The vast majority of American wage and salary workers today fall into the middle class. That means an annual income of somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000-before deductions for social security, federal and state (and sometimes city) income tax, Medicare, health insurance (if you're lucky enough to be offered it), and a 401K plan. The federal minimum wage is still stuck at an amazingly low $5.15 per hour, providing half a million minimum-wage workers with less than $12,000 a year.

One Way Out
Given these figures, it is not difficult to see why one in 17 Americans, or about 7.5 million, work two or more jobs. It's called "moonlighting." Sounds romantic, doesn't it?

Minimum-wage earners moonlight just so they can pay the rent and put food on the table. Middle-income workers cite different reasons, such as

Some moonlighters' extra jobs are part-time, but others work two full-time jobs, or three part-time jobs or some other combination. Obviously, it can be pretty stressful. Moonlighters don't see their families much, because they average 75 hours a week at work. It's an especially sad situation for single parents.

More Disturbing Statistics
According to an August, 2006, report on CNN Money.com, "...most workers have not seen wage gains keep pace with inflation during the current economic expansion." And the New York Times reported that while the median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2% since 2003, while prices have increased 4%. Prescription drug costs alone have soared out of control: Americans pay the highest prices in the world. Although corporate profits keep climbing, their employees' shares of those profits-in the form of increased wages-is declining.

Meanwhile, the median price of a home in the US is $208,000, shutting out the possibility of homeownership for millions of hardworking people. That leaves rentals, and they too are going up in price. Added to the woes of the middle class is the tendency to rely more and more on credit, driving many into depths of debt that seem inescapable.

If you're a average-income worker still hoping to move up in your company, you may want to keep in mind that in the past ten years, there have been 9.7 million job cuts. You know all about it-downsizing, outsourcing, not replacing people who leave and expecting the ones left to pick up the slack. Most of the time, you'll have no clue that a layoff is about to happen. There's always unemployment-but in most states it replaces only about half of your lost income, and to make matters worse, you'll have to pay income tax on it come April 15th.

A Better Way

Spending 75 hours