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In reply to the discussion: This, my friends, is far too typical for my generation. [View all]Laelth
(32,017 posts)I have been very fortunate, and I will survive, but I can't afford to put my children through college. It's quite distressing that I can't give my children what my parents gave me. It's tempting for GenXers to blame themselves, but here's the truth:
If Elizabeth Warren is right, and if wages had kept up with inflation and increases in productivity, then a burger-flipping job in 2013 would pay $22.00/hr. ($44K/year). Someone with a High School diploma would start at a wage scale above minimum wage, and people with college degrees would start at about $30.00/hr. ($60K/year). Of course, people with experience would get paid more.
I could live quite nicely with those kinds of wages ... just like the Boomers did when they were younger. We just don't live in that world any more.
-Laelth