How much money do you make?
Posted on May 14th, 2008 – 10:35 AMBy Kara McGuire
I’ve always been a proponent of making money a less taboo subject. Then we can finally put those Joneses to rest and perhaps some of the credit card debt along with ‘em.
Today, the Wall Street Journal’s work and family blog The Juggle has a post about whether sharing salary could be beneficial, helping to reduce salary disparities at work and eliminate the sometimes damaging assumptions that people might have about who makes what.
The blog mentioned a story in The New York Times from a couple of weeks back that I’m surprised I missed (Oh– they put it in the Fashion section– I guess it’s fashionable to talk salary).
Anyway, the story is about how people in their 20s and 30s are more likely to share their salaries with each other than workers in older generations.
It’s a thought provoking story, but when I read this paragraph, I couldn’t help but think, oh puh-leeze:
For people old enough to remember phone booths, a blunt reference to salary in a social setting still represents the height of bad manners. But for many young professionals, the don’t-ask-don’t-tell etiquette of previous generations seems like a relic.
There was a phone book junking up my front steps when I got home from work yesterday. They aren’t like do-do birds or dinosaurs. Clearly I am so old that I need glasses, or so young that I hadn’t even heard of those booth-things so I figured it must be a typo. Sorry for the confusion.
And I bet that most people still don’t reveal their salaries without at least considering whether they should first– even if they are 25.
I’ll say from my experience that salary still is not a comfortable discussion in my circle of friends.
What do you think? And if you’ve been dying to tell people how much you make, or are willing to trade your salary in a “safe place” in order to gain insight on others’ salaries, do spill.
20 Responses to "How much money do you make?"
The paragraph you quote says “phone booth,” not “phone book.”
I am in my late 20’s and my friends and I do not share salary information. As far as I am concerned, it is still taboo to ask or tell one’s salary.
KARA Thanks Brad. I crossed it out above in my entry. Clearly I haven’t had enough coffee today.
It’s not a very comfortable subject in my circle of friends (mid-20s), but at the same time, I work for the government so my salary is publicly available on the internet. There really isn’t anything to hide for me.
I’m in my mid-30s. I expressed to a late-20s coworker that I canNOT discuss salary numbers. Can’t do it. She as much as called me a fool. She knows what all her friends make.
Phone booths or phone books? I’m confused.
KARAstrong>: Clearly, I am too. It’s fixed.
as a government employee you are probably not as ashamed of your salary as us private employed workers
Like MR, my salary is readily available online, like everyone else that works for the state or a public university in Iowa. So, friends, family, and coworkers around here know exactly what I make (um, or don’t make as it is).
I’m in my late twenties, and I do notice that my friends are pretty free with announcing how much they make–as long as they think it’s more than I make. I’m not quite as willing to announce my salary, maybe because I know it’s public information anyway or maybe because I’m not so proud of it.
I make enough so I do not qualify for a stimulus check. I pay in over 50% of my gross income. My property taxes are 5 figures, and I employ over 400 employees, yet our Democratic leaders claim it’s not enough and they wonder why businesses continue to move to states such as North Dakota.
Do you realize that an unwed mother of five children from five different fathers who don’t pay child support will receive a stimulus check, and that it’s size increases with every child?
Someday someone will have to explain this to me.
Salary information seems to be so transparent these days that I don’t know why I’d need to ask someone personally about their income. More telling question is what someone’s net worth is…
I’m with Mike: the stimulus is offensive.
I wonder if the recent Supreme Court decision (Ledbetter v. Goodyear) will have any impact on salary discussions. If you only have a set (short) time period to sue for discrimination, then you should start finding out about salaries of others.
I also wonder what may or may not happen if people did share salaries - would people put pressure on firms to increase salaries, or would that give ammunition to employers to reduce salaries?
In Sweden, where I lived for two years in the 1990s, there were no social restraints on the issue of salaries. It was, in fact, one of the first questions people asked you. I think it’s a reflection of the political culture, which didn’t regard salaries as a measure of your value as a person. As a worker, you had no control over your salary beyond your union contract, so why should you be ashamed about what you earned?
