Here’s how income potential is useful to an 18 year old- neurosurgeons make more money than nursery school teachers. Librarians make less money than personal injury lawyers.
But to cut the bologna thinner than that starts to be – well, baloney. There are so many factors that go into the labor market, and folks are usually looking at bad data (i.e. self reported with very few datapoints) when they talk about this stuff.
I could tell you that PR is a terrible field with lots of people who make 38K for working a stressful, 70 hour week. But that doesn’t mean that your kid shouldn’t go into PR- there are also lots of people who make $250K and up for highly interesting (still somewhat stressful) work with great long term potential to make even more money and do even more interesting things. And you only need a BA in most cases (an MBA doesn’t hurt but it’s not required; a degree in policy or a JD is great if you are interested in government affairs or lobbying but not required). And you will likely know by age 28 if you are any good at it and are on a fast track- still young enough to pivot to something else.
The current data on physicians is highly misleading- mainly because the trend towards hospitalists and large, multi practice specialties means that the old model of a doctor with a few colleagues owning their own practice is mostly dying out. So to look at an OB/GYN today- a 60 year old at the peak of her earning years, her comp reflects the fact that there is a lot of noise in the comp data. She owns a small building (very common) where her practice is based, but also rents out 7 other suites to other medical professions so she has rental income. She leases her equipment- very expensive equipment, particularly the imaging stuff- so has a built in incentive to use it as much as possible. Etc.
Ten years from now her business model will be obsolete. Her 35 year old counterpart is now an employee, making a fixed salary, no rental income, and no ability to bill as many patients as possible for the use and extra income from diagnostic testing.
I wouldn’t look at past ten years comp history of any physician and assume with any level of confidence that this model will hold. Doctors in the UK are well educated, highly respected, and earn civil servant salaries. True- 6 weeks vacation with no “on call” responsibilities. But they aren’t making the mega bucks either.