Deciding whether to go to the UK, after Brexit and the pound sterling falling?
Is working and living in the UK still worth?
Brexit, falling pound sterling, rainy weather, separating from friends and family and so on. That is why, it is important to ask, if it is still worth going to London, resp. the UK to earn money? Nowadays, not only these questions are more frequently asked after the June Referendum and the so-called Brexit.
My answer?
Definitely YES, it still pays off to come to work in the UK.
I have sent a questionnaire to my former and current clients, which I have helped in past. Based on 578 answers, I can identify three main categories:
- Summer workers
You come for the summer season between May and June and leave at the end of August, or later in September/October. - Leaving at the end of summer
There are several popular alternatives. For example, you can arrive to the UK at the end of summer, having the final school exams in May, spending summer in the Czech Republic or elsewhere in the world and at the end of August/September come to the UK. You might come back to your motherland before Christmas or during spring of the following year. - Long stays
It does not matter, when exactly you leave as you are planning a longer sty in the UK.
The monthly salaries correspond with the type of work you are doing and extra tips you are getting, Also, the minimum wage, rent, costs of public transport, food and fun are important.
For example, if you work in hospitality, you might get extra money as:
- Tips = money that you get from guests while they pay their bills. Sometimes, you get all the money and sometimes you must split the amount among other colleagues (managers, waiting crew, cooks, kitchen porters and others).
- Service charge = some restaurants automatically charge their clients for certain percentage (the common is 12,5 %) for the service. The bill might be for example £100, but the guest pays £112,5. The amount collected each month is finally separated among every member of staff, waiting crew, kitchen, cleaning service etc. In some places, you might get dozens of pounds by month, but elsewhere this can go into hundreds.
On the other hand, the final salary is decreased by:
- National insurance: 12 %.
- Income tax: 20 % from every earned pound, if you earn more than £11, 000 per tax year.
Except for the questionnaire, I have asked several clients to assess their stays in the UK to make a more detailed statistics for each of the age categories. Apart from a few exceptions, these were all my former and current clients or their friends. Altogether, I have asked 10 – 12 people from each of the groups.
Younger than 18
Over the last 6 years, I had only 5 clients who were younger than 18. Me personally, I went to the UK in summer 2007 to Manchester, where I looked for a job at the age of 17/18. Therefore, I can also make use of my own personal experience.
If you are not 18, it is much more difficult to find a job on your own. As one of the biggest obstacles showed up to be that I could not serve alcoholic beverages, which is of course an issues in a restaurant or bar.
Another issue is the minimum wage, which is really low for this age group. If you pay all the costs (arrival expenses, rent, cost of living, etc.), there is almost nothing left.
It is ideal to have a part-time job already pre-negotiated in advance. However, you have another option, which is to work in hospitality, where you don’t work with with alcohol, or warehouses, distribution of leaflets or newspapers, etc.
18 – 20 years
The minimum wage is £5,55
Average working hours per month: 165,25
Extra tips: £203,33
Extra income from bonuses: £0
Average monthly rent: £309,33
Average costs of public transport: £106,9
Average costs of food per month: £211,66
Others per month (travelling, fun, etc.): £147,5
£345,09
This is an average income per month after paying all the bills and expenses you have (rent, food, transport, fun, travelling, etc.). This is the amount of money you can work with, you can either invest the money further, save it or simply spend. It is up to you.
Overview of this category:
The most popular is to work in hospitality as a waiter/waitress, chambermaid, kitchen porter, cook, receptionist, luggage porter, etc. Another common area is the work in warehouse, constructions, fast foods, shops, but I could also find hairdressers, distribution of leaflets and newspapers, cleaning services, etc.
People working in hospitality tend to have more money as they get extra tips and bonuses from the service charge. Sometimes, this might be up to £100 per month. However, I have come across a case of £400 and more.
Moreover, you save money of food that you are given from your employer for free.
Working in a shop, warehouse or cleaning company you might get the extra bonuses for night shifts, double-salary for working during weekends, or bonuses for transport among others. Some of these advantages are of course offered also in hospitality or other areas.
For this age group, it is the most common to come for summer jobs during studies or after finishing the studies to spend on average 8 months. While spending summer in the UK, the people don’t travel so often and spend time and weekends in work or place of living. Alternatively, these people go for short trips in the surroundings, e.g. to the sea, close towns and cities, etc. If they are staying for longer period of time, the usually make a trip to the Czech Republic or any other place outside of the UK.
This age group usually looks for cheaper accommodation. Especially summer workers prefer more people in the house (three- or four-bedded rooms) and mainly guys to save more money. Almost nobody makes use of the social benefits.
As soon as you get more than £11 000 per tax year, you pay the tax of 20 % from every single pound you earn.
The minimum wage is not a general rule and you might get even more per hour. It always depends on the employer and his offer, among other things.
