How much money teachers earn around the world
By Simon Marcus on July 11, 2016 in Interviews
How much do educators get paid for their work? We asked 16 public school teachers in communities around the world — from Kildare to Kathmandu, Johannesburg to Oslo — to tell us what they earned in one month (and how they spent it). Here’s what they said:
Toronto, Canada
Tell us about yourself: I’m 32 years old; I’m a middle school Special Education teacher working for the Toronto District School Board. I’ve been teaching kids with autism for seven years.
How much money did you earn last month? My take home pay is around 3,400 CAD (about $3,120 USD).
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? No.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? 1,400 CAD (about $1,285 USD) for a two-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood. We rent it from a family at a discount.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? $0. I live in Canada; health care is free.
Were you able to save any money last month? We try to save a bit for small yearly trips and keep some funds in case our car needs repairs.
What do you wish you could afford? I try not to think about things I want, I couldn’t afford most of them. But I’m thrifty and live comfortably.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? My income will be sufficient once my student debt is paid off and I reach the top pay bracket after 10 years of teaching.
“I am happy with my income and think I earn a fair wage. I am unhappy with the public’s perception in Canada that teachers are overpaid. I’ve never met anyone that teaches for money. It’s never about the paycheck; it’s about loving the work we do. However, I do feel that our politicians, media, and therefore the general public feel that we are overpaid and lazy because we get more vacation time than many other professionals.”
Markham, Canada
Tell us about yourself: I’m 47 years old; I am a grade 6 homeroom teacher who teaches English, Math and Literacy in a French immersion school. I’ve been here since 2009.
How much money did you earn last month? My take-home pay is around 3,000 CAD (about $2,750 USD).
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? Yes. I have a spouse and a child in university.
What do you wish you could afford? Nothing. Maybe some tech to share with my students.
Do you think you earn a fair income? I am fairly well compensated.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? Enough. If I didn’t live in the Toronto area, my expenses would be cut by 40%.
“I took a pay cut to become a teacher. It is a calling, not a job. Teaching is a privilege that is not for the infirm of purpose or seekers of large pay-stub totals. If I didn’t wake up before my alarm so I can get to school early, I’d be worried. The fact is that I do wake each morning excited for what the day holds for my classroom — the challenges as much as the triumphs — which for some can be a simple as reading a first sentence.”
London, England
Tell us about yourself: I’m 27 years old; I teach year 5 students. I’m a newly qualified teacher, having spent 5 years studying for my BEd degree.
How much money did you earn last month? My take-home pay is around 2,100 GBP (about $3,540 USD).
Does your income support anyone else? No.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? 670 GBP (about $1,130 USD) per month on a bedroom in a two bedroom apartment shared with a friend.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? Zero.
What do you wish you could afford? I’m currently saving for a holiday abroad to visit family in Australia.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? Barely. I’m trying to clear debts and cover the massive deposit I had to place on my flat.
“Sometimes I wonder if the stress I put myself through is worth it, but then one of the kids or parents will tell me a story about how I’ve made a difference and it all seems worthwhile.”
Athens, Greece
Tell us about yourself: I am a 54-year-old English foreign language teacher, currently employed at a night high school in central Athens. I’ve been a teacher for 33 years.
How much money did you earn last month? 1,000 EUR net (about $1,360 USD).
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? I live in a two-bedroom apartment in a block of flats in central Athens which I own. I spend around 200 EUR (about $270 USD) a month on utility bills and heating for the apartment.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? Around 80 EUR (about $109 USD) a month is deducted from my salary for social health care. I have to pay 70% of the cost of medication prescribed by a doctor and spend around 20 EUR (about $27 USD) for a visit to a public healthcare centre in order to get the prescription.
Were you able to save any money last month? I saved 50 EUR (about $68 USD).
What do you wish you could afford? I used to have enough to take a trip abroad once a year which is something I really miss. I don’t buy clothing except when it becomes really urgent. That’s another “luxury” I really miss.
Do you think you earn a fair income? No, I feel frustrated by the fiscal policies applied in my country.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? If I had to support my 28 year old daughter I think we’d be on the verge of poverty.
“I was meant to be a teacher and I wouldn’t change that for the world. But I feel frustrated by the fiscal policies in Greece. I used to teach extra lessons in the past, but the recession has had its way with those as well. My only reward is a ‘Thank you, Miss’ at the end of the night shift at school.”
