Our Sunday newspaper has a Parade Magazine insert. This morning's magazine front page headlines the magazine's annual report on What People Earn, with photos of celebrities and "real people" with "real jobs" with their salaries. The article inside has more photos.
My first impression was that this was not really a sensitive story to run when so many people aren't receiving any salaries at all. Next, I thought that celebrities get paid too much, and real people with real jobs too little.
Laying aside celebrity and sports star salaries and thinking about the "real people" shown, I think that these salaries reflect our priorities as a nation. I recognize that location is also a factor in salaries, but for a certified nurse's aide in Utah to live on $20,200 is pitiful. A special-ed assistant salary in Utah of $18,00 even more so.
Salaries aren't the only, or best, way to determine what professions our society values. But they surely are one measure, and this report illustrates a lack of willingness to pay sustainable salaries for jobs that are crucial to the continued well-being and growth of the nation. Think about it. What does it say about us all when a special-ed assistant is below the poverty level? When a nurse's aide is working below the nation's poverty level?
Recently, I read somewhere (no link, memory alone) that as a nation we spend $35 billion per year on pet food. We are keeping our daughter's dog for her now, and I see from this article that she owes us big time. A pet sitter/dog walker in St. Louis makes $100,000 per year. How can we pay a deputy sheriff in Philadelphia only $47,800 and a person $100K to walk our dogs? Something is wrong there.
I realize that I am ranting about something that has no solution other than raising public awareness and urging them, us, to change priorities. But I worry abot it. What if the special-ed assistants changed jobs, perhaps to an assistant retail manager, thereby doubling his or her salary? What would be the effect on the children with special needs? What if there weren't any nursing aides in a hospital to help care for our sick?
Google shows a list of professions that are most respected, Here is one. I wonder how respect correlates to salary. Here's an idea. There are probably tables on the Internet that would tell me more, but my gut tells me that they aren't really well correlated.
It may seem incongruous, but in general I am much less concerned that some celebrities make enormous amounts of money. There are exceptions, of course. But that Jennifer Anniston makes $27 million, according to Parade, doesn't bother me much. For Alex Rodriguez to make $34 million doesn't either. To me, some of these salaries are probably worth it, some probably are not.
Jennifer Anniston is probably a poor example for me. I can't recall ever seeing her in a movie or on TV. Salaries for entertainment and sports celebrities are, in general, in tune with the number of people who will pay to see them perform. Alex Rodriguez probably draws a large number of fans to the ballpark just to see him, and a portion of their ticket price plus the advertising value likely does justify his salary. Anniston probably draws enough fans to justify her salary, even though she hasn't drawn me in, yet. I believe that Tiger Woods is worth the $110 million Parade says he made. He provides a high value to me as a golf fan, and his business and charity work certainly give me confidence that he is not overpaid.
Though it may seem so, I'm not advocating that governmental agencies legislate how much any profession should make. I believe the people who use the professions should determine what they are willing to pay. And, yes, I do realize that all of the above may seem as if I do want some type of control. The control I want to occur, however, is for us all to rethink our priorities and make changes to better reflect some of them. Because in my opinion, in many cases we are doing a very poor job of paying equal value for what we say we respect and trust. I think we need to put our money with our priorities, and that we aren't doing so now.
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