commonwealth

fully agree, cost of living is only one side of the equation. the other side is standard of living.

i have no idea these days which has cheaper affordability - Oz v UK
but a quick look at this recent report will show that using New York as base (100):

- price levels (excl rent): Sydney 83.6 / London 87.3
- price levels (incl rent): Sydney 77.8 / London 83.0
- avg net wages: Sydney 98.0 / London 75.2
- annual net income: Sydney 104.5 / London 73.0

Hours needed to work to to be able to buy (representative of costs and wages combined)

- 1 Big Mac = Sydney 12 mins / London 16 mins
- 1 kg bread = Sydney 9 mins / London 7 mins
- 1 kg rice = Sydney 6 mins / London 13 mins
- 1 iPhone 4S 16GB = Sydney 32.5 hours / London 42.5 hours

It seems living costs are not that different from each other but the differences in wages will mean you may be able to buy more stuff in Sydney despite some items being more expensive.

Of course the above shows Sydney only but Sydney is known to be the most expensive city in Australia.

Beoz

That's a great breakdown ..... It really shows that it's down to the individual and their earning capacity in each location.

Another stat which I found interesting is that I pay way more in Sydney than I did in London for rent on straight exchange rate. ..... BUT .... as a proportion of my salary my rent is less in Sydney than in London.

ozzieeagle

Countered by London being the most expensive City in the UK. I reckon that chart comparison you pointed at is probably the best gauge we have for people to look at.

If I did the same job in the UK as I have here, I would be somewhere between 30 to 40 pct worse off in wages. Which is why I voted dearer in the UK, as It would be for me. All of us night sorters will gross 70k this year. I'm looking at the 48/52 holiday buy back system now... to give me 9 weeks holidays per year... plus my 13 days extra LSL per year. that gives a possible 58 days leave per annum.

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phat puddock

the only way to compare would be using disposable income, even then you would have to ensure you were comparing the same goods, services and social bills, ie: Taxes, medical, retirement plans whether Gov. pensions and or private. If you simply move for money, you will never be happy, you have to include lifestyles to have a true sense of worth.

commonwealth

yes, many people fail to consider income v. costs, and only look at costs. and some people still think the wage comparison exchange rate is 2:1. that's history.

many of the stuff in Australia are imported, so with the stronger AUD you get more from your AUD salary.

and Australia has higher GDP per capita than the UK. It's even the highest among G20 nations (higher than USA) in nominal terms.

and there are the non-monetisables - e.g. climate, crowding, crime rates - to consider.

martin1978

The more I look in to this I am finding that the difference between the highest and lowest wages is much smaller here in Oz than it was in the UK, discounting the silly money 200K+ jobs. In the last 4 years my wife and I have done 1 year Oz, 2 years UK and 1 year Oz so have quite a good scope on this. Personally we are way better off in Oz. People on the lower end of the scale earning 6-15UKP an hour in the UK usually find themselves earning $22-40 here for the same jobs. People earning 30UKP+ can expect to earn about $50 per hour. This is only a general observation but if you check out the job websites its somewhere near. A good example is a basic job such as a retail sales assistant. They earn 6UKP per hour minimum wage. Here they'd be looking at $22per hour with compulsory double time for sundays.

martin1978

As for rent, to often the prices people are paying to live in cities, near CBD's are being compared to where people were living in the UK, such as a small town near Peterborough. This doesn't work. Once out of Sydney CBD you start to find it gets cheaper the further away you go, in much the same way as London. If I wanted to live as close to the centre of London as I do to Sydney(10km away) in a similar apartment i'd be looking at 300UKP per week. Here I pay $500.

Zen10

The only thing you need to look at is the wage/tax/cost of living ratio per country and go from there. Any unit price comparison between the two countries is pointless when a shift in exchange rates can make one country more expensive overnight as happened when the British currency was so massively devalued. I agree with steve o that wages are generally higher in Australia and this is backed by stats but then nominal prices can be higher as well.

Beoz

That is very much an individual opinion. Some like beaches and sunshine, some like rain and art galleries. Lets not start that one

Beoz

That's a good point. I think Oz has more of an earning potential ceiling than the UK does. This only matters to a very small proportion of the population. Those who have the potential to earn in excess of £300,000 per year. If someone can earn that type of money it's probably easier to get it in the UK than Oz.

Zen10

Martin's observation is backed up by a more general fact that the UK has a much higher inequality ratio than Australia across the board, and has the worst social mobility in the developed world, and this would of course be reflected in a large wage disparity. Australia has one of the best rates of social mobility.

Grayling

More myths

coldbeer

I'm pretty sure the average wage is higher, but the other factor to remember is many people coming over from the UK are bringing savings, and they simply don't buy as much here in Aus.

commonwealth

there's an Art & About spring festival happening in Sydney at the moment. can't be too arsed to come and I'd rather go sailing down the harbour in this kinda weather!

commonwealth

very good point. esp if you come to oz with uncertain job prospects.