Kildare, Ireland
Tell us about yourself: I’m 29 years old; I’m a secondary school teacher of math and music. I’ve been a qualified teacher for five years.
How much money did you earn last month? 2,300 EUR net (about $3,140 USD).
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? 500 EUR a month (about $682 USD) to rent a house I share with my spouse in a reasonably decent area.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? 150 EUR a month (about $205 USD) for private healthcare. 144 EUR a month (about $197 USD) for asthma medication. This is capped by the government; it would be much higher.
Were you able to save any money last month? We are saving 500 EUR (about $682 USD) a month minimum towards a mortgage deposit. Every penny we can save is going towards that.
What do you wish you could afford? A baby.
Do you think you earn a fair income? I earn a fair enough income now. The problem is lack of job security. I’m not permanent and could be let go any year. There are no benefits apart from a pension for teachers in Ireland.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? At the moment I’m fine. Children will be a problem.
“I have days when I wonder if it’s worth it, and I am well aware that I will not be able to maintain this workload for the rest of my working life. I continue to upskill in areas such as programming so that I have a fallback.”
Kagoshima, Japan
Tell us about yourself: I’m a 47-year-old high school English teacher in Kagoshima prefecture; I’ve been doing this for 19 years.
How much money did you earn last month? I earn 350,000 Japanese yen after tax (about $3,340 USD).
Does your income support anyone else? Yes, part of it. Both my husband and I support our daughter.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? 75,000 Japanese yen (about $740 USD) on rent for a three-bedroom apartment in a pretty nice neighborhood.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? About 82,000 yen (about $810 USD).
Were you able to save any money last month? Yes. I want to buy a house and save some for my daughter’s education.
What do you wish you could afford? Nothing.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? Yes.
“I am grateful for my job. I think I earn a fair income. But I am very busy, and I feel like I need much more time: time to talk with students and parents, time to teach, and time at home to take care of my family.”
Kruonis, Lithuania
Tell us about yourself: I’m 58 years old; I’m an English teacher at the gymnasium. I’ve been teaching English for 36 years.
How much money did you earn last month? About 2200,00 LTL (about $870 USD).
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? Yes, I have a son, who’s a student.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? I have a five-room private house. I spend about 300 LTL on taxes (about $118 USD).
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? About 100 LTL (about $40 USD).
What do you wish you could afford? Nothing.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? Yes. My budget is always positive.
“I don’t think my income is entirely fair, and it would be nice to earn more, but bearing in mind that lots of people earn less, I’m quite satisfied. I like my job and can’t imagine myself in another position.”
Prilep, Macedonia
Tell us about yourself: I’m 26 years old; I’m a 7th grade English teacher; I’ve been doing this for less than a year.
How much money did you earn last month? I earned 6,000 MKD net (about $133 USD).
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? I live with my parents.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? Less than 500 MKD (about $11 USD).
What do you wish you could afford? I wish I could afford to buy my own apartment.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? It is not sufficient, because I would love to live on my own, not with my family.
“I’m content with my income, but that’s because I don’t have a family to support or bills to pay. As a teacher, I do more administrative work than teaching. Sometimes the children are unsatisfied with our performance, but there’s only so much I can do with all the administrative work I have.”
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tell us about yourself: I’m 28 years old; I’m a computer teacher at a community school. I teach grades 3 through 8.
How much money did you earn last month? I earned 11,080 NPR net (about $115 USD).
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? Living with our parents is how it works here. So I can say I don’t have to pay.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? 3,000 NPR (about $32 USD) per month.
What do you wish you could afford? I want a reading device like an ebook reader, or Kindle, but I can’t afford that.
Do you think you earn a fair income? No, I am a privately hired teacher at my school. The government scale is higher. I deserve more.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? I can’t sustain my life on it. So I may have to look elsewhere into some tech job.
“I am happy but financially strapped. I don’t eat at restaurants; I can’t afford it. I am not a demanding guy, so my income seems sufficient for now, but I can’t sustain my life on it.”
Oslo, Norway
Tell us about yourself: I’m 45 years old; I’ve been a middle school math and science teacher for the last 7 years.
How much money did you earn last month? I earned 26,000 NOK net (about $4,370 USD).
