The charmed lives of government workers
It is hard to make a case for going to work in the private sector anymore because government employees just have it better. Even now, when the private sector is facing major cutbacks and layoffs, government, at the state and federal levels, still offer unparalleled perks, benefits, and salaries — even in the face of seemingly insurmountable budget deficits. There is something terribly wrong with this picture.
It used to be the case that people went to work in public service sacrificing higher wages for more job security and better benefits. Today, government employees get paid more, are offered better fringe benefits, retire with larger pensions, have rock-solid job security, and are provided more days off than their counterparts in private industry. With a deal like that why would anyone want to work in the real world?
In 2008, the average salary for a federal government employee was $79,197. The average salary for a private employee in the United States was $49,935. Do the math: the average government worker makes $29,262 more than privately employed people.
Sacramento isn’t much better. Political staffers have it particularly good. Take for example health care benefits. If you work in the Assembly or Senate for five years and are 50 years old or more, you are entitled to full health insurance coverage for life. And if you died, your spouse or designee gets it. Even before the age of 50, employees in the state Capitol have three health-care plan options that require no employee contributions at all — the state pays the premiums entirely.
If that weren’t enough, California Assembly and Senate employees get free dental and vision; free life insurance policies; paid leave up to three months for a new mother or one month of “paid parental bonding leave” for a new father; massive pension benefits; 12-15 days off for holiday observances; another 12 days off for sick leave; up to six weeks of vacation; and subsidized transportation benefits. And these benefits are all on top of their salaries that likely top equivalent jobs outside of government.
If you are wondering why the federal, state and local governments are bankrupt (literally and figuratively) look no further. Salary and benefit levels for public employees are despicable. The system is corrupt. Until we clean this up, not much else matters.
