To think that £15000 is NOT an attractive salary?

(97 Posts)
INeedSomeSun Thu 25-Apr-13 13:49:11

I am being made redundant and feel like I should be looking for another job. I have been looking, but most are quite low paid and the ones for around £15000 are advertised as offering an 'attractive salary'.
It might be for some people, but not for people with childcare costs! Full time nursery for my 1 year old would be around £9000 and its around £2000 for my DS to attend before/after school club plus extra for school holidays.
So after all expenses, like travel costs etc, I will come out no better, if not worse than claiming job seekers!
AIBU in thinking that I might as well enjoy 6 months on job seekers with my kids & then get whatever job after that? The situation just seems nuts

We don't qualify for anything else as my DH earns over £26000

Vickibee Thu 25-Apr-13 16:20:59

The job centre give you so long to seek your perfect role, and then expect you to apply for all that is suitable. they make allowances for having young children and don't expect you to work full time. At least this was the case for me in 2008
Better to take a bit of time IMO and find a job that's right for you unless you are really in need of the £

needaholidaynow Thu 25-Apr-13 16:21:54

I earn way less than 15k, so that amount sounds like a very attractive salary to me.

Mintyy Thu 25-Apr-13 16:22:22

Can you claim JSA (if you are genuinely looking for a job) no matter what your dh earns?

Vickibee Thu 25-Apr-13 16:23:53

yes contribution based JSA but only for 26 weeks

angelos02 Thu 25-Apr-13 16:23:58

toboldlygo I could've written your post. 4 years ago I was earning about 10k more than I am now. Can I pinch some of your salt?!

needaholidaynow Thu 25-Apr-13 16:24:05

Only contributions based Mintyy

badguider Thu 25-Apr-13 16:25:15

£15k would not be 'attractive' to me with a higher degree relevant to my profession and 14ish years' experience.
But it's what I started on as a graduate from my masters degree.

I guess the question is how it compares NMW and how the requirements of the candidates compare to NMW jobs.

pickledginger Thu 25-Apr-13 16:25:54

Only contribution based JSA Mintyy. If you've paid in enough in the previous 2 years in NI you get contribution based JSA. If you haven't you're only entitled to the other type which does take your partner's income into account.

TheMNeffect Thu 25-Apr-13 16:28:54

Thanks op, I was feeling quite pleased that I have just started a job I love for £15000 pa but now I realise it is a shit job with a shit wage sad.

But good luck in your job search for something that pays a truly attractive salary smile.

QuiteOldGal Thu 25-Apr-13 16:51:39

I think companies can just get away with paying less and less. I was made redundant from a job paying about 20k with good benefits and all I managed to get was a job paying about 15k with no benefits, but even this is better than a lot of jobs where they only pay minimum wage, and the job itself isn't so bad and fairly near home.

The thing is a lot of companies can take on workfare people for free and I've seen science graduate jobs being advertised at £6.50 an hour.

If you can get a job paying 15k I would probably take it and then see if something better come along (like I'm doing with no luck}.

Callycat Thu 25-Apr-13 17:05:49

Agree with kim. It isn't great, and as quiteoldgal says, I've also seen scientific research jobs requiring a postgraduate degree and years of experience offering this sort of wage. Many companies are pushing the lid way down on what they're paying highly skilled people.

£15k is a good salary down in Cornwall, not many jobs around offering that much

lljkk Thu 25-Apr-13 17:27:42

NMW is £12 gross (FT, I think?), so £15k is about 25% more, ie £8-ish/hour.
It's about typical for non-degree jobs with some (a little) skills/experience, I find.

ohbuggerhelp Thu 25-Apr-13 17:33:39

It's all relative. I wouldn't work for that , no. But I don't have to so it's irrelevant.

Cloverer Thu 25-Apr-13 17:34:01

I don't think it's attractive for anyone for any job to be honest, it's only just the living wage.

sweetkitty Thu 25-Apr-13 17:48:09

16 years ago I started a graduate job at 11K in a very poorly paid industry, I think the technicians were on 8.5K at that time. Saw a similar role advertised recently for 12K 16 years later.

