al150n

I flicked over the other afternoon to find Wanted Down Under on & the family had moved to Perth after originally visiting Adelaide. I then sat there & sniveled through the whole program as it hit me that we'd be there in less than 5 weeks. Not that I don't want to go but just one of those things in the build up to moving that set me off

Both the kids (4 & 5 years old) sat glued to the program but bickering over whether Perth was in Australia or not or whether Perth was some where completely different. Apparently one of them is going to Perth & the other to Australia

I then watched the previous days program on catch up as that was Perth as well & ended up having to leave the room when they showed the 'guilt trip' videos from friends & family as I was already tearful enough.

Alison x

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I think you'll find that, taking the UK average salary, that it's vastly inflated by the wages paid to relatively few people in the City of London. Even in 2009, 2800 people earned over a million pounds. Those sort of wages distort the 'average' enormously.

http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/..._salaries.html

ROMFT_WO2RN

Have to disagree I'm afraid, 2800 out of a current in work total of just over 28 million won't skew the "average" that much. May employment

Also it states "total remuneration", not salary, so which one is included in official data?

p.s. not a banker

iamthecreaturefromuranus

So you think that just 2,800 people earning 3 billion pounds between them doesn't skew the figures?!.
Sorry pal, but you're wrong. The wages paid generally across the City of London, hugely skew the figures of the average wage in the UK.

Hutch

Downloaded one off the iPlayer the other day and watched it - couple (he was an electrician, she was in publishing) who were looking to move to the Gold Coast. To be honest she drove me spastic within five minutes, banging on and on and on and on about the ****ing dangerous wildlife. I've lived here for four years and in all that time I've seen exactly one snake and a couple of redback spiders, this despite the fact that I apparently live in the epicentre of Funnel-Web city. The way she kept banging on you'd think king browns were hanging from the bloody light fittings.

Anyway, it was with a great sense of relief that I learned from said programme that they'd ended up moving to France in the end. I realise that nobody ever ends up looking great on the old goggle box but she was endlessly contradicting herself. Some people, and it goes equally for some posts I read on this forum, you just *know* they'd last six months if they ever made it here.

eddie007

You trying to say you DIDN'T shake yer shoes out every morning for at least 4 months after you arrived and kept the floor free from any clothing at all times just in case summit was hiding???????

ROMFT_WO2RN

eh no, as 1 million people (out of 28million) only earning £2800 each would cancel it out thereby not affecting the average. even £5 an hour for a 16 hour week is more than 2.8k.

seayork2002

Don't get the obsession myself, I was bitten by a flesh eating spider who played havoc with my leg............still ain't bothered by them.......some would say it entered my head............Just cause I hear voices every now and again does not mean nowt

iamthecreaturefromuranus

From the short period I spent on Fearless I learnt that most guys in the Navy were thick... you're going out of your way to reinforce that.

There are, percentage wise, a very small number of people who work in the City, earning fantastic wages, and I don't just mean the 2,800 who earned over a million quid last year. Their salaries do distort the national average.

I can't be arsed looking any harder than the 10sec it took me to find this...
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1438

What do you think would happen to the average if those people in the city were not there..... hmmmm.

ROMFT_WO2RN

Firstly commiserations for having to spend any time on that old rust bucket. :-)

Secondly why I'll agree a small number of high earners can generally affect a median figure, 0.01% is pretty insignificant statistically. If you want to blame anyone for skewing the figures then surely it's the NHS as health professionals have the highest median weekly wage http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=285

Finally salary, which figures are based on, is different to overall remuneration. A point the article didn't make and which has a far greater affect on property values than median salary.

your humble servant

renth

Things have changed so much since that series went out. It's a bit like watching pre-GFC property porn. Totally irrelevant to today's situation.

PS the difference between the average, the mean and the median are frequently abused by vested interests depending on what point they are trying to make.

ROMFT_WO2RN

Yup, lies, damn lies and statistics Always good for a pub debate and now for BE

Personally I just like the way different news outlets will report on the same data set and skew it to suit their own agenda especially the "doubles the risk of ..." stories, never seem to mention the initial risk

Anyway a good debate is hard to find

Bix

I agree with Renth............beware those wearing vests.

Pollyana

My mum always told me not to trust a man who wasn't wearing a vest. Wish I'd listened

moneypenny20

I wouldn't trust a man wearing a vest to be honest. Apart from my dad of course but he's long gone.