[20years]

I don't think the title of this article is good or portrays what it is really getting at. It is not really about having a cushy job that you like going to, but instead more about how jobs available today don't pay well.

The pay does not match up to inflation, healthcare costs and cost of living. Put the cost of higher education into that mix and it just adds to the problem. So many are stuck paying off high students loans to only be able to get mediocre paying jobs.

"only 40 percent of Americans currently have 'good' jobs."

Meaning head of household jobs. That is a problem!

[shados]

Thats still all relative though. If everyone made between 10-15 bucks an hour, 15 bucks an hour would be enough to pay for anything that matters. Chinese investors aside, the reason an elementary school teacher might have trouble affording an apartment in Manhattan is because they're competing with people who can afford them. Such as the s/w engineer with the cushy job.

[samcal]

Right, the problem might arise from when you have some people making $9/hr and others making on the order of $1k-100k/hr. Those two groups both occupy and influence the markets, and if you don't keep that gap small enough you risk people not being able to afford the cost of living. I agree that if you paid everyone $10-15/hr, no one would be producing any goods that no one could afford.