‘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.
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.
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