Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Truth About Public Sector Pay

As an employee of a federally funded program run by the state, I am technically working for both the federal and state governments. Lately, all I hear is that public employees are overpaid, their unions are getting them ridiculously luxurious benefits, and someone needs to stop them before they grift again.

Since I grew up on welfare, I grew accustomed to having to turn in *monthly* income reports to the government. There was no such thing as privacy about income, and I never developed the same sense of anxiety about sharing such information common to most Americans. Therefore, I am posting a link to my paystub. (I'm sorry if it takes a bit to load. It's a .pdf). As a person in mid-career with a Ph.D., I don't think the totals will draw envy.

Just for comparison purposes, here is an income payscale for Ph.Ds

My husband is not as open with his paystub, but was willing to let me share that his salary is $35,500 as a social worker with a Master's degree working full-time at a non-profit. His agency was so "unhealthy" as a group that no insurance company was willing to insure them without massive contributions from the employees. He is covered by my job, so his only benefit is a 401k.

P.S. Tease me about the website if you like. It's primitive, because my skills at such things are primitive. My electronic paystub was hard to share. It would not paste into Powerpoint as I had hoped to put it in viewer. So, I had to resort to .pdf, but hopefully it is okay to open, as I used the less memory option.

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