Young earners in the 18 to 21 year old age range earned a median salary of £287.50 a week in 2013, according to the UK's Office for National Statistics. Salaries vary, of course, and are reported by age group. Median salaries for young workers tend to increase steadily as they advance into their 30s and 40s.

Current population survey

The Office for National Statistics, is the UK's recognised national statistical institute and produces regular reports on earnings according to a worker's age, gender, race, education level and other criteria.

Median weekly eEarnings

The population survey for the the year 2013 show men (averaged over all age groups) earning a median full-time salary of £556 a week, and women (averaged over all age groups) with a salary of £459 a week.

Earnings by age group

Workers in the 18 to 21 year-old age group typically had weekly earnings of £298.60 for men and £276.20 for women. This is a substantial increase from the 16 to 17 year-old age group, with median earnings of £155.80 per week. Workers in the 40 to 49 year-old age group had the highest overall earnings of £637.80 per week for men and the peak for women is at the 30 to 39 age group at £533.30 per week.

Advancement

The average weekly wage in the 22 to 29 age group is considerably higher at £420. This shows that the 20s are a period of people's lives where they can expect rapid career advancement in the UK.