as it stands i earn the “average” (presuming the average income is two people so presumably i’m on twice the average?)
Average will be over all households (or possibly all working households) – ie. some have one, some have two earners. Last I saw the average individual salary is somewhere in the low 20,000s or high teens, household about 30k.
but my drinking/goign out is twice the average as well, so i have the beer consumption of 4 people? And if it is average for 2 people, how exactly do you squeeze 2 meals and drinks out of £26?
Maybe not everyone goes out for a meal every week? Or they go to Wetherspoons or similar cheap places – 2 meals for about £7, plus beer from £1 a pint, for £26 you could get 4 meals + 10 pints, which is surely enough for a family meal out, let alone 2 people? There are loads of chain places, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut etc. you could easily get 2 meals + drinks for £26. They’re just not the sort of places people earning a lot tend to hang out.
Personally I spend well below average, but that is mainly because we were both PhD students until last year, so we have suddenly doubled our incomes.
Joe