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? I live in an apartment in central Oslo. The mortgage is 7,000 NOK (about $1,175 USD).
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? That’s all taken care of by the government.
Were you able to save any money last month? I save about 1000 NOK (about $168 USD) a month. I don’t have a specific goal in mind.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? Yes, I’m single with no kids. I have a safety net and control of my financial life.
“I have one major frustration with working as a teacher: Education policy is seemingly run as a wishful thinking project, where politicians draw a path for pupils they don’t understand on a map they haven’t seen. I wish we teachers would have more aggressively participate in forming education policy.”
Bucharest, Romania
Tell us about yourself: I’m 55 years old; I’m an English teacher for all levels, mentor, national evaluator, teacher trainer, general inspector for English in the Romanian Ministry of Education.
How much money did you earn last month? 361 EUR (about $492 USD).
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? Yes, I have one daughter and one granddaughter to support. I’m a single parent.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? 250 EUR (about $340 USD) rent for a small apartment.
How much did you spend on healthcare or medicine last month? I can’t afford any.
Were you able to save any money last month? No.
What do you wish you could afford? Almost every decency of life.
Do you think you earn a fair income? No.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? No.
“Teaching is like volunteer work that nobody recognizes as such. I’m deeply dissatisfied, and I think the great victims of our system of education are the pupils.”
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tell us about yourself: I am a 31-year-old secondary math teacher. I teach grades 9, 10 and 11. I am in my third year of teaching.
How much money did you earn last month? 11,756 ZAR net (about $1,130 USD).
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? I have a mortgage of 6,000 ZAR (about $580 USD) per month. The levies are 1,300 ZAR (about $125 USD) per month.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? 1,121 ZAR (about $108 USD) per month, deducted from my salary.
What do you wish you could afford? I would like a new laptop, but my current one still serves its purpose. There are camera lenses and tripods I would like to buy, but cannot justify them.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? Yes, as a single person with a roommate who helps with household expenses and rent. I would be very worried to have to support myself entirely. Perhaps if my mortgage rate came down.
“I feel like I am providing a valuable service — and I do love my job at times. But teaching also has unfortunate downsides such as the money and administrative load, which can significantly detract from my core job as a teacher. While my income could be worse, I would argue it still is not fair for the qualifications I hold and my job performance. Often it’s hard work with little thanks.”
Norrkoping, Sweden
Tell us about yourself: I am 33 years old; I teach grades 4 to 6 at my school in math, science and technology.
How much money did you earn last month? I earned 20,000 SEK net (about $3,030 USD).
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? Yes, I have a partner who’s been unemployed for a long time.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? I paid half the rent, 2500 SEK (about $380 USD) for a three-room apartment in one of the least attractive parts of town.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? 300 SEK (about $45 USD) maybe. We have been suffering from colds lately.
Do you think you earn a fair income? I spent more than four years at university to become a teacher. I think we should earn 10,000 SEK (about $1,515 USD) more every month. The unions promised that they would work for that but they let us down in the last negotiations.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? I’d like to have kids, but in this economy I don’t see how I’d make ends meet and give my kids a decent childhood.
“I really loved teaching when I started to work, but in Sweden kids are less and less well raised. Parents no longer do their job in a way they should, which makes me, in many cases, the only one setting rules for their kids. That’s exhausting. I would love to spend more time teaching and less time raising them.”
Damascus, Syria
Tell us about yourself: I am a 25-year-old 7th grade math teacher. I have been doing this for 2 years.
How much money did you earn last month? About $114 USD.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? About $5 USD; the government supports us.
Were you able to save any money last month? Every month I try to save $17 USD. I try to save for bad days.
Do you think you earn a fair income? I am not happy. We deserve much more. In private schools teachers earn more than us.
“In general, I love my job. It is my way to improve my country. But the war makes that so hard. Teaching is a hard job — but it is the sort of job where you can regenerate every day.”
Georgia, United States
Tell us about yourself: I’m 29 years old; I’ve taught elementary music for five years.
How much money did you earn last month? $2,100 USD net.
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? Yes, I support my partner, who’s in graduate school.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? I pay $650 USD a month for an apartment in the ghetto. But it’s big and allows pets.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? $90 USD out of my own pocket.
What do you wish you could afford? To live in a house where I feel safe being home alone.
