In the physical sciences (possibly others but I can only speak to what I know), there's an expectation that your compensation hits an inflection point somewhere

In the physical sciences (possibly others but I can only speak to what I know), there's an expectation that your compensation hits an inflection point somewhere in your mid-thirties (once you've endured the hazing of the PhD and multiple post-docs). For example, I know that in my company I make a 20 percent premium over junior engineers hired fresh out of college at the same time I was, and I'm a PhD program wash-out. So it's not exactly "poor compensation," it's more "poor compensation through the years when most educated people have children."