I am in my mid-30s, and I find that many of my friends are willing to share their salary information, especially if it’s helpful! Many of them work in the same field (IT) so it’s extremely valuable when negotiating salary. I’m not out there advertising mine, but would not keep it secret if I think it’s useful information to someone outside of using it to boost or demoralize an ego!
I typically don’t care if people know what I make, but had a bad experience with being honest. I was naive and was applying for a retail job a few years ago since I knew my temporary job was a little iffy. I put my salary down on the application, and the store manager proceeded to bring up my other job’s salary every chance I get. “Why don’t you work more that the job that pays you $25 PER HOUR!” “Are you losing the job that you earned $25 PER HOUR?”
I figured that she didn’t give me as many hours as promised when hired because she had some beef with my salary. Now I’m a little more cautious. I think people believe that I make much less than I do, because I am so conservative with money. Oh well. I’ll compare salary, retirement savings and debt with them if asked. I just won’t volunteer anymore.
I often wonder about what my co-workers are making. I work for a public company, which does give us the salary range for our positions, so we can at least see where we fall. I think it would make me feel horrible if I found out that co-workers that I perceive as less hardworking were making significantly more. I have been with the company for two years and got the salary I asked for when I started, but will always wonder what they would have offered if I hadn’t committed to a number.
I’m in my early 30s, My experience with comfort has varied. Some my friends and I share $$ per hour and amount of debt (yes, even amount on a given card or educational debt). Its all in the open. If we can talk about the details of buying a house, giving birth and potty training, we can talk about money. Other friends turn cold and awkward if the question is raised. My parents however are not comfortable at all sharing annual salary. I heard up and down about the injustice of having to fill out FAFSA parent income forms before going to college. My father laments hearing younger co-workers talk about their paychecks, and personal debt. To my parents, your income is as sacred as your social security number, never to be shared unless the government asks at tax time.
About all I’m comfortable discussing with people is the expected salary range for my job with the equivalent amount of experience. There’s no reason to be significantly underpaid, so knowing the salary range is valuable, however, knowing exactly what I make doesn’t really help anyone.
I do share among my friends when we are talking about finances, because I think putting it out there makes it easier for all of us to realize that sometimes finances are a problem, maybe we should get together for dinner in instead of constantly thinking the only way we can see each other is to go out. It also decreases expectations that would be awkward to discuss later, like if they ask you to chip in on a wedding gift for an amount exorbitantly higher than you were thinking of contributing, etc. I don’t with strangers or coworkers, necessarily, but I think not being open with your friends just causes a veil of secrecy that, if they are my close friends, I don’t want around.
I am in my mid-20s and I told my parents what I was offered at a job because I wanted to know if I should negotiate or not. However, since my offer was what my dad currently makes their viewpoint was a bit skewed.
My cousin that just graduated from college at 20 did the same thing as I did and they in turn told my parents who told me. I’m not sure if he wanted it shared with more than just his parents but it was.
I do not sure that information with my friends.
I have been struggling with this salary issue as of late.
I have a BA and a MA and yet I make less (working 2 jobs) than my partner and sister who are not college educated and some family members who only have a Bachelor’s degree. I only share my salary information with my parents and my partner.
I know that I do “important” work (education) and I knew that I would be paid less when I entered this field. But lately I am really resenting the financial freedom others seem to have.
I’m in my early 30s, and my close friends and I share salary/debt/investment information. I don’t’ think it’s particularly helpful to speak strictly to salary…you need to understand a persons total financial life to truly appreciate their salary and what it represents.
Jx2
I have a few select friends who I can be candid with about finances and I think those are incredibly valuable (no pun intended) relationships. They have helped me with job negotiations, saving decisions, etc and I have done the same for them. But, with certain friends I think it would just be awkward. I think you need to use a little judgment before you discuss salary because it can change people’s perspective of you and you of them.
