The table illustrates the salaries earned by secondary/high school teachers in five countries in 2009. Overall, while Australian teachers received the lowest salaries in the starting year, after 15 years, and even at the maximum salary level, Luxembourg offered considerably higher salaries.
In Australia and Denmark, teachers reached their maximum salary less than a decade, at 48,000 and 54,000 respectively. However, the difference between starting salaries and end-of-career earnings was significant. Although Australian teachers’ earnings were 28,000, Denmark’s salary was 45,000. After 15 years, those countries underwent obvious rise, indicating 48,000 and 54,000.
By comparison, Luxembourg followed a very different pattern. Teachers began with 80,000, and after 15 years this figure increased significantly at 119,000, reaching its maximum by 132,000. Despite taking 30 years to reach its maximum level, salaries at each stage were substantially higher than in the other countries.
As for Asian countries, Japan and Korea reached their peak in 37 and 34 years. In 2009, Japan’s salary was 34,000, experiencing noticeable growth by reaching 65,000 after 15 years. Korea also saw similar trend during that period, starting with 30,000 and increasing to 48,000, which was lower income compared to Japan’s figure.