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americandream · 03-20-2008, 06:15 AM

A VERY detailed input. We appreciate it.

But in this following website, it seems like average salary in UK is actually lower than in the US?

Salary Survey - Chemist + Druggist

kgba9231 · 03-20-2008, 12:56 PM

Americandream,

I appreciate you adding this article and my response is as follows:

Firstly, in the UK we have a nationalised health care system (as I mentioned already) so most of our healthcare needs are met for free (with a standard charge for rxs and no charge for consultations, lab tests, operations, etc.). However here in the US, we have to PAY for our healthcare (even if via subsidised employer covered insurance) out of the salaries we make.

Additionally, the average working person gets an annual total of 28 days of paid vaccation (it's 35-40 days depending on experience for some workers) in the UK. Here, we are lucky if we can get a week off let alone a month!

Thirdly, the stress levels associated with working here as a pharmacist (as previously mentioned in my prior msg) are not as high as in the UK. Mostly because of high levels of tech training and numeration, plus we are still limited to mostly hard copies of rxs.

These are just a few examples of the benefits that are not covered in the US and if you incorporate this into the US pharmacist salaries, then you will see that it becomes considerably less than the average 100K and equivalent to the 35-40K of a UK pharmacist's.

Hope this helps with your query. And, thank you all for your favourable and appreciative comments.

Shani

PS: the fourth and biggest reason is that in the US, the pharmacy opening hours are longer (no 24-hr pharmacies yet in the UK), so obviously you work longer hours and get paid higher wages. At least we don't have to spend most of our working schedules dealing with insurance companies out in the UK - which is the biggest drawback in the US pharmacy setting. Hence the lower stress levels and lower wages in the UK, but we are happier and healthier in some ways I guess.

knok · 03-20-2008, 07:09 PM

Thank you for your messages.

How many percent do you have to pay taxes in UK?

In the US, we pay around 34% of taxes plus about $500 per month for health insurance (according to one of chain drugstores deducted from your pay check). Therefore, the pay check is a lot lower than we expect.

Pharmjay · 03-21-2008, 02:33 AM

UK tax is about 40% (a major reason of relocation for alot of professionals especially in the medical field), plus there are alot of other payouts that do not exist in the USA such as road tax, TV licence, council tax (to the citty council in addition to rent) that have to be paid out every month...
These all add up eventually.

knok · 03-21-2008, 06:27 AM

Thank you.

kgba9231 · 03-21-2008, 12:27 PM

Taxes are at a similar rate to that of the US (increases with income bracket and in the US we come under a higher income tax bracket compared to the UK).

PharmJay mentions council tax, road tax, etc. but, here in the US too you have to pay those taxes except here they come under the blanket of 'property' taxes based on the value of the property (~2% of value of property and covers schools, policing, road taxes, etc. and for me here in Ohio, deadbeat state with very low property values, comes to around $6000/yr, but I here in CA it could be upto 4x and NY over 7x that much).

Schooling too is very expensive here in the US whereas it is almost free (with a minimal subsidised rate for tuition) in the UK. The pharmacists salaries here reflect that, 'cos most US pharmacy grads come out of pharmacy school with $70K+ in debts whereas it's probably not that bad in the UK.

To summise, I still think the wages is both places balance out when you consider the different lifestyles of the people. In the US, we are cash-rich but time-poor...we have more time for family and other pursuits but everything costs a little more financially in the UK. Ultimately though the opportunities are almost limitless here in the US and this is what attracts almost all of us here I guess - the pursuit of the 'American Dream'...Good luck all...

knok · 03-21-2008, 07:43 PM

I know what you mean. I used to work for a UK pharmceutical company for a while. I remember that my bosses were upset with the government all the time with the 40% taxes. I forgot to ask about the tuition though.

My son is going to a medical school. He is doing Pre-Med. We are paying about $30,000 a year because we pay International student rate.

I checked the medical school tutions here in the U.S. It can run to $60,000 a year in the senior years. It is a pain in..the..

Yes, you may expect to pay $5,000 for property taxes here to in WA state if you don't want to live near homeless. I know that the bill just passed the house a few weeks ago that the government will charge the toll of the brige that we use everyday, $5.30 one way, $3.30 each for round trip. My adviser told me, " Okay, we can expect to pay $4,000 for a monthly pass easily since we sometimes use 4-6 trips a day.

The bus fare is not cheap either. It cost $5 for round trip.We can buy bus passes but it is not cheap. I remember that I paid 1 pound for one trip for buses in London. They have monthly passes but the price are still high.

You just have to select the state to live if you want to have your hard earned income left each month after paying all taxes and expenses.

americandream · 03-22-2008, 12:01 AM

So the reason that US pharmacists have higher avg salaries is that they have longer working hours and pharmacists in UK have more vacation, etc..?
If people work as much as US equivalent, then that would equalize to a typical American income?