Do you think you earn a fair income? I love my job. I really, truly do, and did not enter it for the pay. But if I quit tomorrow, and went to work for Aflac, I would make more. If I took home about $500 USD more, I think it would be a fair income.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? It’s hard. We have come to the decision not to have children, in part because neither of us will make enough money to support one. We have no emergency fund.
“Though I love my job, the stress that comes with it along with the stress of money problems sometimes makes me consider leaving, even though I don’t think I would feel as fulfilled as I do right now. We scrape by, and make the best of what we have, and we are happy for now.”
Minnesota, United States
Tell us about yourself: I’m a 29-year-old high school special education teacher. I’ve been doing this for five years.
How much money did you earn last month? $2,800 USD after taxes.
Does your income support anyone else? Yes, I have a 1-year-old daughter. Next year my wife, who is also a teacher, will be taking a few years off to stay at home with her, so we will be living off my income entirely.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month? $1,100 USD mortgage on a three-bedroom house in a decent neighborhood.
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? None.
What do you wish you could afford? I want to put up a fence in my backyard because we have annoying neighbors with trash-filled lawns, but this is too expensive. I’d also like a new bike.
Do you think you earn a fair income? I am not happy; we deserve much more. In private schools, teachers earn more than us.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? No. It’s okay and we get by, but it’s not enough. My district has been without a contract for nearly a year because they won’t approve a 2% cost of living increase. It seems like no one cares. There is a reason I’m getting into administration. The principal in my school makes $130,000 USD per year.
“I’m worried my income won’t be enough as my daughter gets older. I really like being a teacher — I just wish I was recognized for it every now and then, whether in pay or just a pat on the back. But it beats being a lawyer.”
The article above has been adapted for TED-Ed from this Ideas.ted.com article.
Tags: Teaching & Education
26,000 NOK net equals about $4,370 USD? Is this correct? According to today’s exchange rates here in Norway, 26,000 NOK equals about $3,100 USD.
It would be interesting if you could extend the study to Latin America, and correlate this to NGI.
I agree totally with your opinion.
I’m an elementary school teacher in Michoacan, Mexico. I earn less than 500 USD, public health is terrible and private is very expensive it’s a pity that this survey didn’t consider Latín America
Your figures for the Queensland teacher look a little ‘hinky’ as a four year trained, second year teacher base salary as stated by the Education Department salary scale is about $2500.00 GROSS a fortnight. I am a four year trained (Bachelor of Technology Education – ITD) and I am also a Senior experienced teacher with a base GROSS salary of $3530.00 a fortnight. Once tax and any other payments are removed our income is nowhere near the amount quoted, something is out of kilter.
Cheers
I think the amount quoted is for gross monthly in a rural area.
In NSW, that would definitely be in an area remote enough to get the 90% rental subsidy, as well as other incentives such as isolation and hot climate.
A teacher friend took up a position out near Lightning Ridge. The extra incentives totalled together worked out to be in the area of an extra $18,000/year.
I mean, I get an extra $50/month for isothermic (it sometimes gets to like -2, -6C here) and $200/month for teach students with a disability (I think it is worked out based on what funding the kids get, but the money does not counteract the extra stress and heartache).
I am a teacher from Philippines. I teach 6th graders. I earn Php20,000 monthly but I availed loan (for our house repair which was hit by typhoon last year) with deduction of Php6,000 monthly and a 10%tax. My takehome pay is therefore Php11,500. And that is my latest income which I received recently. I am extending my financial support to my family. More than half of my salary is intended for such. I have not availed any medical/health care. Asking me if I am happy? No. The mere fact that my job in our country requires too much from us, poor teachers, I see it unfair. But my hope never dies. I love teaching. I love my learners. I hate the system. I am equally dissatisfied about my lifestyle coz it feels like I’m stucked. But I am thriving. For the sake of my family, my learners and my nation.
we greeks are doomed. lucky those who escaped this shithole of a country.
I am a teacher of 35 year in Victoria Australia, I receive half the income of the Queensland teacher. The remote teacher’s wage does not reflect the average wages of teacher in Australian.
Interesting information. Are you sure the Australian teachers wage is correct? I am an Australian teacher at the top of the pay scale and I earn approximately $5,000 per month. The figure you have seems unusually high for a relatively young teacher.
