介绍:
He Yang:
A recent study conducted by the University of Massachusetts in Boston found that climbing up the earnings ladder might be harder than you think. Their results indicated that your first job’s income will determine your level of earnings in the future. So if you start off making little money, chances are you’re stuck there. Well, this is a study that looks at the American’s story, but let’s go through it and see if it makes sense?
Yu Yang:
Well, according to a new study, individuals employed from the 1980s to 2000s are having a difficult time moving up the income ladder in the United States. And according to Michael D. Carr , who did the study, “It is increasingly the case that no matter what your educational background is, where you start has become increasingly important for where you end. The general amount of movement around the distribution has decreased by a statistically significant amount.” Ok, that’s pertinent simple language. The theme of the whole study is if you are poor at 20, you might be poor for your whole life. I hope it’s not true.
Ryan:
Oh, I disagree whole-heartedly with this actually, upon really looking and getting into this research. At least for my point of view, I see this as, you know, this doesn’t even apply to me, because into my twenties, into my mid-twenties, I was pursuing higher education. So I wasn’t really thinking about a job. At the same time, the reason why I think this is happening is because higher education is becoming more and more common. So you need something else to make you stand out. Those middle-class jobs now are harder to get, so if you just had your first job with working at a grocery store, that’s not experience, I’m sorry. If you want that, what we call in the US , a big kidjob, then you need to have experience relevant to that field as well as the higher education. And I think this is becoming something now that people, this is becoming that common knowledge now that people are starting to get.
He Yang:
And also I have a question regarding to the study that is if it looking at the individuals employed from the 1980s to 2000s, and its what year now- 2016, what’s the end job for these people, we haven’t even reached that time slot yet , so I don’t really get that this can determine the end, because we don’t see the end yet.
Ryan:
Yeah, imagine the 1980s to the 2000s, so much has changed in between that time. Take a look at the phone from the 90s to your phone currently now, it’s so different. How we operate, how business is operating, the emergence of apps, the world is changingfolks. So this kind of large datasampling, I also think, could lead to some problems.
He Yang:
And what about the Chinese story here?
Yu Yang:
Er, the Chinese, it reminds me a Chinese proverb like 三十而立，四十不惑. We Chinese usually say that when you are thirty, you must have established your career, your family and when you are forty, you are no longer perplexed to buy any confusion. But I think it applied to the older generation, because nowadays as Ryan said, the higher education is becoming more and more common. In your thirties, you might be pursuing a PHD degree, so it’s normal that you cannot super rich at twenty, because you are still a student and limited financial resources.
He Yang:
That’s true, but also I see that in today’s Chinese society, social mobility has become an increasing stagnant for today’s Chinese young people. And that is a huge social issue actually. Because I think this is not a study, maybe I think we cannot agree whole-heartedly, but I think itpoints are attention to the stagnation and that is a problem.
Yu Yang:
Yes, let me pick one sentence by a netizen, I think it’s very interesting, “Poor at the age of 20 is normal. If you’re poor at the age of 30, you’re not working hard enough and if you’re still poor at age 40, then it’s hopeless.”
Ryan:
Totally agree, twenty to thirty isestablishing yourself. Don’t stress it, enjoy your life, try to establish yourself, get those skills, get that experience, come thirty, that’s when the alarm needs to go off.
He Yang:
Woo, the alarm needs to go off. AndJamie, our Wechat listener says I totally disagree with this. Asmy first job, I was only paid 800 Yuan, but now my current annual income is 500,000.
Yu Yang:
Wow, very inspirational
He Yang:
Yes, that’s from first-hand experience of our listeners.
