#income #ParentsIncome #earnings
“If you’re born poor, you die poor.”
That’s according to a United Kingdom politician from six years ago. The quote leads off an article by Michael Heath Bloomberg published in the Aug. 30,2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The article says little has changed in those six years. Great Britain, France, Italy and the U.S. continue to show a high correlation between parents’ earnings and those of their children, the article quotes a report by Standard Life Investments. The Scandinavian countries, Australia, Germany and Canada show a similar correlation, but to a lesser extent, the article says.
As a result, human capital is wasted and workers are less motivated, the article says. Higher levels of inequality in earnings stunts economic growth, the article says, quoting research.
Let’s think about this. Perhaps children go into the same, or similar, professions as their parents. More likely, however, parents probably have told their kids that their potential is limited because of finances, innate ability etc. How many have been advised by parents, or other trusted elders, to seek security, rather than follow dreams?
The article says researchers tracked the proportion of 30-year-olds who earned more than their parents did at that age, and found a significant downtrend: just 50 percent of children born in the 1980s earned more than their parents at the same age, compared with nearly 80 percent of 1950s-born kids, the article says.
Another figure the article quotes: in the American Midwest, just 41 percent of children born in 1984 earned more than their parents at the same age, compared with 95 percent of those born in 1940.
Certainly, decline in manufacturing, as the article says, has much to do with that. Inflation is certainly another factor. People working in the 1940s and 1950s were paid much less than their children would earn. But wage stagnation is real. And it’s obvious in just about every industrialized country.
So what to do? Most everyone could sense this problem that the article actually quantified. The security that one’s parents may have advised their children to seek is just not there. A young person today – even some who’ve invested in a college education – can expect, unless he or she is truly fortunate, that his job and career he starts with will change, or end, before he wants it to.
And the change that happens usually means more work for less money, or having to take a new job that pays less.
There are ways to combat this. First, don’t be afraid to change careers. See what the market is looking for, learn the appropriate skills, and change. Second, save your money. That may require forgoing frivolous pleasures so that you can bank, and properly invest, money over time. The time trajectory, remember, may not have a person working to age 65. It may only last until, say, age 45.
Finally, be open to checking out different ways to make money. Perhaps you are unaware of the many good ways to make money that have nothing to do with a W-2 job. To check out one of the best, message me.
Though the article paints a gloomy income picture, it doesn’t have to be that way. It may take a desire to want a better life, a willingness to looking at things that may look uncomfortable and a belief that YOU can ultimately control your own situation.
The security your parents may have told you to seek is likely imaginary. Therefore, not only is there no harm in pursing your dream, there could be a real benefit to doing so. Remember, too, that pursuing a dream can also allow you to help others do the same.
Peter