It's not just childcare it's the running around that goes with it, covering the school holidays, illnesses etc.

I do agree that childcare should be split 50.50 between a couples salaries, loads of people say to me "I suppose it's not worth your whole working" I have 4 DC so childcare v expensive but why is it assumed to always come off the woman's salary?

I don't know how the government expect single parents to cope on 12K a year paying out for childcare, rent or mortgage, travel, food, council tax, bills etc this is why there needs to be a living wage

ExRatty Thu 25-Apr-13 17:49:24

£15k is fine if it covers what you need and a bit more
It isn't if it doesn't

I wouldn't say it's attractive but factors are different for each person

If your take-home is no greater than your childcare and commuting costs, then regardless of whose money pays for what, someone is working some hours for nothing. Which is fine if you need to do so to stay or get on a career ladder, or reclaim your sanity, but not if you think the point of working is to increase your actual income.

looselegs Thu 25-Apr-13 21:30:46

DH has been out of week for 3.5 years...
......15000 looks extremely attractive to us.....

jamdonut Thu 25-Apr-13 22:26:29

£15,000 is roughly a TA 's reality roughly £9,500 when you take into account it being term-time only, and just a couple of hours away from being full-time!!. This is another job where they want the world for as little as they can get away with. I love my job...but I feel massively underappreciated by management. The biggest plus is I get school holidays so don't need child care.

LayMizzRarb Fri 26-Apr-13 00:49:43

I am intrigued to know what career you have been working at prior to your maternity leave.

Vicky2011 Fri 26-Apr-13 04:13:23

I don't think childcare costs are always assumed to come out of the woman's salary, they are assumed to come out of the lower earner's salary. Because if by the lower earner working, the household is only bringing in a very small amount once childcare is covered then many couples will decide they would rather have one of them be a SAHP. Equally others will decide it is worth the investment in the lower earner's career / pension to take the hit of the childcare costs. I can't know this but strongly suspect that most families where both parents work full time, do so because they have similar incomes so they cannot afford to lose either earner.

As to the £15K, we simply don't have enough info to make a judgement, it depends totally on what the job involves and where it is based. I would agree though with the sentiment that employers seem to be increasingly wanting people who are under 30 with 20 year's experience to work for peanuts at the moment.

catsmother Fri 26-Apr-13 05:28:15

Along a similar vein, I get very frustrated at job ads which simply state "Salary: attractive". What the heck is that supposed to mean ? - and begs the question, why, if it's so attractive is it not printed for all to see ?

On occasion I've called employers to try and ascertain what, at least, the salary range is, and some of them have been downright evasive, bordering on rude and insist salary would be discussed at interview. Given the propensity of so many employers to pay peanuts because they have the upper hand ATM you are then left with the tricky dilemma of having to sacrifice maybe a day off and/or travel expenses to attend an interview, after spending up to a couple of hours completing an online application, for a position which simply may not pay enough for your personal needs. Obviously, you have a reasonable idea of what most jobs might pay - but if you're counting every last £ then even a small decrease to what you'd reasonably expect to be paid could make it impossible for you to consider that particular job. It really pees me off when employers won't disclose this kind of information - jeez, most of us work to live, not the other way round, and it's pretty arrogant and dismissive to assume applicants wouldn't want to know this before applying!

rainbowslollipops Fri 26-Apr-13 05:42:12

I'd rather be on 15k working than on jsa. If you don't write anything down in the booklet they can stop the jsa money for 4 weeks. If you forget the booklet they refuse to pay you until you come in again and show the booklet. If you haven't met the t&c they can stop jsa for 6 months, then years. Be picky if you want to start with but I ended up leaving a career I'm great at for one I've never done before all for the sake of money. I'm a single parent and use a childminder so I'll be struggling to get used to paying an extra bill but I'll actually be better off working because of the sector its in. They also try and put you on their own courses, which may mean you need to travel or find childcare.

TheFallenNinja Fri 26-Apr-13 06:27:25

I'd take the 15k job then look elsewhere. 6 months on JSA
Is only £1900, 6 months on a 15k job is £7500 minus tax. It would
Just make for less of a shortfall.

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