I think the real problem is the high cost of living in a frum community, especially the cost of housing. Nobody I know in chinuch is raking it in. (Maybe I just don’t know the right people!) We’re talking about $60,000 as if it’s a lot of money. If that’s what the main breadwinner is bringing in, it’s really not enough.
An earlier post assumed a monthly mortgage payment of $2500, which is low for a family-sized home in many (NOT fancy) NY/NJ neighborhoods but working with that, we get housing at $30,000 a year, or half of the rebbi’s PRETAX salary. Keep in mind that $60,000 doesn’t go very far around here but it’s higher than the national average(which is probably somewhere around $40,000, depending on which data source you use) so that rebbi is relatively well-off as far as the IRS is concerned.
Now add in all the other costs of life, such as food, medical, which isn’t free even with fully covered health insurance, transportation, etc. Don’t forget tuition – many families have boys and girls, in elementary and high school, so even if tuition at our hypothetical rebbi’s school is covered completely (big if!) chances are he’s paying for some of his kids.
Ironically, it’s easier to live on the minimum wage around here than it is to try to make ends meet at $60K. Section 8 pays your rent, SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) covers some of the groceries and Medicaid takes care of healthcare.
We’re called “middle class” because we get squeezed from both ends. Too rich for the “safety net,” too poor to afford the “necessities” of life.