    I looked into moving down south after this, but I literally can’t afford any house down there. Obviously this is just one example of how getting higher wages can come with higher costs, but it’s still a kick in the teeth.

  19. Most people do live in their own bubbles.. hanging out with people of similar backgrounds, similar education and most likely – similar wages.

  20. Assuming a standard 37.5 hour week, that works out to a bit more than £40k. The poll is also showing a bit more than 60% either don’t work or earn less. Seems about right to me?

  21. I had to do the maths, because i’m on a salary rather than an hourly wage, but if i only count working hours and not my lunch break, then i just about make more than that

  22. I do an incredibly boring job in regulatory compliance, but it pays well for the level of responsibility. I was very fortunate to find a job in a specialist market when businesses were recovering from covid where a lot of people in my industry had to find opportunities elsewhere.

  23. £28.30 p/h here, although salaried. Feel extremely lucky to be in that position when I see some job advertisements

  24. Most people I know tend to earn at least £21 but I do live in Cambridge and work in tech. Though the highest earners I know are in finance or economics several on more than £150 hourly.

  25. Yeah i’m on about £33-35 pre tax profit (driving instructor so hard to work out costs) plus i do a lot of travel to lessons?

  26. £21/hour * 37.5 hours * 48 weeks = £37800 per year

    Median UK salary in April 2023 was £34963 across all workers. Half of all workers earn less than that, and the other half earn more.

  27. Industry is also a big factor I work on the railway and I’m on £23 ph, £27 when doing overtime…you don’t need any qualifications for what I do.

  28. I’ve always been on low wages.

    I’ve tried to move on, but can never get past the interview stage. Have probably done hundreds of interviews now in my working life, have plenty of experience, willing to gain experience, know I’m a good competent worker, but only ever had 2 successful interviews.

  29. 40k, didn’t even attend last year of high school, let alone sit GCSE’s. Just tried my best at everything I was asked to do, worked my way up the supply chain ladder. Not very attractive work but I’m good at it, I suppose.

  30. I have no idea what my per hour salary is, as I’ve never been offered or applied for a job where per hour is advertised. Only annual.

    Turns out it’s north of £40 per hour if I calculated that correctly?

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