family cost of living

The answer to your question is very much depending on many things including the level of education you are looking for and the lifestyle. However, my initial answer would be NO - 26K DIRHAMS is not enough. If I were I you, I would not accept less than 35K DIRHAMS.

For accommodation costs I would recommend checking out Dubizzle on the web. One thing you should keep in mind is that rents for accommodation unlike Europe and the UK are paid in advance for the whole year. So if your company isn't paying for accommodation that is a large lump of money to find. There is normally between 5 & 10% deposit that you will have to pay the landlord on to of that and a between 5 & 10% agents fees.

School fees per year are between 14 -103K AED per year per child depending on the school and the age of the child.

On top of your rent and school fees you will have your food, electricity, internet, air conditioning if it is a central system for the building and transport costs.

Your salary of 312,000 AED will just about cover the rental of a small two bedroom apartment and the school fees. So unless you are prepared to live a very frugal lifestyle you need to go back to your potential employer and do some renegotiation.

Remember not being able to pay your bills here is a serious offence.