How far can you drive to work each day before it becomes too far ?

vikingaero

It depends on the job and the rewards. In a high paid job where company cars and fuel cards are the norm then spending 2-3 hours on a commute is OK.

Someone on £6.08 per hour is going to be limited by distance to work.

Easypd

New job, 75 miles each way, plus a Severn bridge toll.

Hour and 20 each way. However, i love the job and so it is worth it. You need to factor in if it is 'just a job', or something you want and know it is worth it.

That said, the £500 per month in petrol is killing me and means my new salary increase is worth nothing. Makes me want to cry when i fill up to the top 3 times per week......

adamc260

I was doing approx 50 miles a day but due to the area of my commute it would be a 2 hour round trip... so that's 10 hours a week unpaid =/ yay...

Changed jobs and i'm now 10 mins from my house

adamc260

jamiepullen wrote: »

That said, the £500 per month in petrol is killing me and means my new salary increase is worth nothing. Makes me want to cry when i fill up to the top 3 times per week......

Only going to get worse too =/! Proposed petrol hikes of 16p a litre =/!

peter_the_piper

Gosh, I'm fed up with commuting the 20ft to work every day.

jaydeeuk1

I'm lucky in that I live really close to work (still roll in late everyday mind!), Once or twice a month I have to go out on site, sometimes 300 mile round trip, just give the clients server a kick, hand them an extortionate invoice (God bless Government contracts) and drive home. I look at all the cars around me on the M1 or M5, sales reps stuck in their base spec Mondeos or 3 series who spend more time on the motorway than with their family. If I had to do that for minumum wage, I would have found the nearest bridge years ago.

withabix

Depends a bit on who is paying for the car and the fuel, plus what the pay is like I guess.

Every day I do anything from 25-140 miles each way, with most days being between 45 and 90 miles each way.

I'm fortunate to get all of my fuel (business and private) paid for, tax relief on business mileage and a decent car allowance.

I don't know how people who pay for their own fuel and car at the moment are managing it!

I have noticed the traffic levels now are much lower than they were 18 months ago though.

timbo58

I changed careers 3 years back as work shifts (railway) meant a 3.00am rise 4.45 start after a 35 mile commute and finishing frequently at 3pm and into the rush hour home for 35 miles (50 minutes morning 90 minutes+ evening).
Going to bed by 8.30 latest every night, including most weekends.

Don't know why I stuck it for 15+ years!

However the question was what do we thing it fair for jobseekers: in which case 30 minutes or 30 miles each way whichever the greater IMHO.

andygb

interstellaflyer wrote: »

If you are on JSA then Job Centre Plus insist on up to an hour if you have a car, which is a joke as at certain times of the day that would get me up to 60 miles without breaking any speed limits who would drive 120 miles a day for minimum wage?

That is totally wrong, unless you happen to have a house on a motorway slip road, and your place of work is on a motorway slip road.
I live thirty miles from London, and it takes most people between one and two hours to drive there, if they are that silly.

andygb

vikingaero wrote: »

It depends on the job and the rewards. In a high paid job where company cars and fuel cards are the norm then spending 2-3 hours on a commute is OK.

Someone on £6.08 per hour is going to be limited by distance to work.

I had this problem a few years ago, when an agency tried to pressure me into taking a two week assignment on £6 per hour, to travel to London, where the weekly fares would have been £80. The working hours were only 20 per week.