Is average pay OK?

Louise is 23 and is a journalist from London. She earns under the average wage and doesn't mind too much.

Salaries have never been under so much scrutiny. But, asks Louise, is someone else's high price tag worth getting flustered about?

What does it mean to be average? Nothing special? Slap bang in the middle? Average usually means unimpressive, but I'd actually be pretty pleased to earn the average salary in the UK, which was £26,470 last year according to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).

This is partly, of course, because our cash-strapped times mean young people in particular are being forced into low paid jobs, while competition means a lot of interesting work comes with an annoyingly low price-tag. As a result, many of us are being forced to compromise on what we earn and it's natural to resent those who earn a lot.

Salary envy is not a pretty thing. It's an ugly beastie that makes you jealous of all the extra nights out, luxury socks and generally better existence you believe your friend with the higher wage must have. The scandals of the last couple of years mean salary is now obsessively scrutinised. The pay cheques (or equivalent in expenses) of bankers, MPs and celebrity broadcasters are definitely above average, and we constantly question if they are worth it.

"It's a sad fact that community-focused jobs like social work tend not to pay much, while some great volunteering work is unpaid."

But before you hatch a plot to become the next Mr or Mrs Moneybags, ask yourself about the sacrifices big earners have to make. If you're going for a job just to earn way over the average, without having any interest in the day-to-day tasks it would bring, be prepared for a slap in the face.

Bankers, for example – now languishing on the bottom of society's popularity list - endure ridiculous hours and no social lives. Many highly paid professions in the public eye might as well have rehab in the job description. And it's all very well being able to buy a life-sized gold-plated statue of yourself to put in your sixteenth century castle, but if you can't stand what you're doing every day it'll start to look a little less shiny.

If your dream job happens to be a well paid one, then go for it. But spending eight hours a day not enjoying yourself just so you can be paid above average is bad maths. Pick the career before the salary and you'll find in some cases, 'average' may mean 'just right'.

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