Jagboi

It's a similar wage as a barista in a coffee shop would make, pre tips. Some of things they are doing without are privacy in terms of living arrangements, as you'd need to share a flat with several roommates, or if you're young, live with your parents. Forget about ever owning a property or a car. Forget about extras, like holidays.

I had a friend who was working at a Premier Inn making a similar sort of wage. Once he paid for accommodation, food and his train pass to get to work he averaged £5 a month left over. Means your clothes better last a while, as he couldn't afford to replace them. Or buy a book, or have one lunch out a month - all impossible. Basically it's working to survive, which isn't my idea of a fulfilling life. So to your question of what are they going without, the answer is nearly everything aside from food and very modest shelter.

Consider the average full time salary in the UK is £35,423, BA are paying nearly half that in the most expensive city in the UK to live in. To put it another way, could you live in New York City or San Francisco on $24,500 pre tax income? Could you rent an apartment, buy food and commute to work on that?

I took the median of £16-21K and divided that by the UK average salary and multiplied the USA average salary by that factor to come up with $24,500.