Financial thoughts

I’ve been a medical transcriptionist for about 19 years. For my family it has been very beneficial in that I could work from home and contribute to the family income without worrying about childcare.

While it’s an enjoyable skill and I’m grateful that I got into the field, it has its drawbacks. Recently I came upon this article.

Are MTs Underpaid?

Why, then, do most MTs feel so strongly that they are underpaid? I suspect the root of this perception is the fact that, relative to cost of living increases, MTs’ earnings have actually decreased. In 1985, the year when President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Medical Transcription Week, an independent contractor working for doctor’s offices (for example in Tucson, AZ, where I lived) could command 10 cents per 65-character line (cpl) with spaces. At that time, the dawning of the computer age in transcription, hospital wages were at a similar level. A quick perusal of the Web site MTJobs at www.mtjobs.com will reveal that an independent contractor today working through a transcription service can expect something on the order of 6 to 9 cpl.

Comparative measurement of cost of living is a controversial subject, but one readily available yardstick would be the cost of living adjustments (COLAs) given to federal employees. The Federal Office of Personnel Management records COLAs to civil-ian employees amounting to 52.7 percent between 1985 and 2004 (the year the BLS figures in the Table are from). If we take these COLAs as a standard—wages keeping up with increases in cost of living—an MT earning 10 cpl in 1985 should be earning 15 cpl in 2004 (or, using a 150 lines-per-hour baseline productivity, $46,800 per year). Instead, the MT in 2004 was likely to be earning $28,371, according to the BLS, equivalent to 9 cpl (based on 150 lph), 1 cpl less than she earned in 1985, representing, one could argue, a more than 62 percent decrease in real earnings over the 20 years.

HT Thriving and Transcribing.

Lately, I’ve been feeling the squeeze. First of all the price of gas has really made me reconsider whether or not I want to drive anywhere. Three years ago, it was no big deal to fill up the gas tank and I drove pretty much where ever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. Now I really think about it before I drive anywhere.

My kids activities are more expensive too as they have grown older. I took my younger kids off the swim team three years ago because I simply couldn’t afford it when a long-time client dropped me three weeks before my baby was due, (no job security would be another drawback for the independent Medical Transcriptionist).

But there are still things I want them to be able to participate in, such as sports, PSR, art class at the community center and having piano lessons.

But those things are going up as well. Piano lessons went from $12/30 minutes to $12.50. That doesn’t seem like much but it comes to almost $40 for the entire school year. A piano teacher commented on one of my recent posts:

Some teachers do this as a hobby. Others, like myself, do it for a living. For the professional to make below minimum wage to offer a service they spent 20+ years training for is unreasonable.

So consider what a good normal wage is in your city (cost of living is a huge factor). $25/hour is a reasonable rate for a professional business person in your area, then $50/hour for piano lessons is well within reason. If $12.50 seems like a good wage for full time SKILLED PROFESSIONAL WORK (and I don’t know any secretaries who spend 20 years in school to learn filing and faxing), then $25/hour for piano lessons is respectable.

I get what he’s saying and I can’t say I disagree. But if that’s the case then it’s like the diamond earrings I really like, but will never buy because although they’re beautiful I simply can’t afford them, and I can live without them!

I also got the minutes from a recent swim team meeting. The board voted to raise fees by 5%, except for high school students. Their fees will go up more than 5% which I guess they will determine later.

It’s not that I begrudge these people more money or that I want to be stingy. I know in Mr. Pete’s business folks want to pay as little as possible for repairs and they want to buy musical instruments as the lowest possible price. I also know that many transcription jobs have moved over to India because those MTs will work for much less. But it seems that if I stay doing what I’m doing the only way to make more money is to work harder, because the same amount of work from just a few years ago, buys me less and less.

These are the things I think about before I go to sleep at night.

Recently I have tried different things to make more income that didn’t require as much intense time and concentration as my transcription jobs. Making this blog work for me was one avenue I have tried and it’s been very helpful.

Still I received some criticism:

Not only ads in the sidebar, now ads in the main content. There is starting to be more ads than non-commercial content on your blog. It’s like getting mostly spam delivered to my RSS feed.

Ouch!

I pulled out my copy of A Mother’s Rule of Life the other day as I was thinking about all of this. What is my role? What is the best way to meet all of the needs of my family? What am I supposed to do with my life and my time as a wife and mother with all of my responsibilities?

For some reason, Ma Joad, the depression era matriarch from the Grapes of Wrath popped into my mind.

Ma cleared her throat. “It ain’t kin we? It’s will we?” she said firmly. “As far as ‘kin,’ we can’t do nothin’, not go to California or nothin’; but as far as ‘will,’ why, we’ll do what we will.

It’s so clear. What I am supposed to do is whatever I have to do to provide what I think is best for my children after praying for God’s grace and guidance. At my husband’s side, we will make this work.

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