Is the middle class splitting in two?

[L00b]

You know, paraphrasing my words are not going to impress me in the slightest. At best, I find it rude.

I'm answering your question

Do these regulators require you to register with them, and if you perform a misconduct, then will you be struck of the list ?

Yes.

Right. Ok. So it means you need a professional qualification and being certified first, and I assume that this certification is also the same set of qualification for all solicitor's. Is that right?

Not really, but I fear I will only end up confusing you, e.g.

If this is so, then this is also similar to the medical industry. All doctors require a basic degree in medicine, and then work experiences added on top before the actual certified title can be achieved. From that point onwards, they can still study further to specialise in any specific areas.

There is no 'basic degree' (law or otherwise) for my niche area, although 99% of entrants to the profession have a technical degree/masters/PhD (mostly PhD these days).

But in comparison to IT. This is not the same.

Well, we're talking professions. I thought we'd made that clear.

I was trying to find an understanding as to why the difference in salaries.

It's not down to regulation, which plays only a very minor role in that context, if any at all.

 

I suppose it does act as a 'product guarantee' of sorts, so helps justify a premium in a manner analogous to a trade mark. But that pales into insignificance compared to the other variables you have acknowledged (geographical factor, job numbers, etc.) and which are common to all other professional areas. Most medical and legal services are commodities in this day and age, and competing mostly on price, especially now after close to 5 years' worth of recession.

[Ms Macbeth]

The link doesn't work.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/society/datablog/interactive/2012/jun/22/how-wealthy-you-compared?guni=Graphic:in%20body%20link

 

This has some interest though.

 

It also says that 15% of households earn more than 40k. (That's households though, not individuals).

 

Edit - and that's net income, after tax. Which could be a gross pay of two people earning 28 (ish) or a single person earning 60ish.

 

I'd have thought it a bit more than 15% with two full time earners. How much harder is it to have £40k+ net with just one worker in the household.

 

I always believed that income was only one identifier of class, however it appears that within the new classifications it weighs heavily. There's an online test http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/21970879 that identifies where one sits within the new model. I've tried it twice, inputting our current pension income, and our income when we were working. My responses were the same in all other categories. It returned different results.

 

The only thing that changed was our income, we didn't.

[*_ash_*]

As an aside to that. It was reported on the radio this morning that five people who live in England own more of the wealth than 20% of the population put together.

That is around twelve million people.

This is a disgracefull situation ! int it.

 

Shocking. But not really when you look at the bigger picture. I've got a few hundred quid in my bank account, and I'm probably richer than about 4 billion people. On the same small scale, I have no debt, so I'm probably richer that about 12m+ people put together here

 

What about Barristers, QCs etc? How does the hierarchy work? I've never thought of them as struggling.

 

Hardly a broad section of the legal profession though is it?

 

It's like the footballer analogy from the other thread.

[anywebsite]

Poverty gap 'causing thousands of deaths', NHS Health Scotland warns - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24572946

 

UK Gap Between Rich And Poor Could Become 'Greater Than South Sudan's', Oxfam Warns - http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/11/austerity-measures-oxfam-report-poverty_n_3907662.html

 

Gap between rich and poor growing fastest in Britain - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8935943/Gap-between-rich-and-poor-growing-fastest-in-Britain.html

 

United Kingdom Income inequalities - http://www.poverty.org.uk/09/index.shtml

 

A 25 year gap between the life expectancy of rich and poor Londoners is a further indictment of our unequal society - http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-25-year-gap-between-the-life-expectancy-of-rich-and-poor-londoners-is-a-further-indictment-of-our-unequal-society-9061888.html

 

Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer,

[*_ash_*]

Poverty gap 'causing thousands of deaths', NHS Health Scotland warns - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24572946

 

UK Gap Between Rich And Poor Could Become 'Greater Than South Sudan's', Oxfam Warns - http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/11/austerity-measures-oxfam-report-poverty_n_3907662.html

 

Gap between rich and poor growing fastest in Britain - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8935943/Gap-between-rich-and-poor-growing-fastest-in-Britain.html

 

United Kingdom Income inequalities - http://www.poverty.org.uk/09/index.shtml

 

A 25 year gap between the life expectancy of rich and poor Londoners is a further indictment of our unequal society - http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-25-year-gap-between-the-life-expectancy-of-rich-and-poor-londoners-is-a-further-indictment-of-our-unequal-society-9061888.html

 

Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer,

 

Is that aimed at anyone in particular?

 

It's after mine, so I wonder if it aimed at me?

 

I'll respond if it is aimed at me, and not if it isn't.

[Mecky]

Has anyone posted the famous Frost Report sketch yet?

[Cyclone]

What about Barristers, QCs etc? How does the hierarchy work? I've never thought of them as struggling.

 

QCs will generally be doing alright, but that's a very small group.

 

Barristers are no more guaranteed a high income than solicitors, it's just a different speciality.

 

---------- Post added 18-03-2014 at 07:32 ----------

 

 

You asked why do lawyers, doctors and so forth earn more. Have you ever thought about why they CAN earn more? That is because those industries are more regulated, and are structured in terms of pay, and also in terms of salaries.

 

This, with regards to the legal profession is incorrect. It is not structured in terms of pay or salary. This is what L00b has been trying to tell you.

 

So out of that list, only Drs and in fact only within the NHS is the remuneration structured as you suggest.

 

And despite what the red tops would tell you, most GPs are not earning a six figure income.

[anywebsite]

Is that aimed at anyone in particular?

 

It's after mine, so I wonder if it aimed at me?

 

I'll respond if it is aimed at me, and not if it isn't.

 

Wasn't aimed at anybody, I just thought the thread was drifting away from the real point of a split in the middle class & into a discussion about how much different professions may or may not earn, which really isn't very interesting.