I'm surprised, my first job was in 2001 (so only a few years later than you) in Israel and despite being an 18 year old earning roughly minimum wage my salary w

I'm surprised, my first job was in 2001 (so only a few years later than you) in Israel and despite being an 18 year old earning roughly minimum wage my salary was similar or higher (~4000-5000 ils gross per month, according to today's exchange rate that would be ~£800-1k & at that level I paid next to no income tax). A "good wage" even in the late '90s/early '00s would be at least 2x as much (programmers were commonly earning 20k ils per month in the late 90s). I would have guessed UK wages were higher than Israeli ones.