#017 - What is an ‘Underearner’ and how to know if you are one?
'Underearning' is a concept I want all women to be aware of. Many of us are masters at underearning - not asking for what we're worth, playing small, being modest, giving, caretaking for others… Today’s post will go over the concept of underearning, exploring the the psycho-emotional landscape of Underearners and what mental constructs can be held to ‘justify’ the position of underearning. Finally, we’ll cover five signals of being an Underearner.
Understanding underearning
Barbara Huson (prev. Stenny) pioneered in developing the concept of the Underearner (UE she shortens it, as opposed to HE = High Earner).
She defines underearning as a “high tolerance for low pay” and “a condition of deprivation where your emotional or physical needs are not being met.”
What underearning is not?
Huson distinguishes underearning from voluntary simplicity and mindful low earning.
Jane Taylor (habitsforwellbeing.com) helpfully distinguishes underearning also from:
- Underachieving: people can achieve less than their potential and earn more than they need
- Underworking – many Underearners work very hard
Therefore – with these definitions we are disrupting the commonly held associations that achievement and amount worked necessarily has a positive relationship with money earned.
Analogy : Money as Food
Here is an analogy to help understand ‘underearning’ as a state of relative deprivation rather than an objective state of affairs:
We would not think of the yogi on top of the mountain who chooses to only consume sunlight and fruit as being someone in a state of deprivation, for they would be doing so out of choice. If someone lives in a place where they lack access to the calories or the quality of food they need in order to be healthy and perform the physical functions they need – this would clearly be a state of deprivation we might call ‘starvation’ or ‘malnourishment’.
To take this analogy further – imagine a person who lives in a place with lots of high quality, healthy food available. If they choose to consume food that is of lower quality, bad for their health via i.e. being highly calorific, and therefore they are not getting enough nutrients – we would not think of them as ‘deprived’ in the same way as the previously outlined malnourished person. We could still see them as ‘malnourished’, but it would be more out of a position of choice rather than constraints posed by their environment.
However, let’s say one day that person came to realise that they had been using food as an escape and as a way to deal with life’s stressors. They had used food as a way to stimulate the pleasure centres in the brain for a short term reward – dopamine. However, they realised that they were paying a cost for this addiction in the long term and wished to change their eating habits. At this point they become interested in healthy and high quality food – however, if they are not able to afford this food, we would consider them to be in a state of deprivation. The level of food they consume might be the same as before - what has changed is around desires, needs and whether this is by choice or not.
So – we can have two different people earning exactly the same amount, but the one who desires to earn more and is unable to do so would be the one considered to be an underearner.
Huson summarises the ‘Underearner’ as:
One who earns less than her potential, despite her need or desire to do otherwise. One who is in a condition of deprivation, not just of money, but of time, joy, freedom, choices and self-esteem
However, it is not necessarily that straightforward for someone to recognise themselves as an Underearner. Our subconscious minds are clever and will often create beliefs and narratives that ‘justify’ things being the way they are. I will present a couple of examples of how that may take place.
What if we let go of ‘desire’?
You might think that the problem of ‘underearning’ could be done away with by not desiring more on the material plane. “If I don’t want items of comfort or luxury and choose to be happy with what I have – then there is no problem”. This ‘voluntary ascetism’ is a feature of many spiritual teachings as a way of rising above the ego and leading a soulful life.
I believe that there is a big threat of spiritual bypass in this arena. As a reminder, ‘spiritual bypass’ refers to the act of using spiritual principles as a way to avoid admitting or being present to your emotions and embodied needs. ‘Rising above’ the ego and material desires can be a beautiful, liberating thing if it comes from a place of genuine satiation and fulfilment, a sort of natural evolution onto new planes of existence. However, if this ‘rising’ is done before having your needs naturally met on the level of the ego – we are in danger of using ‘spirituality’ to feed our ego with the substitute for the real thing, to further self-abandon instead of meeting our needs.
This is a protective mechanism that associates poverty with Virtue and allows the underearner to gain self-validation from her deprivation. We believe that we are being ‘good’ by not wanting more, being selfless, ‘spiritually evolved’ and above the ego. Perhaps in our subconscious, we expect that this ‘selfless giving’ is going to be rewarded – someone will see us, tell us what a ‘good girl’ we are and give us a gold star. Our state of underearning remains justified and excused.
However, in the midst of all of this, if there is in fact a level of your being (material or otherwise) that remains unfulfilled and your genuine needs remain unmet – cracks will appear as a hint that something is missing.
The guilt of underearners
If you know that you want or need more than you are currently earning – it’s easy to identify yourself as struggling with underearning.
It gets more complicated when you start (or haven’t finished) questioning what you need or desire. You might be wrestling with ‘Am I even ‘allowed’ to want those things?’
For many underearners, the struggle to feel deserving of our desires is real.
The struggle to give ourselves permission to desire is real.
We might be filled with resistance, guilt or doubt when thinking about wanting more. We may have grown up in an environment that taught us that our desires were bad, or that expressing them was bad.
In addition, it can be challenging for Underearners to come to terms with their desire for a higher level of material existence, when Socially and culturally minimalism and non-consumerism is all the rage.
We should not confuse having more money with having more stuff. You might desire more money in order to have access to high quality services, to live in a more beautiful house in a location that speaks to your soul or to be able to visit the places in the world that excite you. You might desire more money in order to have access to high quality, artisanally made items that will last you years, or whoever might be the next owner of the item after you.
When you make peace with what you genuinely desire, on the material plane as well as any other one – you are making the first step towards achieving them.
Five signs you might be an Underearner (adapted from Barbara Huson)
1. Financial vagueness and chaos
Underearners tend to go from one financial crisis to another. They tend to have no idea of how much money they have, earn or need. They operate by wishful thinking instead of strategizing.
2. Underestimating worth
Undervaluing time, skills and abilities or giving them away through excessive volunteering.
3. Anti-money attitude
Underearners are ambivalent or downright negative about money or the people that have it. They dislike the wealthy, take pride in living on a shoestring and believe there is virtue in being poor.
4. Codependency and poor boundaries
Underearners put everyone else’s needs first. They struggle to be aware of and hold their boundaries when it comes to their time and energy. This may seem noble, but leads to anger, resentment, pain and nonproductivity.
5. Self-sabotage
Underearners tend to self-sabotage by job-hopping, taking on too much, procrastinating and being scattered or unfocused. They can be unclear about the future they want to create and don’t take the time to plan. They tend to avoid getting uncomfortable and taking risks for the sake of growth.
In conclusion – ‘Underearning’ is a phenomenon characterised by a lack of choice and a state of deprivation. We can justify a state of underearning with a range of subconscious beliefs and emotions around money. In order to arrive at our truth, we need to become aware of them through introspection and question their validity. We may observe the signs associated with underearning and reflect on how we resonate with them to support our self analysis.
Overcoming underearning is possible and requires working with our habits, beliefs and programming around money. Recognising we may struggle with underearning is the first step in that process.
