‘Polyworking’—A New Term for a Very Bad (and Old) Thing
“When I was still teaching at a state university in Georgia, one of the most alarming developments I noticed was the rise in the number of overwhelmed and exhausted students who were trying to balance multiple low-paying, part-time jobs just to make ends meet.” - IFWE
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The first thing that I can think of is that the cost of tuition and housing has gone up far faster than inflation as a whole--tuition, adjusted for real dollars at my alma mater, has gone up 250% since I was there. A lot of that is an issue of student loans--the students don't price things out, and hence the school bloats in terms of buildings, amenities, and administrative staff. Another issue is Obamacare/Health Insurance Deform Act; the 30+hour a week jobs dried up since 2010 because of the insurance burden.
So even though I was only earning $4/hour during summers between semesters, that came a LOT closer to covering my room and board than $15/hour does for a summer for my kids--and tuition is far, far worse. The reason is that at $4/hour, I got 40 hours per week with no benefits, but typically those getting $15/hour are getting no more than 28 hours per week. Couple that with higher tuition, and you have trouble.
Another issue is that a lot of jobs now require a bachelor's degree or more that never used to. I remember, for example, being shocked that being an administrative assistant (secretary they used to call them) is now a four year program in some places--and that as most companies I'm around get rid of as many as they can. It's just obscene in many ways.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
My kids get $18/hr at the Publix Grocery Store during the summer between college semesters. It is easy for them to find 40 to 60 hours a week of work. You just have to be creative. One works 30 hours a week at Publix and then after Publix works about 20-30 hours a week as a dishwasher at a restaurant, making about $15/hr. He then does a few odd things during the summer to make some more money. This may involve buying something on craigslist and flipping it. Last summer he flipped an offroad motorbike and made an extra $1,500. If he goes to the local state school, the tuition, room & board is about $19,000. He could stay at home and pay about $2,500 a year in tuition.
When I was going to BJU in 1989-1993 it was on average $7,000 a year and I made about $4.25. I paid for my entire way there. If I had attended U of Illinois it would have been just a tad bit more (about $8,000)
Now if my kid wanted go to BJU now, he would need help, which I do. But it was actually more challenging for me to pay for school than it is for him to pay for a college education. It is about choices and while some schools have gone up, new options have appeared as well.
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