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I'd be interested in seeing the change in wage distribution by profession. In the 70's it was still possible to exit high school and move into manufacturing job

I'd be interested in seeing the change in wage distribution by profession. In the 70's it was still possible to exit high school and move into manufacturing jobs that paid 2-4x minimum wage. Those jobs are largely gone now, and the opportunities for 30-year-olds with high school only are more often (I speculate) Walmart or Starbucks or Chipotle type jobs. There is a higher percentage of college educated that may balance that out, but we need to see the distribution to understand it.

willholloway 11y ago
People I know that skipped college and began working and saving right after high school (all as waiters), were able to purchase a home, or a two-family, or three units for investment purposes with the rock bottom prices/foreclosures during the housing crisis. They have been able to accumulate some wealth on service industry salaries. They don't make much less than many of their counterparts with liberal arts degrees, who without the head start graduated into the recession with nothing. For many the opportunity cost of college was high.
- dionidium 11y ago
  I dated a bartender for a few years and one of my best friends waits tables, so I've ended up meeting a fair number of industry people. I have no idea what you're talking about. They're almost all renters. And this is in St. Louis, where housing is cheap. (Also, I'm in my thirties. Not talking about people just starting out.)
  - willholloway 11y ago
    What's cheap? My cousin bought his first foreclosure for 33k during the south Florida housing bust. He has two more now, all from waiting tables and being extremely thirfty. A 140k two family amortized over 30 years at 3.5% can be free to live in for the owner occupying one unit. That can be done in Connecticut for example. This is how some of my non colege educated millenial friends are getting by quite well.
- whybroke 11y ago
  So an economy where people sell hamburgers to each other _and_ houses? Somehow I don't think that is a believable solution.

willholloway 11y ago

People I know that skipped college and began working and saving right after high school (all as waiters), were able to purchase a home, or a two-family, or three units for investment purposes with the rock bottom prices/foreclosures during the housing crisis. They have been able to accumulate some wealth on service industry salaries. They don't make much less than many of their counterparts with liberal arts degrees, who without the head start graduated into the recession with nothing. For many the opportunity cost of college was high.

dionidium 11y ago
I dated a bartender for a few years and one of my best friends waits tables, so I've ended up meeting a fair number of industry people. I have no idea what you're talking about. They're almost all renters. And this is in St. Louis, where housing is cheap. (Also, I'm in my thirties. Not talking about people just starting out.)
- willholloway 11y ago
  What's cheap? My cousin bought his first foreclosure for 33k during the south Florida housing bust. He has two more now, all from waiting tables and being extremely thirfty. A 140k two family amortized over 30 years at 3.5% can be free to live in for the owner occupying one unit. That can be done in Connecticut for example. This is how some of my non colege educated millenial friends are getting by quite well.
whybroke 11y ago
So an economy where people sell hamburgers to each other _and_ houses? Somehow I don't think that is a believable solution.