US income inequality continues to grow

[Belsnickel]

(07-24-2018, 01:51 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Let me tell you all a story.

As I'm sure most of you might recall, my wife and I recently had to switch careers. We both worked for the same company in the religious social service industry. Our positions both ended and there was no immediate opportunities in our fields so we decided to switch careers to something more steady. Because part of the compensation from our job was housing, we also needed to move.

We were given 2 months notice that our job was ended and in that time, we both found jobs in different fields (mine is banking and hers is child care) in a different city in a different state. We had to live with family for a couple months while we found an apartment but that was only a couple months.

Keep in mind that neither of us went to a 4 year college, though we both have associate's degrees; I'm in my early 40s; and both of us had LITTLE experience in the fields we decided to focus our employment on.

Anecdotal evidence can be helpful, but it can't disprove the type of studies that rely on the scientific method and large data sets. Everyone has a different experience, but what we must look at are trends, averages, different factors that can come into play, and a host of other things.

I was laid off at a time when unemployment was very high. I was told by the outplacement consultants my former employer hired that the average time to find a new job was 4-6 months. I had two job offers in six weeks. Does that mean the economy wasn't in the shitter or that unemployment wasn't as bad as all the data said? No. What it means is that I beat the odds.