What constitutes a "liveable wage"?

That's almost impossible to answer. What might work for you won't necessarily work for me.
Someone starting out of college might be able to get by on $25K, depending on the market. Throw a kids into the mix and it's probably impossible to get by on that.

 

Jeebus ... I don't know how you folks are doing it ... if I was still in the newspaper industry in this town, I'd barely be cresting $40K and it would be impossible to live in this city.

Granted, I don't love my job the way I used to, but I still like it.

 

Then work in a grocery store. Good luck. I heard grocerystoreclerks.com sucks.

I wish I got paid more, too. I wish I got paid three times as much to do what I love, or hell, 100 times what I now get paid. I knew what the state of the industry was before I got in it, however, so I'm not standing around, glaring at my paycheck and screaming "WHAT!?!?!?"

Everyone keeps acting like they changed the rules yesterday.

 

Thats not the point.

We all know the pay sucks. Since the job requires a degree it shouldn't suck more than a grocery store clerks job.

 

Well, it wasn't yesterday, per se, but the rules have recently changed. It used to be that you work hard, put out solid copy, do some solid feature writing, and you could move up from one paper to the next.

Now, if you're at the lower levels, you're doing much more than writing. You're editing, you're taking photos, you're setting up webpages, you're doing layout. It's hard enough finding time to do all your usual work, yet alone time to put together a kick-ass feature.

Oh, and by the way, the best part of this is that because there are a billion other people just like you, you're unlikely to move up ever and should consider yourself lucky that you even have your current job.

For most, this coupled with the low income/low benefits make it seem like it really has all been a waste.

 

I know. The pay in this industry is bullshit. In order to afford my brand new Beamer, I have to rent out my house in the Hamptons to college kids during the off-year.

 

And that's just one of the many sacrifices I'm sure.

 

I don't agree with the sentiment, but it's kind of neat to see "Pilot" trying to put "Cadet" in line.

I will rue the day someone registers as "Scott Summers" or "Charles Xavier."

 

Whatever wage you're talking about, you need to factor in some savings. I don't care if it's $50 a pay in a 401k or putting something aside for emergencies or a rainy day, living paycheck to paycheck sucks. It's a lot easier to do this with a working spouse. I'm glad I'm not just starting out in this business.

 

There's a big difference between can and should.

I can buy a new car every six years.

I CHOOSE to pay on a 10-year mortgage and put 15% into my 401(k) instead.

A happy and comfortable retirement nest egg with no money worries trumps "new-car smell" on my list of priorities.

 

Is it just me or do a lot of journalists seem to wear this shitty treatment thing like some badge of honor? Does it add more nobility to what we do if we are getting paid squat and a half to do it? Newspaper people, it seems, have gotten so used to getting shabby treatment that they undervalue their own work and their own skills. That's not nobility, that's just bad business sense.

 

"Squat and a half"? Who gave you the extra half? I was told we all had to get by on squat this year. Damn lyin' management. Damn management's pet.