I think perhaps you could have chosen a far more relevant example for a teacher and their wages/cost of living… for an Australian teacher, a teacher working in a remote/ indigenous school does not reflect the majority. It is an increased wage and decreased rental costs when you make a choice to teach in remote Australia.
Hello Simon, great article! I am a teaching assistant from Saudi Arabia. I was wondering if you could help me reach the English teacher from Kathmandu, Nepal. Please e-mail me for further details. Thanks!
I mean computer teacher*
Private school teachers in Kentucky earn quite a bit less that public school teachers and sometimes receive no benefits. That is based on my personal experience.
I’m from Latvia and my friend’s mother was a teacher. I always knew the situation with how small the earnings are and how hard they have to work. I think that a teacher’s job is just something so extremely difficult but also important. It makes no sense that at least in Latvia this is one of the less paid jobs.
It’s also really interesting to see how people around the world have different ambitions for the money they can save. Curious how values change throughout the world.
The QLD wage is not correct at all for a 2nd out teacher
I’m a fourth year secondary teacher in QLD Australia , I’m making about $3200 a month. My rent is $1300 a month ( a very old house 15 minute out of town in the sugar cane) a quiet, low residential area near the water. I am a single mother to a 15 year old and I pay private school fees ($6000 a year). When I started out in primary school teaching I would spend about $7000 a year on school supplies and setting up my classroom. High school I have very little to none, out of pocket expenses. I can’t save money, as conventional medicine has let me down and I pay an extreme amount of money for regular ongoing and long term naturopathic treatment.
Naturopathy is way too expensive on your pay and is not scientifically based. I went down that route for more than a decade. Take up activities to improve mental and physical health:taoist tai chi, meditation, swimming, walking, hunt for a good GP who doesn’t reach for his prescription pad. The listening questioning sorts are out there. Use your research skills to check out Naturopathy recommendations and explanations and observe your own reactions to treatment.
The American teacher who said teachers in private schools are paid more is incorrect. While is may be true for some exceptions, the vast majority of private schools pay significantly less, offer fewer benefits and often demand more extra-curricular commitments from their teachers. I’m so amazed by the low housing costs for so many. I’m paying $950 a month for a two-bedroom rental (that allows a dog). It’s not unusual for the east coast either.
Can I add myself to the list?
Canberra, Australia
Tell us about yourself: I’m 27, and have been teaching for 2 years. I am qualified to teach Science but this year I’ve been teaching a small multi-categorical special education class in a support unit within a larger high school.
How much money did you earn last month? I earned AU$5400 gross, about $3300 net (I over-pay my taxes so I get a surplus at tax time)
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? No.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month?
Live alone in a cosy 1 bedroom flat for AU$460/month including water
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? AU$300. It was a big month involving injections, CT scans, cultures and the dentist. Usually it’s only about AU$40
Were you able to save any money last month? Yes, about AU$250. I have a bit of a safety net because I am only contracted until the end of this year and then who knows where/if I will get work.
What do you wish you could afford? To live in a space where I can’t hear or smell my neighbours.
I wish I could afford to be sick. My students have behavioural issues that get worse with changes such as a casual teacher, when there is one available (I’m in a regional area just outside of Canberra).
I wish I could afford to only work part time (3-4 days/week) so I have more time for lesson planning and administrative work AND time for focusing on my own physical and mental health.
Is your income sufficient to support the lifestyle you want? At the moment, yes. If I tried to live in Canberra or within a 2 hour drive of Sydney, no.
Very kind and informative addition in information. Article is so good. I am from Pakistan .Here I teach English and science to Elementary Classes. I am also working as Head of my school. I am looking for Immigration to Australia. Experience change is my attraction and exploring is my passion. i have been to USA in 2016. hAVE MET WITH GREAT Teachers there . They were satisfied with no job Burn out. If I get Opportunity to be in Australia . You Know I am v Thankful to you and The Article as well. Its quite a good information to know the situations there. I am excited and sometimes confused about my future plans. But hope the things would get better for me.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tell us about yourself: I’m 31, and have been teaching for 2 years. I am qualified to teach English
How much money did you earn last month? I earned 1500 $
Does your income support anyone else, like a child, partner or parent? No.
What is your living arrangement, and how much did you spend on housing last month?
