You have to be careful when interpreting the numbers. Although the adjunct numbers are large, the number that are paid really low wages is considerably less. Ad

You have to be careful when interpreting the numbers. Although the adjunct numbers are large, the number that are paid really low wages is considerably less. Adjunct faculty in business, law, etc. are often paid well. You can live pretty well on a full-time, non-tenure track wage if you are an economist. $80K and up is common. In addition, you have a lot of adjunct faculty teaching for low compensation because they want to teach. Some work full time and want to keep their ties to the academic world. Some don't have a PhD so adjunct work is their only alternative if they want to teach at a research university. Some are taking time off to raise children, and with a well-paid spouse, they are in a position to teach for $4000 a class. Some are grad students trying to make enough to support themselves while writing a dissertation. As for the others...good question. Many are holding out hope that one day they will get the magical tenure-track offer. It's wishful thinking in many humanities fields, to be honest.