Why Is My Pay So Low?

(This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link to the Merchant’s site and purchase something I may earn a commission.The price you pay will be the same if you went to the Merchant’s site directly.)

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why is my pay so low/” You may be earning more today than say 10 years ago, but you still feel there is more month left at the end of the money. You are not alone.

We hear on the news that the unemployment rate is at an all time low. Then why are wages not rising more than they appear to be? Let’s look at some facts to see what has been happening in America since 1980.

Wage History Since 1980

Look at the chart below that is from the Economic Policy Institute:

Since 1980, the top 1% of the population that includes CEOs and very high earners have seen their real income rise by 41%. The Middle Class in comparison rose only 6%! while the low wage earners saw a decline of -5%.

In 1950, CEOs earned about 20 times the salary of the company’s average worker. Today’s CEOs earn 261 times that of the average worker. This applies not only to CEOs but all high income earners that comprise the top 1% of the population. Entrepreneurs and successful business owners also come into this category.

Growth In Debt

What you see is a shrinking Middle Class. The boom in the economy is benefiting the wealthiest of Americans. In order to survive, more and more people are getting into debt. For the Middle Class it all starts with student loans as the graph below shows:

Student loans currently account for $1.5 TRILLION in college debt. But it is not only student loan debt that is rising. Americans have over $1 Trillion in credit card debt and also more than $1Trilion in Auto loan debt. Don’t you think it is extremely stressful to be living with all that debt?

It is worthwhile to hear what Porter Stansberry has to say about this. He has been very accurate in predicting major trends in America for several decades:

“You’re in a hole and there is simply no way out. So it’s no surprise that deaths by drugs and poisoning for the bottom 60% of American’s population have doubled since the year 2000… and suicide rates have doubled as well over the same period.

This is incredibly sad—and it’s unfathomable that this is happening in the greatest country on earth.

Unfortunately, the problem is going to get much, much worse.

You see, tens of millions of people in America are desperate. They have no way out. And sooner or later this hopelessness and desperation are going to lead to violent and radical politics.”

What Can A Person Do?

Getting deeper into debt is definitely not the answer. You can get another job. Or sell anything of value you have. These are not long term solutions. Working two or more jobs will take its toll on family life if you are married.

And if you sold your valuables, what will you do when the money from that sale runs out?

Do you happen to be in this position where you are living paycheck to paycheck? You have no money left over to buy the finer things in life. Scrimping does not bode a happy state of life.

The Problem

In school we are taught to work hard and graduate from High School. Education is what helps you get ahead. And this is correct so far. Where this line of thinking goes astray is in not presenting all the options available to create a living as an adult.

The tried and true model is what is promoted 100% of the time. It is to go to college, get a degree followed by getting a job and working one’s whole life for a corporation. Or two. OR three. Because it is rare these days to stay with the same company one’s whole working life. More often than not, you are laid off because the company’s plans change and your services are not required anymore. Or you get so fed up you quit and look for another job.

Here is the stinker. The chances are when you went to college, you got a student loan. That is one kind of debt that can never be erased by declaring bankruptcy. All other loans can be erased but not this one. Not that you want to declare bankruptcy. The point I am making is, having a student loan dragging you down when you start your career is not the best way forward.

It gets worse. At one time when you got a job, you could expect reasonable pay raises and promotions as the years went by. You also had many be benefits that the company paid for like health insurance. In today s environment, employees have to fend for themselves. Even if a company has a health plan, the employee will have to make a larger contribution than before.

And when it comes to pay raises, forget it. They are few and far between.

Why Are We In This Situation?

When the Great Recession hit in 2008 it’s cause was excessive corporate greed. Guess what, the Government bailed most of the large corporations out using the tax payers money. Our money. What did the corporations do in return?

They laid off large numbers of workers, and curtailed benefits. Many started to hire new workers under contract and not as employees. In that way benefits and vacation pay could be avoided legally. The unemployed had no choice but to go along, assuming they could find a job. Eventually the benefits of full time workers were eroded.

As the economy picked up, corporations realized they were in the cat bird seat and could control their employees in a way they couldn’t before the Recession. If a worker didn’t like the low pay and low to non existent benefits what could they do. Sue their boss? That is not an option.

That’s the reason in my opinion why we have very low unemployment rates AND low wages. The recent move to raise the minimum wage will benefit the lowest paid workers. And that is a good thing.

Guess who shoulders the cost for that? The workers in the Middle Class. They will get less pay raises. And when they are promoted, the new pay rate will be only slightly higher than before.

Taken to its eventual conclusion the Middle Class is disappearing. Do you feel the same way?

There is a way you can boost your earnings in a company. By thinking like an entrepreneur you can make yourself more valuable so they will reward you not to leave. Sadly, many bosses do not like seeing their subordinates  getting noticed by upper management. So they try to sabotage their efforts. Worse yet, they will try to find reasons to fire their enterprising charges.  Can you relate to these situations?

The Solution

Do you remember that at the beginning I said that the 1% of wealthy Americans includes not only CEOs but also entrepreneurs and business owners?

Can I ask you a question? What is stopping you becoming an entrepreneur or a business owner? If you’re going to think like an entrepreneur for the benefit of the company you’re working for, why not direct that passion into your own enterprise?

When you think about being an entrepreneur and working for yourself, you see several obstacles. Such as needing capital. Not to mention the time it would take. How can you do that as well as hold on to a full time job?

I do not blame you at all if you feel trapped with no where to turn. The “system” is rigged to create a source of cheap labor for the corporations and business owners.

But there is a way that does requires little or no capital at all. It will need your time to learn the skills for this business. The good news is the cost to do that is about $1 a day with the company I’m introducing you to. And it costs nothing to check out how it works.

