Wage Watchers: How much does a Youth House co-ordinator earn?

What do you do?
Employed by the city, I assist young people in their youth house organisation. What that means concretely is that I support the young volunteers in the general upkeep of the youth house and administrative tasks (accounting, organising activities, etc) of the non-profit.

While there are more than 400 youth houses in Belgium, only a quarter of them employ coordinators. Having a coordinator is important in ensuring the continuation of initiatives beyond the average one- to two-year time span of its volunteers.

Do you enjoy the work?
Absolutely! I have an exciting job with a lot of variety. I also love working with and mentoring young people as they learn how to perform different tasks involved in running a non-profit: accounting, organising meetings, making promotions and taking on responsibility…

How do you find the pay?
I have a decent net salary of €1,345 per month and get paid extra for overtime (night and weekend work). It's more or less the same salary I would earn as a teacher.

Would you change jobs for a better salary?
No, I would only change jobs if I no longer felt challenged in my current post, which is definitely not the case now. 

How many hours do you work each week?
I work 37.5 hours a week. During busy periods – namely from September to November and February to May – I work a lot of overtime, but I can accumulate these hours for time off. The less busy periods are exam sessions and school vacations.

Do you manage to save?
Yes, I try to put something aside each month.

What does most of your earning go towards?
Towards my house loan.

Are you more cautious about how you spend because of the crisis?
Yes, because we hope to renovate our house, we pay attention to the money we spend.

What do you like spending money on?
On surfing, surf vacations, CDs, records and concerts.

What would you do if you won the lottery?
I would invest part of the money in renovating our house and another part in surfing trips to South Africa and Australia. What’s left would then go to my future children.