Zero. Free accommodation from my company
How much did you spend on health care or medicine last month? 10$ Thanks God, I’m healthy
Were you able to save any money last month? Yes, about $1000. Free accommodation, pretty cheap living. Food, transport and other living costs are pretty cheap in Vietnam
What do you wish you could afford? Improving my skills as a teacher, Also I enjoy traveling a lot.
I am a teacher from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In a public school, 40 hours of work/week, we usually earn around U $1,500/month.
But it is not the pattern… so, teachers go from one school to another all through the week (plus private students or courses) to earn the same amount of money but working 50h/week.
Or work 25h/week and get U $ 700…
If you teach small children… well, you must have a family to help you and support you… You may earn U $ 300/month.
Pretty sad…
Mainly if we take into consideration that life cost in Rio is one of the highest in the world!!!
Same thing in Argentina, Cláudia. I consider myself fortunate to work mostly all my time in one school, but my professional environment is plenty of colleagues sadly called “taxi-teachers”. Is that just a Latin American issue?
A salary for a teacher have a lot of components that may rise or cut monthly income up to 100%. As you put, the amount of academical hours worked per week is one important detail. To teach in an certain educational system does not mean you cover your week with classes: one can manage that.
I’m three months away from earning my ElementaryEd degree/certification in Washington State, US. I wish I had never read this.
Funny how San Francisco, or the Silicon Valley in general, didn’t make this list.
Nepali teachers are having loweset income.
These are facts from 2 years ago. Lithuania’s currency is euros (from 2015).
Hi there.
I live in Russia. I’m a PHd holder and Senior Lecturer teaching English and Linguistics at a state university. With the full workload involving 40 to 44 90-minute classes a month plus students’ research supervision my monthly salary after taxes is only about 350 US $. Isn’t it a shame?!
Good that I only do 1/4 of that, which leaves me with time to run my own teaching projects online.
In Turkey, teachers earn 3,000 TRY ~ 850 U.S dollars after the tax and health care. We pay 250 $ for homes rent.
We are blessed in Singapore to have relatively good starting pay compared to other teachers around the world. Starting pay for graduate teachers is about $3000 (US$2150) but the cost of living here can be higher than many other places. Still, we have a system that trains and supports teachers with continual training, ICT, and other teaching resources. Our government does invest heavily into education. I tip my hat to those who struggle despite the odds, especially the colleagues in Syria and other war-torn countries. No one goes into teaching for the money, but it will certainly help when governments pay teachers a decent living wage so that they can focus on teaching rather than dealing with other issues. The hours are long in any school, and most days it seems like you are doing more homework than the kids, but it’s a job worth doing, so I hope administrators and leaders continue to support their teachers.
I’m a teacher from Nigeria. I teacher Government and Civic Education in a private Secondary school. My #21600 (twenty one thousand,six hundred Nigerian naira), which is about $60. I feel bad about it, but I love teaching.
I am a teacher in central Oklahoma USA. I am a early childhood teacher of 20yrs. My take home a month is 2,200. My mortgage is 1500 and lucky I don’t have a car payment but do have home bills. I work after school tutoring and teaching classes after school. My medical bills this year were 3,000. I had shoulder surgery in the fall and my insurance through school capped at that. Luckily I am native american and can use the Indian clinic for my diabetes meds and doc visits which cost me nothing. Thank god or I would be back living with my parents. If I could bring home 500 more I would feel alittle more confident.
I’m 37, I love in Poland and I ‘ve been teaching English in a public middle school for 14 years. I earn 600-700 US$/month. No extra health benefits.
Hi I ‘m Wafa from Morocco. I ‘m teaching in private sector primary students ana middle school I ve been teaching for 2 years now. I earn 170 $ in a month with no health insurance. I don’t have a house or a car bcuz i m living with my parents. who said that teachers in private sector got unlike public teachers is wrong.
what about an Indian teacher
I am from Pakistan Karachi, working as a teacher for last 15 years my salary is not more than 300 $.
Hi, I am an English language teacher in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here we earn around 671 USD per month and spend around 335 USD for monthly living, and if you get sick, you also have to, additionaly, pay for your health check-up depending on the problems you have, even though we have some so-called health insurance
. If there are any open job positions at your countries, I would be delighted to come to work there 
I am from Pakistan Karachi and working as a teacher for last 15 years and my salary is not more than 300 $.
