this has become an issue in general, even with the older crowd. in larger cities it's not uncommon to find waiters and bartenders with masters degrees that can't go into the field they're trained in because they just can't take the hit in pay.
i do agree that it's short sighted though. my wife was thinking along these lines recently. she's a school psychologist, and has been off for the last year because our son was born. she starts this september, so both kids will go into day care. expensive day care. she has it in her head that all of her salary is just going into paying that expense, and she may as well stay home. she just didn't consider her benefits, and through ny, they're pretty good. we spend 30 bucks every pay period for outstanding medical insurance, ( i paid $1500 a month when hers ran out) and we max out her 403b. over time, those are huge, not to mention daycare is temporary. i get wanting to make more per check, but some don't get the bigger picture, (she was born in 83, so there's that).