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Outside of the tech world, this is absolutely true. My wife is an elementary school teacher and a few of her coworkers have to drive for Lyft or do something si

by djitz 4y ago

Outside of the tech world, this is absolutely true. My wife is an elementary school teacher and a few of her coworkers have to drive for Lyft or do something similar a couple of nights per week or on weekends just to be able to afford their apartments. These aren’t exactly luxury digs, either.

nostrademons 4y ago
Elementary school teacher (and other government jobs) are some of the worst in inflationary periods, though. You have a monopsony employer; usually some emotional attachment to the job; a school calendar that provides convenient quitting/rehiring times only once a year; and a seniority-based pay system that oftentimes makes you start at the bottom if you switch school districts. This prevents many teachers from job-hopping the way other professions would, which locks them out of the biggest sources of raises. When my mom started teaching in the late 60s, doctors/lawyers/engineers made only about 20-30% more than elementary school teachers. By the time she retired in the mid-00s, it was about 3x more, and my starting salary as a software engineer was basically equal to her retirement salary. 15 years into my career I was making 10x what she ever did.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  That's not inflation as much as our society's shattered version of a meritocracy.
- phkahler 4y ago
  >> usually some emotional attachment to the job; a school calendar that provides convenient quitting/rehiring times only once a year Don't forget that teachers generally have a pension plan. They also work for a district, which means changing employers requires relocating or drastically changing ones commute. It's also not viable to jump between "industries" due to that pension. They're fairly locked in and then taken advantage of.
SantalBlush 4y ago
It is false, your anecdote notwithstanding. Nominal wages are not staying "still same" for the average person in the US. The Atlanta Fed posts the median nominal wage growth nationwide, which is around 6.7% as of June 2022 [0]. If we looked at the average, this number would be even higher, because outliers skew the distribution upwards. Now, if the statement were more like, "The average person is worse off in spite of wage growth because of inflation," I would wholly agree. But wages have not stayed the same. https://www.atlantafed.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker https://www.atlantafed.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker
- StanislavPetrov 4y ago
  Gas is up over 100%. Food is up 50% or more depending on the item. Rents and the cost of health insurance are soaring. Even if it was true that the median worker was making 6.7% more, that hardly comes close to making up the gap in what they are forced to spend for basic necessities.
  - gruez 4y ago
    You two are talking past each other. The parent post explicitly acknowledges inflation is a thing and is reducing overall spending power. His contention is that "still same wage gig job" is misleading, because it implies absolute earnings have stayed the same.
  - ChrisLomont 4y ago
    Gas is not up 100%. Overall food cost for the average consumer is not up 50%. These are easily looked up. Fortunately we have a metric that measures what people actually spend on goods, called inflation, which is under 10%.
    - datavirtue 4y ago
      Not the technical meaning of inflation, just temporary price increases that will be shrugged off in short order. Not before the media and politicians ride it for all it's worth though. Everything goes hyper-bole so quick these days and becomes "true." "Inflation" is a buzz word that is meant to encapsulate outrage at the price increases.
addicted 4y ago
Rent is not “gas and groceries”. The U.S. isn’t building enough housing. Especially in places people want to live. This is a multi decade problem and almost fully explains the migration to southern cities. The marginal rise in gas, as the OP claimed, has nothing to do with why credit card rates are soaring. And the OP’s dismissing job numbers is also incorrect, because wages are increasing and that is playing a huge role in offsetting the pandemic/Ukraine war related inflation.
- djitz 4y ago
  I guess I’m one of those weirdos who took that to mean “people can’t afford to live” and not so much a statistical analysis on the price of gas and groceries.
  - CryptoBanker 4y ago
    People love to poke technical holes in arguments like this when they don’t believe that many many people in the United States are having serious troubles making ends meet
    - datavirtue 4y ago
      I think it stems from laziness. It's odd though because the things these people put themselves through (Amazon package delivery, Door dash, Uber) is far from easy and makes them look and feel really productive. The good jobs are going to require mental ambition to get training or even find a job that isn't pushed in their face with VC money. Bogged down all day and can't make ends meet? New plan, you have nothing to lose.

