2 ms·

> That's more like "do janitors believe that with hard work they will be better off in five years’ time" Do you believe that working really hard as a janitor f

> That's more like "do janitors believe that with hard work they will be better off in five years’ time" Do you believe that working really hard as a janitor for 5 years is going to have any meaningful impact on your life compared to working really hard as a lawyer for 5 years? What kind of career trajectory do you see for a janitor over 5 to 10 years? If you are unfortunate to get very few opportunities in life, to the point where the best work you can get is a janitor, how is hard work going to suddenly change anything? It's not going to give you money or time to get a degree or something significant to change your job prospects. So unless you get lucky, then no amount of hard work is going to help you. And it is equally unlikely that starting their own business will help, because most businesses fail within the first 5 years.

eesmith 5y ago
Of course not. But that's not at all what the survey was about. The topic is the "Percent who believe they and their families will be better off in five years’ time" when asked now, vs. in an earlier survey. 50 years ago it was also true that working really hard as a janitor for 5 years generally would not have as meaningful impact on your life compared to working really hard as a lawyer for 5 years. But the point is that 70 years ago, in the post-war boom, a janitor probably believed their life would get better. Even if never as good as a hard-working lawyer.