My income has definitely not been stagnant for the past decade, but I'm a freelancer. Last year I briefly was an employee, and I was appalled at what that meant

My income has definitely not been stagnant for the past decade, but I'm a freelancer. Last year I briefly was an employee, and I was appalled at what that meant for my income. It was not $120k-$160k, it was more like €70k.