by djitz 4y ago

nostrademons 4y ago

Elementary school teacher (and other government jobs) are some of the worst in inflationary periods, though. You have a monopsony employer; usually some emotional attachment to the job; a school calendar that provides convenient quitting/rehiring times only once a year; and a seniority-based pay system that oftentimes makes you start at the bottom if you switch school districts. This prevents many teachers from job-hopping the way other professions would, which locks them out of the biggest sources of raises. When my mom started teaching in the late 60s, doctors/lawyers/engineers made only about 20-30% more than elementary school teachers. By the time she retired in the mid-00s, it was about 3x more, and my starting salary as a software engineer was basically equal to her retirement salary. 15 years into my career I was making 10x what she ever did.

aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
That's not inflation as much as our society's shattered version of a meritocracy.
phkahler 4y ago
>> usually some emotional attachment to the job; a school calendar that provides convenient quitting/rehiring times only once a year Don't forget that teachers generally have a pension plan. They also work for a district, which means changing employers requires relocating or drastically changing ones commute. It's also not viable to jump between "industries" due to that pension. They're fairly locked in and then taken advantage of.

SantalBlush 4y ago

It is false, your anecdote notwithstanding. Nominal wages are not staying "still same" for the average person in the US. The Atlanta Fed posts the median nominal wage growth nationwide, which is around 6.7% as of June 2022 [0]. If we looked at the average, this number would be even higher, because outliers skew the distribution upwards. Now, if the statement were more like, "The average person is worse off in spite of wage growth because of inflation," I would wholly agree. But wages have not stayed the same. https://www.atlantafed.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker https://www.atlantafed.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker

StanislavPetrov 4y ago
Gas is up over 100%. Food is up 50% or more depending on the item. Rents and the cost of health insurance are soaring. Even if it was true that the median worker was making 6.7% more, that hardly comes close to making up the gap in what they are forced to spend for basic necessities.
- gruez 4y ago
  You two are talking past each other. The parent post explicitly acknowledges inflation is a thing and is reducing overall spending power. His contention is that "still same wage gig job" is misleading, because it implies absolute earnings have stayed the same.
- ChrisLomont 4y ago
  Gas is not up 100%. Overall food cost for the average consumer is not up 50%. These are easily looked up. Fortunately we have a metric that measures what people actually spend on goods, called inflation, which is under 10%.
  - datavirtue 4y ago
    Not the technical meaning of inflation, just temporary price increases that will be shrugged off in short order. Not before the media and politicians ride it for all it's worth though. Everything goes hyper-bole so quick these days and becomes "true." "Inflation" is a buzz word that is meant to encapsulate outrage at the price increases.

addicted 4y ago

Rent is not “gas and groceries”. The U.S. isn’t building enough housing. Especially in places people want to live. This is a multi decade problem and almost fully explains the migration to southern cities. The marginal rise in gas, as the OP claimed, has nothing to do with why credit card rates are soaring. And the OP’s dismissing job numbers is also incorrect, because wages are increasing and that is playing a huge role in offsetting the pandemic/Ukraine war related inflation.

djitz 4y ago
I guess I’m one of those weirdos who took that to mean “people can’t afford to live” and not so much a statistical analysis on the price of gas and groceries.
- CryptoBanker 4y ago
  People love to poke technical holes in arguments like this when they don’t believe that many many people in the United States are having serious troubles making ends meet
  - datavirtue 4y ago
    I think it stems from laziness. It's odd though because the things these people put themselves through (Amazon package delivery, Door dash, Uber) is far from easy and makes them look and feel really productive. The good jobs are going to require mental ambition to get training or even find a job that isn't pushed in their face with VC money. Bogged down all day and can't make ends meet? New plan, you have nothing to lose.