Talk about your salaries, people! The only benefit of keeping it secret is to your employer who can pay you less and get away with it.
I think a lot about how one place I worked at, when people started talking salaries, Management said that was a fireable offense.
Personally I think everyone involved in saying that should have been barred from management roles for life.
But because most of the people working there were in their early 20s, with no power alone and no organization, they went along with it.
Some years later the company build a salary comparison tool on their website.
Yes, but the people you talk to have to do the same then.
I was talking to some coworkers a while back and one of them whined that he earned so little. I told exactly what I got and he just goes “oh, then I don’t earn the least” and never talks about his salary again.
Like… At least tell me what you get!?
Btw. no one else said anything about their salary so I got exactly zero information out of that interaction.
This is easy. Thank him for his advice that helped you get “a big raise,” then work him.
Your coworker is an ass.
That definitely means you earn the least.
Okay, fair. I got 1 bit of information. 😞
(achshually) It only means you earn less than him.
Did you ask them?
At that point I just didn’t want to anymore. It’s also been a few years and now I have colleagues with whom I regularly talk about our salaries.
I’m all for comparing salaries and I’ve done so for my previous jobs, but my current job has left me concerned to discuss openly. I’ve been struggling internally about it.
Long story short is that one of my coworkers is a real malcontent that made a huge fuss when I got a promotion. They are the reason that I don’t state my pay when I encourage my other coworkers to seek higher wages and coach them on negotiating raises. I’m worried that the sourpuss won’t use the information as a tool to improve their own situation and instead cause more trouble for me.
People can do amazing things when they have no other option but to endure. That said, I can’t imagine having to feed three kids on top of my already high expenses.
deleted by creator
Spoiler, they don’t. I grew up in the kind of poverty that has us digging food out of the garbage if we wanted dinner. My parents didn’t take me to the doctor when I dislocated my knee, or when a schoolmate knocked me out with a text book. The school provided a couple of uniforms, and weekend clothes were all secondhand. Toys were few and far between, we mostly just played ball in the street with the other kids in my neighborhood. School supplies were borrowed from other kids or the teacher. We didn’t do extracurriculars except church, no field trips, no birthday parties. Special needs were called “being lazy” and I just got my ass beat a lot, so, I didn’t discover the brain tumor until I was an adult.
deleted by creator
More or less, yeah. The church also took advantage of us, telling my mentally ill stepfather that being poor was a good thing actually, and it was good for his kids to go without so we could learn to rely on god like the sparrows of the field, or some shit. My parents never missed a tithe, but they sure made us skip meals so god didn’t get angry at us.
deleted by creator
A benevolent Christian God would surely be much happier with his priest accumulating wealth over feeding some starving children, right?
Debt
deleted by creator
Fun fact: because usury was sinful for Chrisians, but it wasn’t forbidden for Jews, many Jews were pushed into the money business with usury by not allowing them to do much other jobs and then had to pay high rents and taxes. It’s where the stereotype of greedy money controlling Jew comes from.
And still is in Islam right?
Yeah, but often getting by is not only about high salary but also low expenses.
They aren’t. As a single person you get screwed on taxes and other benefits.
Here, it’s about 2.4k rebate for kids per year. I assure you that kids cost more than 2.4k per year.
It’s not just kids. Just having a partner is going to give you quite a big a tax break. Then there’s the child benefits (depending on the age of the child this can be up to €1400/year), plus the income-dependent child-bound-budget, which can be up to €570 a month for a single parent or €300/month for a couple (this is per child)
I don’t know of any other hobbies that are sponsored by the government to this extend.
If it’s Euros, I’m sure the benefits are better than in the US. We’ve got WIC and stuff for kids (basically welfare) but everyone gets that if you’re able to jump through enough hoops, like employment verification and junk.
Also, hobby? It’s in any government’s interest to promote children and child growth, that’s why we have education systems and such. It’s the same if a person wanted to start a business or a non profit, they get government support for that, too.
But you are right about the partner thing. It’s especially weird that marriage was (and in some places, still is) a requirement for a ton of things. Not everyone wants to get married, even if they have a partner.
Also, hobby?
Yes. Something you do for your own enjoyment which you are under no obligation to do.
It’s in any government’s interest to promote children and child growth, that’s why we have education systems and such.
Every major problem humanity faces at the moment, both at the global and local level, is caused by overpopulation. We should discourage breeding.
I appreciate the other commenters disputing you, but I’ll also like to add that nations that support their citizens with more money and support have less population gains than those without support. The science behind that mostly suggests that people with comfortable lifestyles breed less and put more effort into the 1 or 2 kids they have (and often age out of being able to have 3+ anyway).
Also there’s the issue of quality. I’d argue our biggest problem in 2026 is the sheer ignorance of the masses; it’s logic like yours that defunds the programs that produce educated and critically minded adults. Financially stable childhoods help a lot in that regard. A human can be a net positive on the world, but without adequate support they end up being a significant detriment instead (usually as tools for the wealthy who exploit the land).
Also there’s the issue of quality. I’d argue our biggest problem in 2026 is the sheer ignorance of the masses; it’s logic like yours that defunds the programs that produce educated and critically minded adults. Financially stable childhoods help a lot in that regard.
There are few people who had a more financially stable childhood than a certain US president and I’d argue he’s currently the single most damaging person for the planet.
I wouldn’t be so sure, his father was a fucked up man; but he also wouldn’t be a good example as he’s certainly got something wrong with him. Same for quite a few higher ups and billionaires. About 1% of the population has sociopathic tendencies (and a higher amount in business leads, something like 4%).
Much more concerned about the people who elected him, and they are overwhelmingly undereducated and impoverished. Not that there aren’t always exceptions, though.
Just the dual income is definitely a bigger deal than the tax breaks. The standard deduction for filing as married is exactly 2x filing single, which really only matters if there’s a significant income disparity or you don’t itemize.
And you know, you negotiate to other prices since you aren’t desperate for more
You should see what they expect us to get by with on SSDI.
So OP doesn’t provide for their 3 kids at all? Priorities, I guess…
The secret ingredient is crime.
Nothing too serious, just send the kids down the mines and tell them it’s Minecraft.(This is a joke pls don’t report me I may have 3 kids)
Thought she was holding a fish to her ear like a phone, for a moment there…
They have multiple incomes
Classically an ad for taking on more debt.
There are ways… with two kids, we get by using the same sedan we always used but without being able to use the back seat, make the same food we always made but eat less, and spend our luxuries budget (aka video games) on their books and school supplies. Luckily we also get insurance through employer so that covers them, with additional costs of course because who ever heard of universal healthcare?
Suffice it to say it all sucks, but that’s the US experience. And they wonder why nobody wants kids anymore… at least on the upside, these two kids will know how to make a molotov at an early age!
It’s a delicate balance sometimes. All it takes is one big unexpected expense to spend a whole family.
deleted by creator
The coworker with 3 kids that got back 12,000$ income tax just went to Disney with them, so that’s nice.
Yeah, everyone knows kids cost 4k per year, so as long as your statement is true then… Wait where is the Disney Land money coming from… I’m sure it’s more unjust subsidies for people continuing civilization…
