Top Three Career Choices:
- Personal banker
- Professional football player
- Doctor
2020 Salaries:
- Personal banker: $38,497
- Professional football player: $860,000
- Doctor: $278,753
1990 Salaries:
- Personal banker: $36,595
- Professional football player: $356,382
- Doctor: $164,300
2000 Salaries:
- Personal banker: $38,431
- Professional football player: $1,116,100
- Doctor: $143,698
2010 Salaries:
- Personal banker: $41,000
- Professional football player: $770,000
- Doctor: $180,870
Conversation (1990; 2000; 2010):
- Personal banker: $66,254; $53,383; $45,311
- Professional football player: $645,224; $1,550,352; $850,978
- Doctor: $297,462; $199,608; $199,891
It may be challenging to understand what exactly is happening with wages in the United States. The taken time period of 1990 to 2020 (without measuring inflation) shows that not all average salaries of the current year are higher than they used to be in 2010 and 2000. It is possible to notice relatively stable growth only in doctor wages, while professional football players and personal bankers appear to earn less than either in 2000 or 2010 (Reeves et al., 2019). Several explanations may be applied in order to understand the reason for such a situation.
First, there were several economic crises that had a significant influence on wages. Second, it is evident that people directly impact a profession’s average income (Reeves et al., 2019). For example, in the 2000s, it was quite prestigious to get a medical education, and there were many doctors, while the need for them did not increase. Hence, if the number of professionals is higher than the number of clients ready to get their services, the wages decrease (Reeves et al., 2019). At the same time, if people get less interested in a particular sphere (for example, sports), all professionals involved in it may notice their salaries drop.
There is another way of estimating whether wages increase or fall – inflation measure. It is well-known that $100 in 1943 was worth much more than it is now (Reeves et al., 2019). Therefore, after converting past wages into current year salaries, it becomes possible to estimate the real situation. In 1990, the average annual income of a doctor was higher than in the next three decades. Professional football players’ average wage was the highest in 2000, and now it is at least more than in 1990. As for the bankers, they also had the highest income in 1990, and their salary tends to fall.
Reference
Reeves, R. V., Pulliam, C., & Schobert, A. (2019). Are wages rising, falling, or stagnating? Brookings. Web.