I guess it depends who you hang around with and your location but to be honest unless you live in the middle of nowhere the vast majority of people you know earning around £20k sounds very low.

I'm 27 and live in North England and most people I know are earning a lot more than that and it's not like any of us have super awesome jobs or anything. I make £64k as an IT consultant, my missus earns £30-35k dependant on bonus as a team leader for a debt collection firm, my best mate earns around £35k as a heavy goods vehicle driver, another close mate earns around £50k as a gas engineer, one of my sisters makes £28k as a complaints handler, my other sister falls in your range but pays next to no tax (hair dresser so lots of cash in hand).

Unless all your mates are stacking shelves at Tesco or you're 18 i don't see how everyone you know can make about £20k. People in this thread seem to be talking about surgeons and solicitors and stuff which is obviously not your average Joe but I'd say that the vast majority of office workers or tradesmen make a lot more than £23k...