I am talking about the business of Affiliate Marketing. You probably guessed that by the title of my website. I have written extensively about this exciting field and will provide you with a few links to the relevant blog posts below.

You CAN build a successful online business working part time. When your online income exceeds your full time income, just fire your boss!

Congratulations! You are on your way to having time and financial freedom ready to join the ranks of those high income earners.

However, I want to summarize a couple of things here.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot etc, invite others like you and me to become an affiliate with their company and promote the products they sell. They will pay you a commission for any sales that are a result of your efforts.

We create our own websites that we use to do this. I am not going to go into more details here as you can read all about how it works in the links below:

What Is The Best Home Based Business –  All you need to know about Affiliate Marketing

Is Affiliate Marketing For You? –  Affiliate Marketing is NOT for everyone

Wealthy Affiliate – Is It Legit? – Over 1.6 Million taught over a period of 14 years

Let Me Know What You Think

How is your job situation assuming you have a job? How does creating an online asset that pays you passive income sound to you?

I would love to know what you think about Affiliate Marketing. Is it right for you?What do you think about Wealthy Affiliate as a platform to help you achieve your dreams?

If you have any questions you can leave them in the comments window below and I will answer them promptly.

I wish you much success in life

Edwin Bernard

12 thoughts on “Why Is My Pay So Low?”

  1. It can really be annoying working at a company and yet despite all the promotions and stuff, the pay is still not enough to cover one’s needs not to talk of the wants. 

    Corporate America is rather preferring an employee getting into debts while the employers are getting more money. So definitely, the best way to be among the select few in the market is to have a money making alternative and definitely, affiliate marketing is a good way to go about it. Thanks

    1. I know what you mean Ro. I was fortunate because when I started my working career my skills were in demand so I was able to negotiate a salary well above average. That is what helped me in the years ahead receiving small percentage raises.

      When I was appointed the head of a department I formed it was tough at pay raise time because I was given the total amount allotted to my department and I had to decide how to divide the money. 

      Thanks for your response.

      Cheers.

      Edwin

  2. I have never looked at affiliate marketing from this angle before. It is true that unemployment is going really low but pay isn’t rising. I used to work a day job too before I switched to affiliate marketing. I didn’t switch though because of pay even though honestly my pay wasn’t good enough. It was because I wanted to work on my own. Like a CEO. And that’s how the feeling has been. Its a great post you have written here. Keep up the good work.

    1. Henderson,

      Being the CEO of oneself is such a great feeling. Good for you to have made that transition. I wish you all the best.

      Edwin

  3. Wow, this is indeed very informative. I like the approach and how you gave a solution at the end. I use to work under a company and my boss only cared about what you bring to his wallet and nothing about you. 

    Over time I was running into debt and low standard of living until I went into some online business. Since then I’ve been able to pay my debt and have an idea of how much money I’ll be expecting. I stand with the opinion that being an entrepreneur is the best means to make money. 

    1. Dane,

      Thanks for your talking about your situation. It validates what I stated. I wish you all the best.

      Edwin

  4. Great article!

    The system really is rigged for cheap labor. It seems impossible to get ahead! You do like you’re told, go to college, get an education, get a good job, but then…is that it? I work and pay bills every month? As you said, scraping money together each month is stressful, not happy. 

    I think affiliate marketing can provide that extra bit of income to get ahead. It’s something you can research for free and is affordable when you are ready to act. I’m excited with my own journey in affiliate marketing.

    Good luck!

  5. Wages relative to inflation are getting less and less ideal for sure. Most people attribute money and gold as a hedge against one another, but I feel that monetary valuation is better related to population. If you think about it, the higher the population, the more demand there is for money. That CEOs earn 261 times more than the average worker is a bit ludicrous. Student loan debt is an unfortunate thing. I think a lot has to do with the fees that colleges charge. Lots of times fees are the same cost as tuition. It’s all well and dandy except for the clientele, who are essentially children coming out of high school who don’t really have a clue of what they’re getting into financially most times. A lot has to do with parents. If there are irresponsible parents who don’t guide their children properly it can be damaging. Great post, you bring awareness to a very important topic here.

    1. I like your conclusions regarding money as well as student loans. I wrote a blog that could help students with their student loans. You are on point regarding teens not knowing the implication of student loans. In my blog I talk to the parents to help raise the money while their are still kids in school using Affiliate Marketing so that little or no debt will be necessary to pay for their kids college education. 

      Thanks for responding. 

      Edwin

  6. Interesting I came across this article while researching the cost vs reward of current higher education. As cost continues to rise, the less it makes sense to accrue that much debt, unless of course you are studying to become a doctor or lawyer. Those who have less traditional entrepreneurial desires have great alternative options today, including the ever-growing ability of using the internet for various things. 

    Affiliate marketing can be a very successful long-term career, as there will always be businesses that intend to sell things, and will pay people (affiliates) to promote (market) their brand. Take a business such as Amazon, as you mentioned, with billions of products that could be promoted, and you can create yourself a full-time income from commissions. And Amazon is just one company. 

    The opportunity with affiliate marketing is essentially limitless, and you can do it from anywhere you want. With the increase in the number of people looking to work from home, and the obsession with being connected to the internet 24/7, I expect to continue to see a steady rise in the number of people taking advantage of the business as a career. Very time relevant article you’ve written.

    1. Cris,

      Thanks for your insights. Affiliate Marketing is one of several opportunities online, but in my opinion the best for several reasons. I wrote a Blog Post about it being, “The Best Home Based Business” as I strongly believe in this. 

      All the best to you.

      Edwin

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