On Wed, 9 Apr 2003, lorettalorance wrote:
>
> University of Leicester Department of Museum Studies
>
> Lecturer A/B in Interpretation/Interpretive Studies
> £22,191 to £33,679 pa

> Is this a living wage for the location? I live in NYC and can't imagine
> being asked to work full-time for this amount. Are there great perks, such
> as room and board?

> Loretta Lorance

==========================

Loretta:

I suspect that your computer can't display the symbol for British pounds
in which the salary is expressed.  In US dollars the annual salary range
converts to about $34,500 as a minimum, rising on a graduated scale to a
maximum of around $52,500.

For comparison, in dollar terms the UK national minimum wage for a
full-time job equates to around $14,000, and a typical starting
professional salary for a recently qualified Master's level curator is
around US$24,000 - certainly less than the $30,000 average starting
salary for e.g. graduate lawyers and accountants. though quite a bit more
than some of the New York jobs I have seen advertised in "Aviso" over the
past year or two!!

On your specific question, though I have no connection with the Leicester
University Department of Museum Studies, I do live in Leicester, so I
think I can answer it with some confidence.

Though national pay scales for University lecturers is not generous (and
has been falling in relative terms for over a decade) it is certainly
possible to live in Leicester on this salary.  The top of the scale would
put you in the top 20% or so of incomes within the City, and you could
easily buy on a 25 year mortgage quite a reasonable family house in a
decent neighbourhood for around four times the minimum annual salary.

Even the bottom of the scale would be substantially higher than the
salary of most of the staff of the City Museums service since, of course,
the University needs someone with a considerable amount of professional
experience and seniority to teach professionals on a Master's course of
this kind.

Also, such a salary level would be much more of a problem in the London
area - where the national rates apply, with just $3,300 as a "London
Allowance" addition, which nowhere near covers the additional housing and
travel costs.

If you are interested, give it a try: though not Venice, Paris, New York
or Las Vegas (according to your interests!) Leicester's not a bad place to
live, and with current budget airline prices you can weekend in Paris or
Venice for around US$150 or $200, or for that matter go home to New York
for under $350 round trip...



Patrick Boylan
(Prof. of Heritage Policy & Management, City University London)

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