Editha

When do I get my Nobel prize for proving a 'mathematical impossibility' is possible?

Michael

My apologies, you are absolutely correct that it can occur.

spouse of scouse

I like a person who doesn't mind apologising

dunroving

Median income would be higher than "average" income (by which I ssume you mean the mean), if the data are negatively skewed, simple as that.

However, as income data are almost always positively skewed, "average" (mean) income is invariably higher than the median.

Editha

No, I meant median. Mean is the same thing as average.

Gozit

I know right

I didn't come for math class guys

Editha

You started it Gozi, referring to 'average'.

Gozit

I was answering OPs question related to salary

dunroving

That's what I said.

Editha

Except that the median wage is currently higher than the mean wage, so it isn't 'invariable' is it?

dunroving

Not according to the link that Michael provided:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom
- which is the only evidence I can find in the thread (maybe you provided some evidence and I'm missing it). Mean is higher than median for all age groups in the Wikipedia source that Michael provided.

As per my earlier point, income data are invariable positively skewed. I teach statistics and use this example all the time to demonstrate the effect of skewness on estimates of central tendency (mean and median).

Just one text excerpt says "That same year [2011], the after-tax earnings of the median household was around £26,000 per annum while average net household income (after tax) stood at £38,547"

I don't see anything in there that shows median income higher than mean income for any age category or group, or for the population as a whole. Look at the table titled "Percentile points for income of individuals before tax" - the mean is higher than the median for every year.

Anyway, to get back to the OP's question, £40k is a well above average salary (guesstimate is that it is around the 80th percentile).

Editha

The Wikipedia link provides figures for 2010-11.

According to the 2014 figures average (i.e. mean) wages are £474 p.w - i.e. £24,648 p.a.

The Guardian reported in December last year that HMRC figures showed that median wage was £517, which is higher than the mean.

But, I can't find a link to the HMRC figures.

deepcpearl

Heathrow_0808, you might want to be careful taking advice from a 16-year-old child, who is still at school, lives with his parents in Canada and has never lived in the UK.

Gozit

No, she might want to be careful taking advice from YOU , an obviously arrogant poster who believes that just because i'm 15 (16 in 5 months) i am not smart / dont have an opinion.
It doesnt't take a rocket scientist to know that 40K GBP (about 75k CAD) is more than enough to save and live on in the UK.

spouse of scouse

If I were the OP, I'd just start a new thread. In terms of their questions, there's about 10% relevant information on this one, and the rest is people arguing about means, medians, averages, ages, and arrogance .