>>That extremely low side is twice what I make now. But then, you're not guarranteed 40 hour weeks, 52 weeks a year, either.
>
>Is it your job that's underpayed or are standards really that low over there? I should imagine the competition would press the prices and, at the same time, wages as well, and there's certainly more competition over there than here.
>On the other hand I hope your job is not underpayed, that would be a shame...
>
>When it comes to indipendent conlultants/programmers, the difference isn't worth mentioning, based on what Eric said a bit earlier, although the "extreme low side" is never quite as low as mentioned above; rather about $100/hr

I'm underpaid. Average is about $35k + benefits in this area. I make $28k with no benefits, no sick days, 1 week of vacation after I've been full time for a year, and as far as I know that won't increase. I do get 3% of sales, but we've only had one sale since I went fulltime.

Why do I stay? I have almost total control over the product. I'm not going to get that kind of freedom in a larger company. What interests me in consulting is keeping the freedom but getting decent pay for it. Of course, I still won't have benefits, but my husband has excellent insurance so that's not so bad.

-Michelle