Your last point is a really interesting and undervalued one. I think "dedicated interest groups care way more than the bulk of people" is an under-appreciated f

Your last point is a really interesting and undervalued one. I think "dedicated interest groups care way more than the bulk of people" is an under-appreciated factor in all kinds of negotiations; we know it happens in politics, but it ends up shaping everything from workplace benefits to product design. As for specific benefits, healthcare is a very obvious example of why people push for benefits, and how it distorts earning charts. Per capita healthcare spending has grown much faster than inflation. A worker who forgoes healthcare for a salary hike will either fall behind immediately, or need to negotiate a present-value benefit that will quickly become an awkwardly large number. (And that's before we take into account the ability of employers to get good healthcare at a discount.) The price of healthcare, college, housing, and childcare have skyrocketed compared to inflation. Anything an employer can offer that either covers those costs (healthcare, on-site daycare) or helps reduce them (flexible hours or a shuttle to improve commutes) is going to become steadily more valuable to employees for as long as that continues, and consequently more important to lock in now.