21 – 24 years
The minimum wage is £6,95
Average working hours per month: 165
Extra tips: £194,16
Extra income from bonuses: £0
Average monthly rent: £329,16
Average costs of public transport: £102,2
Average cost of food per month: £225,83
Others per month (travelling, fun, etc.): £163,33
£382,76
This is the average income per month after paying all the bills and expenses you have (rent, food, transport, fun, travelling, etc.). This is the amount of money you can work with, you can either invest the money further, save it or simply spend. It is up to you.Overview of this category:
In this category, people tend to work in hospitality as well. The main reason is that these were mostly my former clients, who came back to look for jobs in hospitality again. Except for that, there were also clients, who earned their living by working at a farm, warehouse, technical services, as carers, au-pairs (this is a category for itself), drivers, etc.
The minimum wage is higher than at their younger peers and the number of working hours is more or less the same (mainly in gastronomy).
The average length of stay is around 50:50 between the two categories. Slightly bigger half of the category came to spend summer and time until Christmas (e.g. to do a summer job after the school for half year). The second half came for a year or even more.
There is more variety in terms of spending free time and travelling beyond the closest towns and cities. During longer stays, it is more common to travel to the Czech Republic or elsewhere outside of the British Isles. People spend more money to have fun. My friends are interested in having more comfort and want to enjoy life more as well. In this regard, London is an ideal starting point to travel around Europe and the world as it offers number of low-cost lines.
Most of the interviewees lived in a share house in two-bedded rooms. Several people on their own and almost nobody in three- or four-bedded rooms.. Again, almost nobody took the social and welfare benefits in the UK. When my clients came back to the Czech Republic, most of them registered at the Labour Office and asked for the unemployment benefit in the Czech Republic.
As soon as you get more than £11 000 per tax year, you pay the tax of 20 % from every single pound you earn.
The minimum wage is not a general rule and you might get even more per hour. It always depends on the employer and his offer, among other things.
25 and more
Minimum wage is £7,2
Average number of working hours per month: 177
Extra tips: £290,8
Extra income from benefits: £52,91
Average monthly rent: £343,33
Average monthly costs of public transport: £107,33
Average monthly costs of food: £248,33
Others per month (travelling, fun, etc.): £266,66
£500
This is the average income per month after paying all the bills and expenses you have (rent, food, transport, fun, travelling, etc.). This is the amount of money you can work with, you can either invest the money further, save it or simply spend. It is up to you.Overview of this category:
As soon as you reach 25 years of age and you have a low income, you have the right for the so-called Tax Credit. It might go up to £213 per month as an extra income. This might for example cover 2/3 of the rent. You can apply for this kind of benefit as soon as you get a job in the UK. Majority of people make use of this category and apply for extra money. It is ideal to apply as soon as you start working. After you spend a year in the UK and earn more money, the extra income gets lower and lower, as it finally disappears.
This sort of benefit together with relatively high minimum wage, tips and bonuses might in the end make a very interesting sum of money.
People in this category tend to spend more time in the UK (a year or more), as they have finished their studies, they want to earn money and of course get the work and language experience.
They are usually accommodated in share houses, or find a flat with a couple of friends. Couples are looking for more privacy (e.g. studio). It is clearly obvious that more money is invested in the accommodation, as it is for longer period of time.
People older than 25 spend their time by travelling around the UK or other European countries. They visit museums, theatres, cinema, etc. To put it simply, they don’t just go from home to work and from work to home.
As soon as you get more than £11 000 per tax year, you pay the tax of 20 % from every single pound you earn.
The minimum wage is not a general rule and you might get even more per hour. It always depends on the employer and his offer, among other things.
To sum up the earnings in the UK
As you can read, the UK offers above-standard salaries no matter if you have 18 or 25 years of age. Obviously, the older you get, the higher is your salary (see minimum wage). However, this is not a general rule. In some cases, being 18 and working in a restaurant, you might with tips and service charge earn much more than being 25 years old. Even if, the older person might get higher minimum wage, the tax credit, but he or she works as a kitchen porter and gets low or any tips and service charge.
Finally, all the calculations are average and the individual cases might differ from the numbers stated above. It depends on how much you can make use of your work and how much money to save. To just let the money be on your account with minimum interest rate is not the most ideal way, how to make use of the new capital. The money must flow. Just remember that you are earning money by saving it as well.
You might save money on the standard of living, accommodation, transportation and many other things. It is always possible to save more, than you can actually imagine. On the other side, you might lose a lot of money as well. Get ready for your departure, get all the information how to save money and above all, do not hesitate to pack your suitcase and challenge yourself earning more money!
The final amount of money that you manage to earn is not done by how much you save, but rather how you think about your life. You might travel more, but still be earning more than your neighbour, who is always at home and doesn’t really go anywhere. Why? Because you know, how to manage your expenses.
For example the food. It might be much better at home, than in the restaurant. Why? You don’t have to pay for the work, save money on ingredients and prepare more meals for the coming days as well.
The same is true for accommodation, public transport, fun and others.
There is a way, how to have a good quality of life with minimum expenses.
Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you like and enjoy doing. To choose a better future and make progress. In the UK, there are much better opportunities than in the Czech Republic to earn money doing the same job for the same period of time.
Then, another step is to make use of the money. Travel, get to know the world, collect inspiration for your own projects, become an entrepreneur. Run e-shop, go into share market, funds, exchange rates or properties.
Just become a rentier letting the investments earn money for themselves!