ITV prog tonight on pensions and benefits

cheesetoast

At the end of the day, if the "experts" are saying to do something that is impossible for you to do, why worry?

HappyMJ

£800 per month. How would I live today though?

gadgetmind

Our graduate starting salaries in the grim north are close to £30k and this allows someone to save for a deposit while renting and to then buy a decent flat or a small house. We do also encourage people to make the minimum 2% sal sac required to get the "matching plus a bit" from the company.

I'm sure some things are harder, but prices of things some as domestic appliances and furniture has plummeted compared to when we bought our first house, so I think it all balances out.

bigadaj

I think most things now are cheaper with the huge exception of houses and rents.

The big difference for me now is the lack of social mobility, it would well be that history views the sixties to nineties as an aberration where people could start from a poor background and be able to get a good education which would lead to work. Many people now are going through university and accruing tens of thousands of debt with no prospect of graduate carrier prospects. You could argue that this is the students fault for not researching that sports science and sociology from Northampton county univestiry is going to allow them to jump into a high paid graduate role. The problem is that there is pressure from parents who haven't forgone to university and see it as a good thing, schools are keen to get their numbers higher, low garden universities are just interested in getting people in to pay fees, makes me wonder if this is the next Mis selling scandal awaiting.

gadgetmind

I can't say that I've seen any difference in social mobility and I see young people from all kinds of backgrounds who're clearly on course to do very well for themselves.

westv

gadgetmind wrote: »

Our graduate starting salaries in the grim north are close to £30k

Presumably that sort of salary is the exception for young people in your region rather than the rule?

gadgetmind

westv wrote: »

Presumably that sort of salary is the exception for young people in your region rather than the rule?

Fairly typical for a good degree (1st or 2.1) in Computer Science or Electronic Engineering.

Probably double what you'd get for a "burger flipping" degree such as sociology.

andygb

gadgetmind wrote: »

Our graduate starting salaries in the grim north are close to £30k

Doesn't that depend very much on which career you want to pursue?
Down here in the sunny "everything couldn't be better" South, graduates in science/research companies are starting on less than £20K, and a senior scientist may be on £30K after six or seven years.

gadgetmind

Those salaries look *very* low for anyone with a STEM degree! We're even starting to see grads taking jobs elsewhere when offering £30k and in most cases money is 75% of their decision.

bigadaj

gadgetmind wrote: »

Those salaries look *very* low for anyone with a STEM degree! We're even starting to see grads taking jobs elsewhere when offering £30k and in most cases money is 75% of their decision.

Everyone's view is anecdotal though. We're looking at low to mid twenties in the midlands for engineering degrees, the difference is where the degree is from of course, ther is such variability in course content and value, very different taking someone from Derby comoared to Durham for example.