One interesting signpost for how seriously bizarre our 21st C economic situation is: for as long as I've been in-and-around ministry work, I've heard older ministers complain about how low-paying ministry jobs are; and, yet, most ministry jobs I've seen are decent 2020 wages???
This is not commentary that ministry jobs are "paid well" (they should be paid more), but more that so many parts of the American economy have been so hollowed out by the past three decades of labor protection erosion that jobs that once "paid poorly" now look like high-end!
I keep thinking about how my grandfather worked a unionized factory job his entire life, never went to college, raised six children, owned a sizable 4+BR Victorian home, volunteered down time for his parish and for various town administration jobs;...
but then our socioeconomic cohort finds ourselves clamoring and fighting over the rare $60k position which represents only a portion of that same buying power, and requires a graduate degree (thus: additional debt) with ever-inflating housing costs.
(Again, I should be clear, the issue here is that wages across the board have become depressed whilst also, and at the same time, requiring an ever-increasing [and unreasonable] series of work experiences and education...)
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