a day in the life of a baby boomer - please give some info

PasturesNew

In 1987 I was earning "A heck of a lot", one lucky break, I was on £15k, but mortgages were 3x salary and where I lived the price of studios was £60k or more.

Funny thing is, it's now 23 years later and you can't find many £15k jobs these days!

I lost that job, company folded - next job paid £6k + commission, which I managed to get up to £12k with commission. Then I went temping as a secretary and was picking up £13-14k. Temping work for secretaries pays about £14k these days, 23 years on.

In 1994 I got a job as an Office Manager, managing a serviced office building of technology transfer companies. Pay was £14k. I bet the same job today would pay £14k.

In my experience, many jobs are paying the same now as they did back then.

I've always lacked that essential "second salary", the second income. A single person needs to bring in what a couple do almost.. and for girls that's harder as girls are paid less on average.

StevieJ

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

I'd have to agree with everything you say however it's not the fault of the BBs as to the circumstances they found/find themselves in.
Every generation has it's plus and negative sides there's just no reason there should be any bitterness at all.
It's swings and round-a-bouts,we all win some and lose some.
Life is'nt fair in some aspects to every generation but I do have to say that the way some of the younger generation whine about BBs is rather pathetic and makes them seem like spoilt brats.
Too much of the green eyed monster I think.

I know a BB who when young had to live with grandparents because the property the parents were living in was not really fit for human habitation. She had been away at a sanatorium with one of those diseases you used to get in those days and if she had returned to the parents property she probably would have died. As I have said before it wasn't all Eldorado for those BB's.

Jonbvn

thorsoak wrote: »

OH has terminal pancreatic cancer with just weeks left.

Anyone want to swap places?

Make the most of what you have - you don't know what the other person's life plan has in store for them!

Certainly puts the petty squabbling on this forum into perspective.

Thank you for the post.

StevieJ

lostinrates wrote: »

Countered with for my generation retirement age will be later and my guess is pensions will be means tested. We don't count on receiving a state pension.

Countered by the fact that your generation are likely to live much longer.

Frogletina

This was my budget in January 1974 week 1

Mortgage 16.00
Rates 1.50
Elec 1.00
Gas 1.00
Food 7.00
Savings 1.00
Insurance 0.35
Children 0.33
Personal Spending 0.33
Incidentals 0.34

This was for 2 adults and 2 children with another due the following month, and no state benefits other than child benefit

Life was tough then and remained tough until 1987 when I got a full time job and was able to contribute 50% of the costs of running the household.

Every generation has it's struggles. Some people seem to have it easier than others, some find it harder in retirement on a reduced income, others are ok

Envy is a bad thing, whether for baby boomers or any other group. Do the best that you can in whatever circumstances you find yourself

Cleaver

PasturesNew wrote: »

Funny thing is, it's now 23 years later and you can't find many £15k jobs these days!

In 1994 I got a job as an Office Manager, managing a serviced office building of technology transfer companies. Pay was £14k. I bet the same job today would pay £14k.

I think we've had this debate before Pastures, but I think these figures are maybe limited to the specific area you're in as there are quite a few jobs paying more than £15k where I am.

And most people who manage an office as you describe will earn more than £14k. My wife is an Office Manager for a construction company and earns £26k a year, for example.

vivatifosi

Cleaver wrote: »

And most people who manage an office as you describe will earn more than £14k. My wife is an Office Manager for a construction company and earns £26k a year, for example.

To be fair Cleaver, I think Pastures may have a point. I saw an Office Manager job posted recently on a job search engine for a location near where I live (hence no link, you'll just have to take my word for it) for £18k. That's in Hertfordshire. The same job for a different local employer may well have paid £18k in the 1990s. I think there is an extent to which some bad employers are taking the p!ss at the moment.

StevieJ

Cleaver wrote: »

I think we've had this debate before Pastures, but I think these figures are maybe limited to the specific area you're in as there are quite a few jobs paying more than £15k where I am.

And most people who manage an office as you describe will earn more than £14k. My wife is an Office Manager for a construction company and earns £26k a year, for example.

I do think pay is more now linked to relevant qualifications than it used to be, it has followed the continental model. Though it is interesting to see higher pay in the North (and lower house prices) than the South be it only in pockets.

lostinrates

StevieJ wrote: »

Countered by the fact that your generation are likely to live much longer.

But their's has better health and was fed better by their parents (and post war rations ) and so is going to have a healthier life....longer than their parents. In fact, our generation is meant to have a shorter lifespan isn't it, and our childrens worse still Now that is something we should ALL be ashamed of.

Cleaver

vivatifosi wrote: »

To be fair Cleaver, I think Pastures may have a point. I saw an Office Manager job posted recently on a job search engine for a location near where I live (hence no link, you'll just have to take my word for it) for £18k. That's in Hertfordshire. The same job for a different local employer may well have paid £18k in the 1990s. I think there is an extent to which some bad employers are taking the p!ss at the moment.

Indeed, and I would never disagree with Pastures that there are jobs out there that pay the same wage as they did 20 years ago. I think the debate we've had in the past is that Pastures seems to base people's wages on the roles she's seen in the local paper in her area, which don't really sound that 'normal'.

Just as a quick test, if you go to Reed.co.uk and put in 'Office Manager' and look at the first page of latest jobs the salaries are:

http://www.reed.co.uk/job/searchresults.aspx?k=Office+Manager&jto=true&s=&l=&lp=&ms=From&mxs=To&st=5&ns=true&da=8630

£20-£25k
£30-£35k
£20-£30k
£22-£25k
£22-£25k
£22-£23k
£28-£30k
£26-£35k

So they're all well above the £14k mark, although I'm sure you'll get the odd company that does it on the cheap and sees what they can get for £14k. We'd certainly not employ an office manager on £14k.

Just sorting again on that website you can see that they have over 100 Office Manager jobs and the cheapest full time one with a salary is £15-£17k. But to be fair to them, they're looking for something quite basic:

To be considered for the role of Office Manager, you will need to:
• show you have a good telephone manner, be an excellent communicator, organised and able to prioritise all aspects of the role of Office Manager.
• show you are a lively individual who can switch from the hustle and bustle of an open plan office to the concentration required to plan the production requirements of a press campaign.
• Whilst knowledge of the advertising industry would be beneficial, a positive, “can do” attitude is much more important.

The best paid one is based in Moscow and pays up to £68k. I quite fancy that, but I don't speak fluent Russian.