The Money Mustache Community
Around the Internet => Mustachianism Around the Web => Topic started by: zuht on December 14, 2017, 07:28:40 PM
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I was pleased to see this article on The Ladders, which I would normally assume prioritizes wages over all else:
https://www.theladders.com/p/29246/shorter-commute-is-like-pay-cut
And the original paper, "The Commuting and Wellbeing Study" out of the UK, here: https://travelbehaviour.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/caw-summaryreport-onlineedition.pdf
This hits home for me, having recently concluded a protracted job search where I desperately wanted out of a high-paying but toxic software development job. I had nearly resigned myself to driving across town in order to maintain my level of earnings, but thankfully held out and reduced my commute from 3 miles to 2 miles without taking a pay cut. I still haven't made the switch from car commuting to bike commuting, but I feel good about that come Springtime (yes, I'm a bit of a baby).
Unsurprisingly, the researchers note:
The “acceptance” of lengthier commutes being an unavoidable part “may only be retained if the commute is considered unavoidable and a social norm”
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I can't help but chuckle. In 2016, I took a job that lengthened my commute by exactly 20 minutes in exchange for a 19.1% pay raise. But I also moved from a cubicle farm to a window office and dumped big corporate America for a small consulting firm. Suffice it to say that my job satisfaction has increased tremendously, despite the annoying commute (25 miles/30 minutes each way).