Your Paycheck May Suck Because Of When You Were Born

======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ==== ======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ====

We all feel like we could use more money, but unfortunately, some of our paychecks actually do really suck. For those of us trying to make it as an entry-level employee on a receptionist’s salary, the struggle is all too real. Between living with too many roommates or parents, eating too much pasta, and praying you don’t lose in credit card roulette, making a small paycheck really, truly blows. However, it may not entirely be your fault — new research shows that your sucky paycheck may actually be due to the stage of pregnancy you were born.

If you were a premie at birth, you can officially blame your parents for every single one of your post grad problems. A new study from Reuters Health just showed that low-weight, premature babies were significantly more likely to have lower paychecks than those born on or after their due date. But that’s not all — premies are also more likely to be unemployed and have chronic health problems. Great.

This study has been 30 years in the making and followed a group of prematurely born babies through adulthood. As it turns out, those born prematurely were making an average of $20,000 less per year than the study’s control group that was born on time. And if you think it couldn’t get worse, you’re in for a shock: of the group aged 29-36, only 2% of the full-term individuals had never had sex. But for the premies, that number skyrockets to 20%. Ouch. For your sake, I hope you were born after spending a full 40 weeks in your mother’s womb. Otherwise, if your life sucks, at least take some comfort in knowing it’s not entirely your fault — even through your 30s, your parents will always be there to ruin your life..

[via HuffPo]

3

Respond

Email this to a friend

Hey, I saw this on Post Grad Problems. Check it out.

Steph W.

Steph W. is a new Master's degree graduate with an intern's salary and six-figure taste. She realizes her expectations far exceed reality, so she spends her days pinning away Loubs she pretends are in her physical closet instead of her virtual one. Her hobbies include attempting to trapping her boyfriend into marriage before he finds out how insane she is and pretending that Black Box wine tastes as good as the kind she could afford when she was gainfully employed. Send her tips for getting out of student debt at recruitchairtsm@gmail.com

• @therecruitchair