Originally Posted by Desk-pilot
Eventually most people end up with kids as I have and £32k doesn't really provide a nice family house and a nice lifestyle (which is what I comfortably afforded in the previous IT job).
I think this comes down to perspective. Some people, presumably such as yourself, take large pay cuts to become professional pilots, whereas others may aspire to a salary of £32k. Personally I think a combined household salary of £60k-ish would provide a comfortable family home and many luxuries, providing one doesn't have a big ego to feed. This of course depends on whether your other half wants to be a housewife for the foreseeable future or if she wants to work for a living when kids are at school.
You can't, especially now, expect similar effort and expenditure of time between IT and aviation industries to yield comparable salaries. Aviation is increasingly becoming a job you do for the passion, not for the money it pays.