£55k is not a great salary in the UK for a middle class professional with a degree and >5 years of experience. Lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants, front l

£55k is not a great salary in the UK for a middle class professional with a degree and >5 years of experience. Lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants, front line sales, and even some nurses earn comfortably more than that - never mind MPs, many of whom are both clueless and useless and still manage to earn more than £80k base before expenses. Some blue collar workers - mostly trades - can also earn a lot more, especially for contract or high-availability work. Of course it's not a great salary compared to someone who works a checkout, stocks shelves, or talks to customers on the phone. But qualifications and experience should matter at least a little.