Forums
/ Career / Pay and conditions

The average teacher rents a flat and has inexpensive car

Last post 05/09/10 at 18:07 by phlogiston, 26 replies
Post started by msa969 on 26/08/10 at 21:32

Rate this topic

All Topics
Select colour:
  • msa969 avatar
    Offline
    1
    Posted by: msa969 26/08/2010 at 21:32
    Reply
    Joined on 20/12/2006
    Posts 75

    The average teacher rents a flat and has inexpensive car discuss?

    Note I am not talking about head of departments, head of faculties or other senior responsibility. The average teacher with a degree is not middle class financially.

     
  • tafkam avatar
    Offline
    2
    Posted by: tafkam 26/08/2010 at 22:01
    Reply
    Joined on 07/08/2005
    Posts 13,819

    Disagree.

    I'd have said that the average teacher in my experience drives a reasonably modern - although probably not top-of-the-range or brand-new car, and shares a semi with partner and a couple of kids.And given that I'm in the SouthEast, I'd have thought that the average teacher elsewhere in the country, on the same salary because of the national scales, imght appear even better-off.

  • Torey avatar
    Offline
    3
    Posted by: Torey 26/08/2010 at 22:22
    Reply
    Joined on 02/05/2007
    Posts 2,707

    I disagree as well. Not sure if I should say what I've got though!

  • phlogiston avatar
    Offline
    4
    Posted by: phlogiston 26/08/2010 at 22:28
    Reply
    Joined on 11/12/2009
    Posts 1,108

    House price inflation has created a big difference between young and middle aged teachers.

    I was just able to get on the housing ladder as a single man fairly soon out of uni. It took all my money though - I couldn't even contemplate a car until I had been working for more than eight years.  

    I have never been able to contemplate living less than an hours train ride from London either.

    I suspect that the price of housing may prove unsustainable in the medium term.

    I don't think that teachers have a particular monopoly on restricted budgets. During a recent hospital stay, nurses were living up to a 90 minute drive from their workplace because of the cost of housing. There's a reason why many cars are Micras.Kas. Corsas and suchlike.

    P

     
  • ianj6 avatar
    Offline
    5
    Posted by: ianj6 27/08/2010 at 06:49
    Reply
    Joined on 07/07/2006
    Posts 619

    Admittedly, when we start, the pay isn't great, but I've always been able to afford a mortgage, (not sure about today's NQTS), and the holidays are fantastic, when I was younger, the summer holidays allowed me to do things I would never  have been able to do in other jobs,(eg climbing in the Alps and Pyranees). 

     After a few years, we don't do too bad for pay and conditions ( provided you're not in an academy!)  I looked at a career change a few years ago and couldn't get a comaprable deal. 

    I live in the Midlands, in a detached 3 bed, drive a beat up modest car, and have just had a week's all inclusive in the Balearics with my family (been teaching 14 years no TLRS)

    No-one got into this job for the money, ( unless they're really daft ..............or a History Teacher!). If you like the kids and want to stay at the chalk face then the sacrifice we make is accepting a modest, (but not impoverished) life style, and going home at night feeling good about what we've done in the day.

    When I do feel hard done by, I look at "Shane" in the class, and wonder what he's going home to tonight!

     Enjoy the job

     

    Ian
  • part-timer avatar
    Offline
    6
    Posted by: part-timer 27/08/2010 at 12:18
    Reply
    Joined on 18/05/2002
    Posts 330

    Think about some people's jobs! I know someone who sells tarmac for a living and another friend is a rep for a button manufacturer. Lots ofpeople have really boring jobs that they do to earn money to enjoy life with their families. We work hard and it is very tressful but we have the holdiays and on a good day I can be home by 4 to be with my own kids and I get to work very close to home.
  • LauraHester avatar
    Offline
    7
    Posted by: LauraHester 27/08/2010 at 14:51
    Reply
    Joined on 15/01/2007
    Posts 254

    As a new entrant to the profession I would agree with the initial statement. But I don't think that I am in any 'worse' a position than any other recent graduate in any other job. It is just the times we are in. 

    With student loans of upwards of 15k that are being paid back I think that it is near impossible to get on the property ladder on your own and without the financial support of another wage earner or generous parents.

    Takehome pay on M3 of 1600ish after deductions does not leave a lot when the average 1/2 bed flat is around 115k - you need to have saved at least 20k deposit and then pay 600 a month in mortgage. Impossible to think about at the moment if I was on my own.Even more so if you are on M1 with take home around the 1200ish mark - that would be half your wage.

     I am fortunate in that my husband is in a well paid job and we are already a few runs up the ladder but very very few of my friends are in that position and struggle to see when they will be.\

    [sorry my computer doesn't have the pound sign!]
  • ilovesooty avatar
    Offline
    8
    Posted by: ilovesooty 27/08/2010 at 17:17
    Reply
    Joined on 20/10/2002
    Posts 24,754

     The pay isn't bad to start with and teachers have the benefit of incremental increases. By the time teachers have got to M6 they are well paid.

     

    ianj6:
    I looked at a career change a few years ago and couldn't get a comaprable deal. 

     

    Unsurprising really, and I endorse most of your post.  I honestly think many teachers are unaware of what people earn outside the classroom, and I'm not talking about minimum wage jobs but jobs involving skills, training and responsibility.

     
  • becky70 avatar
    Offline
    9
    Posted by: becky70 27/08/2010 at 17:37
    Reply
    Joined on 01/01/2009
    Posts 2,238

    Most people I know earn less than my full time equivalent salary and I'm on UPS1. I think a very large number of them earn less than an NQT's full time salary. These are demanding jobs with lots of pressure and some unpaid overtime.

    I honestly think teaching is well paid relative to other jobs. However, the younger generation are suffering with student loans to pay off and high house prices. I became a homeowner when I was on M3 but but with today's prices would probably have to have waited until after threshold.
  • ilovesooty avatar
    Offline
    10
    Posted by: ilovesooty 27/08/2010 at 17:47
    Reply
    Joined on 20/10/2002
    Posts 24,754

    becky70:
    Most people I know earn less than my full time equivalent salary and I'm on UPS1. I think a very large number of them earn less than an NQT's full time salary. These are demanding jobs with lots of pressure and some unpaid overtime.
     

     

    Agreed. I'm a former teacher and now work in drug intervention and the criminal justice system with heroin and crack addicts. The paperwork is horrendous, it's monitored to death and I often have trouble finding time to have lunch/go to the toilet during a working day. After two promotions I earn less than an NQT. What keeps me going is that I know I make a difference and no two days are the same.

     

    becky70:
    I honestly think teaching is well paid relative to other jobs. However, the younger generation are suffering with student loans to pay off and high house prices. I became a homeowner when I was on M3 but but with today's prices would probably have to have waited until after threshold.

     

    I think that's true too. The student loan issue wasn't a factor years ago, but the house prices affect everyone, including people much more poorly paid than teachers.

     
Back to top

Sign up – it’s free!

  • Don’t miss out on the latest jobs
  • Connect and share with friends
  • Download thousands of resources
  • Chat in the forums