# Income Inequality and the Work Ethic

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-and-the-work-ethic/680579>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [February 5, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-and-the-work-ethic/680579 "2014-02-05T15:57:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 6

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-and-the-work-ethic/680579/101 "2014-02-18T14:53:45Z")

</div>

> [@elucidator](#):
>
> I know people like this, bet you do too. Not the sort of thing you talk about with a co-worker over lunch, how you hate your job, hate being there, but absolutely need the health insurance. Maybe not even for yourself, perhaps your SO, perhaps your child.
> 
> Think of the power that puts in the employer’s hands. If he knows about your situation, how you are trapped by your insurance needs, has he any incentive to reward your performance? Any reason, beyond the goodness of his corporate heart, to give you a raise? Knowing full well he has you by the short and curlies?
> 
> Now, that example offered of someone who has sufficient where-with-all for modest and comfortable retirement, does not actually need to money from his employment, but dare not threaten his insurance. If he leaves his job and it is taken by someone who does need the money, isnt that a net positive?

My husband and I are potentially these people.

We’ve had very good jobs - jobs that will be filled by someone else when we retire. And we’ve stashed away a lot of our income.

So - we are on the cusp of being able to afford to “retire” - or semi retire. Current issue is that we aren’t “modest” in our spending - we’d have to get much more modest. But a combination of more modesty in our spending habits and a little bit of side work, and we could retire before 50. I’m currently “on sabbatical” and he is still working.

One thing that has kept us working is insurance - with the ACA our insurance costs have gone down considerably if we’d choose to not work. It becomes much more affordable to “retire” - or take a sabbatical, go into consulting or become self employed. And if we are modest enough - our income could be small enough to qualify for a subsidy - which - having paid six figures a year in taxes for the past decade, I wouldn’t feel guilty about.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-and-the-work-ethic/680579.md?page=5)