In some other posts, Ninah and her friends seem to make about $60 per hour but I actually see quite a variation according to some other forums, where they say average is GBP22/hour...

kgba9231 · 03-22-2008, 01:56 PM

I still work 2 weeks every 6 months in the UK as a locum (or floater as known here). The rates depend on where I want to work. On average in London the hourly rate ranges from 20-28/hr in pounds (purely 'cos there are lots of pharmacists living here, especially now that the UK has opened it's borders to European pharmacists who are free to come in and practice as long as they are European citizens and speak English, which most of them absolutely do) and out of London I've commanded upto 40pounds. Retail does pay higher than hospital. Also different retail chains pay different rates and independent pharmacies pay the highest rates. The rates are artificially high for locums as we do not get any vacation or sick pay so all that needs to be covered by the wages we make when we work.

In my opinion, you cannot simply say US pharmacist's salaries are higher 'cos of longer opening hours and UK pharmacists get more vacation time. There is a whole world of difference between the two systems, lifestyles and cost of living. Hence, you will need to take into account a multitude of factors before being able to answer your question. However in general, in the UK we earn around 36-40K in pounds and in the US (at least here in Ohio - there is quite a bit of difference between the states here in the US and their tax rates are different too), we start at 110K+.

Hope this helps with your query...best wishes

Babak · 03-23-2008, 06:15 PM

To All Pharmacists,

As a last word, ....
You won't ever become rich as long as you are working as a PHARMACIST all around the world. (I mean as a pharmacy staff.)
THUS, don't calculate & compare the lousy DOLLAR or POUNDS...which is a big mistake if you decide to immigrate basis on a couple of $$$ more or less.

Change your views and look for the other reasons that why we are all accepted to bear the agony of relocation & relicensing. Reasons like; Culture, religion, politics, economy, weather, education, freedom, corruption, fraud, family & relatives ....

_

03-20-2008, 06:15 AM	#11 (permalink)
americandream Eager! Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 31	A VERY detailed input. We appreciate it. But in this following website, it seems like average salary in UK is actually lower than in the US? Salary Survey - Chemist + Druggist Last edited by knok : 03-24-2008 at 02:36 AM.

03-20-2008, 12:56 PM	#12 (permalink)
kgba9231 Eager! Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 30	Americandream, I appreciate you adding this article and my response is as follows: Firstly, in the UK we have a nationalised health care system (as I mentioned already) so most of our healthcare needs are met for free (with a standard charge for rxs and no charge for consultations, lab tests, operations, etc.). However here in the US, we have to PAY for our healthcare (even if via subsidised employer covered insurance) out of the salaries we make. Additionally, the average working person gets an annual total of 28 days of paid vaccation (it's 35-40 days depending on experience for some workers) in the UK. Here, we are lucky if we can get a week off let alone a month! Thirdly, the stress levels associated with working here as a pharmacist (as previously mentioned in my prior msg) are not as high as in the UK. Mostly because of high levels of tech training and numeration, plus we are still limited to mostly hard copies of rxs. These are just a few examples of the benefits that are not covered in the US and if you incorporate this into the US pharmacist salaries, then you will see that it becomes considerably less than the average 100K and equivalent to the 35-40K of a UK pharmacist's. Hope this helps with your query. And, thank you all for your favourable and appreciative comments. Shani PS: the fourth and biggest reason is that in the US, the pharmacy opening hours are longer (no 24-hr pharmacies yet in the UK), so obviously you work longer hours and get paid higher wages. At least we don't have to spend most of our working schedules dealing with insurance companies out in the UK - which is the biggest drawback in the US pharmacy setting. Hence the lower stress levels and lower wages in the UK, but we are happier and healthier in some ways I guess. Last edited by knok : 03-20-2008 at 07:06 PM.

03-20-2008, 07:09 PM	#13 (permalink)
knok TestMagic Guru Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: USA Posts: 3,045	Thank you for your messages. How many percent do you have to pay taxes in UK? In the US, we pay around 34% of taxes plus about $500 per month for health insurance (according to one of chain drugstores deducted from your pay check). Therefore, the pay check is a lot lower than we expect. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ "Every reason that tells you that things will never change disappears." "I did what I had to do because it is the right thing to do."

03-21-2008, 06:27 AM	#15 (permalink)
knok TestMagic Guru Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: USA Posts: 3,045	Thank you. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ "Every reason that tells you that things will never change disappears." "I did what I had to do because it is the right thing to do."

