The Root of Evil

Yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from an ambitious young college student who was curious about starting salaries for social workers and is considering graduate school.   I told her what I generally offer Bachelors level social workers and what I offer Master's level social workers. The back story is what I wanted to tell her, but didn't and that is that I would never be able to pay her enough if she were ambitious, had initiative and was willing to tackle the myriad of challenges that arise at our little agency daily.  What I find interesting is that if she were a banker, financial analyst or lawyer she could probably earn more money.  The difference is that helping the under served doesn't make anyone rich and therefore is a low rung on the income ladder.   It seems ironic though that she might be able to help someone who will go on to be a productive part of the capitalist system and benefit others, but betting on a person's  future success doesn't pay dividends.  I believe that every job has value, but every job is valued differently for all sorts of seemingly arbitrary reasons and certainly reflects what we value doesn't' it?