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>> Mr. Wardrip, Mr. Fee and Ms. Nelson define a “good job” in simple terms: It has to pay more than the national median wage, $37,690 in 2017, adjusted for the
by blakesterz 8y ago
>> Mr. Wardrip, Mr. Fee and Ms. Nelson define a “good job” in simple terms: It has to pay more than the national median wage, $37,690 in 2017, adjusted for the cost of living in the area.
I'm not usually one to be pedantic, but it seems like there's many MANY "terrible jobs" that pay $37k or more. I assume they had to keep it simple for their definition, and much of what makes a job actually good is subjective, but I was hoping this would have a little more nuance. It seems obvious to say pay is only part of what makes a good job good.
- LeifCarrotson 8y agoTo perform a statistical analysis, you want an objective measure, and money is a great proxy for value. You can pay people to be frustrated and stressed. The interesting thing about this definition, to me, is the Lake Wobegon-esque effect that statistically half of all jobs are "good" because they're above the median. A poverty level or inflation-adjusted absolute metric might be more useful; you could measure the effect of policies based on the reduction of or increase in the number of good jobs.
- Rapzid 8y agoIt also makes me wonder if those are all entry level jobs or require a lot of experience. If they are available to somebody just starting out, that's one thing. But that's not "good job" money 10 years in if you are trying to live a life and work towards some semblance of financial security/independence.