03-21-2008, 07:43 PM	#17 (permalink)
knok TestMagic Guru Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: USA Posts: 3,045	I know what you mean. I used to work for a UK pharmceutical company for a while. I remember that my bosses were upset with the government all the time with the 40% taxes. I forgot to ask about the tuition though. My son is going to a medical school. He is doing Pre-Med. We are paying about $30,000 a year because we pay International student rate. I checked the medical school tutions here in the U.S. It can run to $60,000 a year in the senior years. It is a pain in..the.. Yes, you may expect to pay $5,000 for property taxes here to in WA state if you don't want to live near homeless. I know that the bill just passed the house a few weeks ago that the government will charge the toll of the brige that we use everyday, $5.30 one way, $3.30 each for round trip. My adviser told me, " Okay, we can expect to pay $4,000 for a monthly pass easily since we sometimes use 4-6 trips a day. The bus fare is not cheap either. It cost $5 for round trip.We can buy bus passes but it is not cheap. I remember that I paid 1 pound for one trip for buses in London. They have monthly passes but the price are still high. You just have to select the state to live if you want to have your hard earned income left each month after paying all taxes and expenses. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ "Every reason that tells you that things will never change disappears." "I did what I had to do because it is the right thing to do." Last edited by knok : 03-21-2008 at 10:57 PM.

03-21-2008, 02:33 AM	#14 (permalink)
Pharmjay Eager! Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 98	UK tax is about 40% (a major reason of relocation for alot of professionals especially in the medical field), plus there are alot of other payouts that do not exist in the USA such as road tax, TV licence, council tax (to the citty council in addition to rent) that have to be paid out every month... These all add up eventually.

03-21-2008, 12:27 PM	#16 (permalink)
kgba9231 Eager! Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 30	Taxes are at a similar rate to that of the US (increases with income bracket and in the US we come under a higher income tax bracket compared to the UK). PharmJay mentions council tax, road tax, etc. but, here in the US too you have to pay those taxes except here they come under the blanket of 'property' taxes based on the value of the property (~2% of value of property and covers schools, policing, road taxes, etc. and for me here in Ohio, deadbeat state with very low property values, comes to around $6000/yr, but I here in CA it could be upto 4x and NY over 7x that much). Schooling too is very expensive here in the US whereas it is almost free (with a minimal subsidised rate for tuition) in the UK. The pharmacists salaries here reflect that, 'cos most US pharmacy grads come out of pharmacy school with $70K+ in debts whereas it's probably not that bad in the UK. To summise, I still think the wages is both places balance out when you consider the different lifestyles of the people. In the US, we are cash-rich but time-poor...we have more time for family and other pursuits but everything costs a little more financially in the UK. Ultimately though the opportunities are almost limitless here in the US and this is what attracts almost all of us here I guess - the pursuit of the 'American Dream'...Good luck all...

03-22-2008, 12:01 AM	#18 (permalink)
americandream Eager! Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 31	So the reason that US pharmacists have higher avg salaries is that they have longer working hours and pharmacists in UK have more vacation, etc..? If people work as much as US equivalent, then that would equalize to a typical American income? In some other posts, Ninah and her friends seem to make about $60 per hour but I actually see quite a variation according to some other forums, where they say average is GBP22/hour...

03-22-2008, 01:56 PM	#19 (permalink)
kgba9231 Eager! Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 30	I still work 2 weeks every 6 months in the UK as a locum (or floater as known here). The rates depend on where I want to work. On average in London the hourly rate ranges from 20-28/hr in pounds (purely 'cos there are lots of pharmacists living here, especially now that the UK has opened it's borders to European pharmacists who are free to come in and practice as long as they are European citizens and speak English, which most of them absolutely do) and out of London I've commanded upto 40pounds. Retail does pay higher than hospital. Also different retail chains pay different rates and independent pharmacies pay the highest rates. The rates are artificially high for locums as we do not get any vacation or sick pay so all that needs to be covered by the wages we make when we work. In my opinion, you cannot simply say US pharmacist's salaries are higher 'cos of longer opening hours and UK pharmacists get more vacation time. There is a whole world of difference between the two systems, lifestyles and cost of living. Hence, you will need to take into account a multitude of factors before being able to answer your question. However in general, in the UK we earn around 36-40K in pounds and in the US (at least here in Ohio - there is quite a bit of difference between the states here in the US and their tax rates are different too), we start at 110K+. Hope this helps with your query...best wishes

03-23-2008, 06:15 PM	#20 (permalink)
Babak Impossible is Possible! Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 87	To All Pharmacists, As a last word, .... You won't ever become rich as long as you are working as a PHARMACIST all around the world. (I mean as a pharmacy staff.) THUS, don't calculate & compare the lousy DOLLAR or POUNDS...which is a big mistake if you decide to immigrate basis on a couple of $$$ more or less. Change your views and look for the other reasons that why we are all accepted to bear the agony of relocation & relicensing. Reasons like; Culture, religion, politics, economy, weather, education, freedom, corruption, fraud, family & relatives .... _ Last edited by knok : 03-24-2008 at 02:37 AM.

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