Danny to answer your question; NO.
I cannot afford to work for a maximum possible take home pay of £180 per month.
If I was single I would maybe consider it. £180 would maybe just cover my monthly groceries and nappies bill.
What about the safety implications of such an offer?
Let's take an imaginary situation:
Pilot X is in his mid-30's, got 2 young kids a wife and a mortgage. He has used up all his savings and re-mortgaged part of his house to pay for flight training. The offer of a position in an airline comes along following your proposal; £2.00 per flight hour, nothing else. Pilot X doesnt live in the S.E. of England, and the airline is based out of LHR, as an example. Pilot X needs to find accomodation close to the airport. There isnt a chance he could cover any rented accom for £180 per month, so whatever savings he has left gets used up, and maybe another loan to cover living expenses.
Everything is going tickety boo for Pilot X, ground training is completed LPC/OPC passed etc etc, he is now flying the line and the financial worries are starting to slip away, apart from the phone calls from his wife asking when he is next going to be coming home?, when can I buy the kids new clothes? when is that airline going to start paying you? The usual sort of things that wives ask. Then one day pilot X has been working close to the monthly limit, he is tired, getting a bit tetchy. His missus manages to get in touch with him to let him know that the central heating boiler has packed up and there is no warmth or hot water in the house, a repair man has been and the estimate for a new boiler is £1800. Where is the money going to come from? Pilot X is now under considerable strain, not only from a demanding job, but also from his personal life. His family is now really suffering because he wants to fly a 737. Too late to worry about that, the captain is badgering him for loadsheets, LMCs, weather charts etc etc. The business of flying keeps his family worries at bay for a while, but they are still there. Once established in the cruise, pilot X starts to worry about his family, no hot water for the kids to wash, £1800 to find for a boiler, only just enough money to scrape through each month, credit cards maxed out, car making a funny noise, is that going to cost money?
Pilot X misses 2 radio calls, the captain is getting pissed off with his new F/O. The wx at destination is at or below minimums. CB's and +TSRA being reported. Stress level in the flightdeck starting to increase, workload going up. Pilot X can't totally get rid of the worries in his mind. He's not concentrating fully on the job, because of the money worries.
I could carry on with the mythical pilot X, but I think you get the gist of where I am going with it?
A lower salary while someone is under training is reasonable, even if it just enough to cover at least living expenses (I don't mean that it includes mortgages etc, the wife can put on a short skirt and go down the docks and earn enough for that
), and would ease the burden of trying to live as well as learning to fly a very expensive piece of aluminium around at 3/4 the speed of sound.
Maybe this is also some food for thought?