40-year-old teacher with a masters degree realizes he makes less money than his 18-year-old son: 'He's paid $63 an hour, my rate is about $25 an hour'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jul 1, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

It's no secret that teachers don't make a lot of money. You meet people in their twenties who make at least $65K for pointless laptop jobs that don't contribute anything to society, yet the educators of our young can make as little as $45K years into their careers! Just because teachers don't make a lot, doesn't mean that other essential and difficult professions have the same problems. Trades, for instance, are similarly exhausting and demanding, yet they tend to make way with better money than your average teacher would. That's because they typically have better unions and an earlier retirement age. A 40-year-old teacher did the math, and it turns out his 18-year-old son, who just started working in solar panel installation, makes more money than him. While they make the same amount of money per hour if he's working at a residence ($25 an hour), they make double and even triple that for commercial jobs. 

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    via Wonderlane

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  • 02
    18yo son's wages vs mine:
    via u/jbp84
  • 03
    18 yo son: graduated high school a month ago. Has a job with a local roofing company in their solar panel install divison. For commercial jobs he'a paid $63 an hour, $95 if it's overtime. For residential jobs he makes $25/hour. About 70% of their jobs are commercial. He's currently on the apprentice waiting list for the local IBEW hall.
    via u/jbp84
  • 04
    Me: 40, masters degree, 12 years of teaching experience. $53,000 a year with ~$70K in student debt load. My hour rate is about $25/hour This is one of thing many reasons I think of when people talk about why public education is in shambles.
    via u/jbp84
  • 05
    Employee28064212. 20 hr. ago That's great money, but those jobs come at a great physical toll, as I am sure you well know.
    via u/Employee28064212
  • 06
    jbp84 OP 19 hr. ago Some trades are harder on the body than others... electrician isn't as physically demanding as carpentry and some other trades. His plan is to start his own company eventually, or as he said "I'm not going to twist wires my whole life" My uncle did that...worked his way up and now owns one of the largest electrical companies in the Charlotte area.
    via u/jbp84
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    angryRDDTshareholder 19 hr. ago. edited 16 hr. ago I'm not sure what it's like where you are, but in Australia being a electrician (sparkey sparkie) is a licence to print money as we have strict diy laws here around electrical
    via u/angryRDDTshareholder
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    jbp84 OP 18 hr. ago In the US it definitely depends on if you're in a union or non-union state, and how hard you're willing to work, but for the right people it absolutely can be a very lucrative career, especially if you get into more specialized areas. We live next to an Air Force base and I know a lot of guys who did 4 or 8 year stints in the military and got essentially free career training, and now work in the private sector or as government contractors doing the exact same job they did in
    via u/jbp84
  • 09
    Sloppychemist - 14 hr. ago Tell you what, teaching comes at a great physical and mental toll
    via u/Sloppychemist
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    Employee28064212. 14 hr. ago It does. I'm just getting tired of people repeating this idea that going into the trades/"blue collar" jobs are a magic bullet for student loans and poor job prospects while completely ignoring the hazards and inherent unsustainability of said work. Every job certainly has its downsides. Ask a delivery truck worker about their back pain. They're out there making six figures without a college education...and I'm not saying that to you directly, but to anyone who might
    via u/Employee28064212
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    Goblinbooger 18 hr. ago Yeah, but as a teacher I also wait tables and make between $90-120k a year... from waiting alone. As a teacher with 15yrs and a masters I add a whopping 52k onto that. Is it physically demanding... sure. Is it easier than teaching, absolutely
    via u/Goblinbooger
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    jjhomeslice 15 hr. ago The mental toll of teaching greatly out weighs the physical toll, I've done construction, factory work, and I've taught for 12 years. No job is harder than teaching, and that wage difference is embarrassing.
    via u/jjhomeslice
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    Historical-Raccoon46. 18 hr. ago Good God. Where do you live? A teacher with 12 years experience and a master 's makes much more in New Jersey
    via u/Historical-Raccoon46
  • 14
    markerito 17 hr. ago. Absolutely my first thought. My local district pays new teachers with only a BA and no other units $63,144. 12 years and a masters floats around $103,000.
    via u/markerito
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    sdega315 18 hr. ago ience teacher/admin $53K after 12 years teaching is ridiculous. In my district teachers with a BA or BS start at $50K. I am sure cost of living is higher where I am but still... smh
    via u/sdega315
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    jbp84 OP 18 hr. ago We're in the middle of contract negotiations now and working to get a more fair salary schedule. Of the 12 districts in our county we're 11/12 in teacher retention and salary increase over the last 10 years. My district is egregiously low, but the average in the area is only slightly better. COL does factor in, but even where I am (relatively cheap to live; rural/suburban) we're still seeing exhorbitant increases in rents and home prices like the rest of the country. Private
    via u/jbp84
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    Feral_Persimmon - 19 hr. ago I agree about roofing jobs and the like taking a major physical toll. However, I would also submit that education takes a physical and mental toll. I was healthy before I began teaching. Now, I live with headaches and migraines, joint issues (concrete floors), cycles of respiratory and urinary tract infections, and I'm overweight. I am medicated for and anxiety, and I see a therapist weekly. Believe it or not, I still love what I do, but mercy! Never did I ever expec
    via u/Feral_Persimmon
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    jbp84 OP 19 hr. ago I grew up on a dairy farm and worked as unskilled labor for a local contractor one summer in college. I went into teaching because I saw the physical toll manual labor takes. However, after seeing how mental and emotional stress takes a physical toll I'd probably go into a trade, especially one of the less physically demanding ones (equipment operator or HVAC, for example). I too love teaching, but if my job was only just teaching kids and I could make a decent wage then it w
    via u/jbp84
  • 19
    CPA_Lady 18 hr. ago HVAC is crawling around in hot attics, that's not physically demanding?
    via u/CPA_Lady
  • 20
    jbp84 OP 18 hr. ago That's like saying being a plumber is just unclogging toilets and dealing with HVAC isn't just crawling in hot attics. And compared to iron workers or pipe fitters or carpenters, no its not as physically demanding.
    via u/jbp84
  • 21
    Paramalia 18 hr. ago Good for your son! And he's got his life ahead of him. My 18 year old makes $12 an hour.
    via u/Paramalia
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    throw_away_judo - 17 hr. ago As someone who spent three years doing arctic construction before going into teaching a decade later..I still sometimes wonder if all the hassle is worth it or.i should just go back to the trades. Simpler life, work stays at work, pay is better, and less political nonsense. In Canada so our teachers wages are generally higher, but our tradespeople still often make more than a senior teacher. Doesn't offend me as a teacher. But it is tempting to go back.
    via u/throw_away_judo

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