I would like to comment about the Greece, Athens one; I live in the northern part of the country and have worked in privately owned language schools. I have been teaching for about twenty years now and the wages in this sector are even lower than 1000 euros, since the language school owners got together around 2012 and decided that they would pay a gross amount of 5 euros an hour, making it about 500 a month or less depending on the amount of work you are given. This is why so many english language teachers have left the country whereas once there were so many expats living here now a few have remained because this financial situation has led us to ‘third world wages’ although, supposedly we live in the ‘advanced part of the western world’!
As an experienced qualified English teacher in Mexico you could earn around 5 dollars per hour in a private middle school, considering working no more than 30 hours per week, besides taxes must be taken from that income. At elementary schools you could probably make around 300- 500 dollars per month, less taxes. And with that income most teachers have to support families, housing, medical care, etc etc etc
In Macedonia the salary is 21.000 denars not 6.000, that’s impossible. I’ve been working as teacher so i known for sure. That’s 350eur more or less.
This would be more interesting for there was a greater representation of countries (New Zealand, the Pacific, China, Russia, etc…), rather than a small selection of countries.
I’m a teacher in a private school in one of the smallest country in the world, teaching year 1 to year 3 ICT. Pay sucks. Only around USD 718 without any health or insurance benefits. Cost of living is quite expensive here. A small house with 2br costs me USD 277 and having a car is essential here. If only I am paid USD 300 more, that would be enough although I should be getting more according to our salary scale. Money matters but I’m not asking much compared to the amount of tasks that I’m doing. I thought many times of leaving my current job but I can’t help thinking of leaving the kids would make me happier. Politicians always like to compare our tasks by what they see in front of their eyes but little do they know that teaching is beyond all of that
In my contrary situations are a lot different. And when I say different , The are not “Satisfactory’
I am a teacher in Ghana-West Africa. I teach in a Senior High School and I have been a teacher for 12 years now. My net salary is an equivalent of $380/month. No any other allowances or incentives. It is so frustrating.
Wow
I’m a teacher from Poland. After 15 years of work I’ve got the highest level of professional development. I earn around 700 USD and that’s maximum I can get. Nobody can get extra hours, because of demography – less and less children at schools.
It would be interesting to see this displayed as a graph comparing a teachers salary to average income, average graduate income and average expenditure for housing and medical costs.
As Canada trains more teachers than it hires, the average time it takes to find work in a public school is about 4 years. Public school teachers have better pay, benefits, job security and vacation. Most ESL teachers here are working for private schools at an hourly rate of $15-20, no job security or benefits package. While we have universal Healthcare in Canada; that doe not include dental, mental or vision care. It does not cover any medication outside of hospitals either. Living in Toronto, you might make $30 000/ year. But you’d be paying g at least a third of that for rent. Owning a home here at that salary is not possible.
Teachers in my country are underpaid. Imagine some teacher are even been paid below ($ 100.00 USD).
As I read over the comments of most teachers aside from Canada, USA and Norway. The bottomline factors of inadequate salary of teachers are the government policies in education, number of dependents in the family and even extended families especially in Asian countries and the attitude or preferences in handling the money. Education cannot make us a rich person but a better person.
I completed my 16th year of teaching Spanish in Missouri-USA. I was 12 yrs in private school where I was paid well for the school at $42K annually with 2 masters degrees. I moved to public school and accrued even further education and have increased my salary to $61k with full health paid ($3k annual deductible which I max out), excellent retirement, and several other benefits. After taxes, retirement, etc my take home pay is $3600 a month. I have a 40 acre farm that I share with my husband and son and the shared mortgage is $2000 a month. I spend approximately $300 a month on medical. I could not live as I do without my husband, who earns substantially more than I do. We have a good life. We don’t save a great deal but with our retirement programs will retire well when we do. Many of my colleagues earn 1/2 of what I do. In my district, they value education and pay more for education and experience each year. I’m grateful to be in the district. However, many of our students don’t value the amazing education they’re offered and it can be very frustrating teaching students who refuse to engage and learn. I go to work every day for those who are there for all the right reasons. It can be both the most frustrating job and the most rewarding…sometimes this happens the same day. I feel I make a difference though and will stick with it and hang on through the bad days and wrap myself in the good days. I’m grateful to be there and at the top of the pay scale due to acquired education.