Not mentioned at all is most people's salaries cannot buy you the same life that it was able to afford baby-boomers. The work-life balance re-assessment is partially based on a recognition that they are getting less benefit per hour spent at work, and for many the tradeoff is no longer worth it.

If the best that people with degrees, trade qualifications or good ol' fashioned hard work can look forward to is just scraping by, forever on the rent treadmill, then what was all the hustle for? They may as well scrape by and enjoy their life.

No-one is under any illusion that just by making it to the next tier in their company they'll suddenly be bonafide middle-class Americans either. They can tell their management is in the exact same boat.

I won't bother mentioning dollar figures, because that really doesn't translate well across the conversation. People are looking for a good life in their chosen community, whatever that costs is what is fair for a hard worker. If I were to mention a salary amount it would mean a different level of living for everyone who read it, depending on where they live.